router clamp

[milo30]

I remember seeing something about an aluminum router clamp on here. Anyone know who sells it and how well it works? I have the pro with the colt router. The stock clamp just won't do a good job of holding it when I change bit anymore.

[Eagle55]

I haven't kept up whether they are still available or not, but I hope they are. I plan to change mine over when I put a new router in place. I have the HD model so not sure about the smaller ones. Here is what I have regarding the source.


Sam Clark
business@dixiebillet.com


Roger

[milo30]

Thank you. I got hold of them. They don't make one for the colt yet but will do it if I verify the diameter. Going to order one today.

[rungemach]

The clamp for a pro and pro plus (non HD) should be different (smaller) from the clamp for the HD series. Sam is currently making HD series clamps, but I am sure he can do a non HD size as well.

Sam will need the outside dimensions and mounting hole size and location info for a pro clamp as I do not believe he has made clamps for that size machine yet.
If he thinks it is only the inside diameter that is different, you would get a HD clamp with a colt sized hole in it. It would be too big on the outside to fit your machine.

[Sam]

If he thinks it is only the inside diameter that is different, you would get a HD clamp with a colt sized hole in it. It would be too big on the outside to fit your machine.

Thank you Bob!

[milo30]

Just an update. The clamp is different and he doesn't have the measurements yet. I will be sending him my clamp and he will be able to produce them if anyone is interested.

[Keith Hodges]

I had a problem with my clamp on my HD. The area where the bolt tightens on the front cracked. I cut one out of Oak, enlarging the bolt tightening area, and works like a charm. I just used the original clamp as a template. Made out of scrap, cost, $0.00, 30 mins time.

[ohiococonut]

Keith,
The same thing happened to mine, one of the ears just broke off. I contacted Sam and for $58 delivered I got one hell of a stout clamp. He does excellent work.

Mine was for the Shark Pro Plus HD using a Bosch 1617 so here's a heads up.
The clamp is 1" thick so the mounting bolts will need to be 1/4" longer than what's currently being used. The front clamp bolt is 5/16", not 1/4" as currently used.
I drilled the mounting holes out a little to allow more movement when clamping. The ID was just a touch tight but one trip around my oscillating sander fixed that as well.

Keep in mind we're talking about manufacturing tolerances between three different manufacturers, NWA, Bosch and Sam Clark. For the money an aluminum clamp "should" be a must. And for the money, NWA still makes a decent CNC router but the issues with router slippage and router clamp breakage should send up a red flag as well.

I can deal with a little flex and an uneven table but when parts start to break, there's an issue. Just saying.............

[Keith Hodges]

So far my wooden clamp is working well. Been about three months of heavy use. Mine is the exact same setup as yours, down to the Bosch router. Guess if it no longer works I'll consider the aluminum one. Thanks for the heads up.