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Picked up a tip from an old-timer about clamping thin aluminum
Guy at the supplier said to put a piece of plywood under the stock before clamping it down. Tried it on a .040 sheet job last Friday and the vibration almost disappeared. Anyone else do this or have another trick for thin material?
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nancyramirez9d ago
...and here I thought I was being clever by just clamping harder and hoping for the best, which of course just made it worse. The plywood trick is solid though, I’ve used it on some really thin brass too and it’s a total game changer. My only advice is to make sure the plywood is clean and flat, because I once grabbed a piece with a little bump in it and that created a whole new set of problems. Your mileage may vary but it’s saved me from having to redo a job more than once.
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the_sage9d ago
Anyone else ever try clamping with a piece of pizza box just to see what happens?
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alext529d ago
Has anyone tried using a scrap of old leather between the clamp and the workpiece? I had the same issue with some thin aluminum once where the clamp was leaving deep marks no matter how careful i was, and a piece of leather i had laying around totally saved it. @nancyramirez is right though that the plywood trick works great too, just gotta make sure the surface is dead flat or youll chase your tail fixing new dents. That bump story hits close to home, i did the same with a warped board and ended up having to sand the whole thing back down.
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