Tips & Tricks: Corner Clamping Cauls

I’m an old Marine and—more often than I like—I make flag display boxes for the families of fallen comrades. The triangular boxes are finicky to clamp up, so I devised a brilliant (for me) but simple solution. Beginning with three 3" long pieces of scrap 4×4, I bandsawed a 90° notch into one and a 45° notch into each of the others. Then I drilled a small relief hole at the apex of the notches and cut a shallow dado on the back to locate a clamp strap. Voila! The cauls pull the box walls together tightly, spreading clamping pressure across the joint, which also eliminates the need for multiple band clamps.

—J. M. “Mike” Jeffries, Millbrook, Alabama

Back to blog Back to issue