C-Clamps? 25 Other Clamps They Don't Want You to Know About...

This set of Alphaclamps is an exploration of tools and their form. From the I-beam to the C-clamp, the latin letterforms seem to have a chicken-egg relationship with the letter-shaped tools that bear their name. Is the C the basis for design, or simply a descriptor of the form? Curious about how the other letters would work as tools, I set out to explore the mechanical utility of the forsaken letters of our alphabet.

Decisions, decisions.

I chose DIN, an official German font often used in technical applications. I find it clean and simple, with some good clamp-like letterforms.

I then measured my C-clamps to ensure my letters would be suitable for the threaded rods. I took a photo of the C-Clamps with a ruler in the shot. I scaled the photo so it was 1:1 scale and did some loose sketches in Adobe Illustrator. When satisfied, I converted to a DXF file for cutting on a Waterjet cutter.

As an Artist in Residence at Autodesk's Pier 9 shop, I have access to an incredible waterjet cutter. it is a machine that can cut precise profiles in any material that is less than 6" thick and smaller than 5' x 10' feet. It does this with an intensely focused jet of ultra-high pressure water. It took the machine 4 hours to cut all 26 letters out of 1/2" thick steel plate. I listened to several podcasts.

This ended up being harder than I had expected. Despite the easy-looking video, for the holes that had to pierce angled surfaces(such as the C) I had to first mill out a flat region for the drill bit to engage on. I did this with a flat end mill bit on our manual milling machine. The drill bit should be sized for the tap you will be using. My rods were a metric M10 thread, so my drill bit was ~9mm (I used 11/32", as I have never even seen a metric drill bit :)

Get your audio book ready, as this is the longest step. A tap is an incredible tool for putting threads inside of holes. It is a physically demanding process. When hand tapping, one typically turns the lubricated tap until it becomes difficult, at which point it is backed off about a quarter turn. Each clamp took me about 15 minutes to tap, as the metal is quite thick.

I took some 320 grit sandpaper to the edges and finished them off with some anti-rust oil and a Scotchbrite pad.

I am fond of the semi-industrial patina.

Hopefully, they will not rust.

You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

You have to break 26 C-clamps to make Alpha-Clamps.

I was able to source 2" c-clamps for less than the cost of the swivel-pad set screws alone.

36 Pc 2" C-Clamps on Amazon.

If you loosen the clamps all the way out, then continue to loosen them, the rivet holding the swivel pad should unset so it can be dismantled.

Every clamp will solve some problem at some point. Be sure to keep them safe and in order.

This is the fun part. Clamping together 26 clamps.

Thanks for reading!