Clamping

[randybot]

What is the best way to clamp on the Buddy?
Don't want to drill holes all over the table top.
Also want to avoid any chance of running bit into metal screws or clamps.

[scottp55]

Randy, Have you watched TJ's "alternative holddowns" vid?
http://shopbottools.com/Training/Videos/AlternativeHoldDowns.mp4

[cowboy1296]

There are a few different ways and perhaps each is good. This is my method. Using the buddy to cut pockets in your table top and insert t-tracks and t-clamps into the tracks. It would have been better if i had cut the pockets a little deeper to allow for re-surfacing the table in the future.

In an attempt to save my sacrifice board i elevate the work piece up just a little with pieces of flat rubber and if you know the depth of your board then you should not cut into the table. That is a good theory but it does not always work.
If you zoom in on the bottom left clamp you can actually see one.

[Ajcoholic]

Randy, if you read the thread I have on making my Buddy tables (not the latest aluminum one, the previous few) I used two layers of MDF, with the top layer being several pcs with aluminum T tracks in between the segments of MDF.

I always have used the Inrca brand aluminum clamps. They hold well and although come with 1/4x20 threaded bolts, drilling out to 5/16 is no prob.

I have hit the clamps several times without any issues - the aluminum is soft and just gets cut.

[mwpfeifer]

I have the original Buddy 48 with the 1/2" aluminum table to which is attached 3/4" Baltic Birch with the tracks screwed to it in a grid format. I then cut 3/4" MDF to fit inside this grid which gives quite a bit of material above the level of the tracks for periodic surfacing. When a particular area gets a bit too ragged I only have to replace that grid section. This has been working well so far using screws thru the scrap areas of the material I'm cutting or using t-bolts and aluminum hold down clamps. The latest Rockler catalog has some new clamps with adjustable tension that have really got my interest, they call them "Auto-lock T-track clamps".

[randybot]

Thanks guys. All good ideas.
I am thinking of gluing some boards together and cutting a T slot in them.
That way I can make the slots intersect. I can make some clamps out of wood.
I hope Shop Bot reads these threads. They get some ideas how to improve their
tables.