Universal Quick-Release Bar Clamps

Description

The goal of this project was to design a new type of bar clamp that is fully 3d printable and makes part swapping as fast and flexible as possible.

Whether you need extra hands for your project, a 0-10ft bar clamp, or just a quick way to prop something on an extrusion-based machine, these bar clamps should come in handy.

This unique cam-lock design slides and locks on an aluminum t-slot extrusion, this way you can have inexpensive bar clamps up to 10ft long and even mount multiple independently sliding clamps on the same bar.

Minimalist/functional by design; only two parts, both print without supports and assemble like a puzzle. The cam-lock lever mechanism is designed to put slight pressure in the jaws when it locks.

Details

Here is a quick overview of the design:

The design:

The 3D model is fully parametric via Customizer or OpenSCAD: not only you can control the size of the clamps and their features (grooves and such) but also fit them on the most common aluminum T-slot extrusions:

Misumi 15mm/20mm (1515 or 2020)
OpenBeam
80/20 1010 1"
MicroRax 10mm
... or even your own T-Slot or C-section profile.

The files include some pre-built designs as well as the generator script.

Design concepts:

Lift to lock! Push to release! The lever rotation during lock also tightens the clamp slightly.
Horizontal and vertical grooves on the jaws for easy alignment.
The nub at the end of the lever keeps it in position, also keeps it from interfering with other clamps on the same bar
Local adjustments to make it print without supports (lack of symmetry here is by design)

One of the prints had a striking resemblance to a bird's head, so I had to put googly eyes on it:

Files

ex_clamp_OpenBeam_50mm.stl

simplify3d_stl - 1.07 MB - 04/22/2018 at 08:46

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ex_clamp_MicroRax_40mm.stl

simplify3d_stl - 1.06 MB - 04/22/2018 at 08:46

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ex_clamp_8020_75mm.stl

simplify3d_stl - 1.03 MB - 04/22/2018 at 08:46

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ex_clamp_8020_125mm.stl

simplify3d_stl - 1.05 MB - 04/22/2018 at 08:46

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ex_clamp_2020_75mm.stl

simplify3d_stl - 1022.97 kB - 04/22/2018 at 08:46

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Discussions

mgx3d wrote 05/04/2018 at 06:54

The thingiverse customizer is back and running: https://www.thingiverse.com/apps/customizer/run?thing_id=2452870

Are you sure? yes | no

jcwren wrote 05/01/2018 at 16:40

Any recommendations for ABS vs PLA vs PETG, infill, etc?

Are you sure? yes | no

mgx3d wrote 05/02/2018 at 02:35

I've printed mine of PLA mostly. The design is meant to take out infill variances (for example the long channels along the back of the jaws will generate shells), I would say print with 3 shells is more important than the infill setting.

Are you sure? yes | no

Mark Rasmussen wrote 05/01/2018 at 03:15

Fantastic work! Thank you for posting this and the files.

Are you sure? yes | no

mgx3d wrote 05/02/2018 at 02:35

Thanks!

Are you sure? yes | no

SN:101124102 wrote 05/01/2018 at 00:57

Can you upload a step file or a mechanical drawing, that would be great for all of us that do not use openscad.

Are you sure? yes | no

mgx3d wrote 05/02/2018 at 02:39

SCAD to STEP conversion would completely lose the parametric aspect (besides, I don't own any software that can do the conversion), but note I have also uploaded some predefined STLs here, covering the most common extrusions. Just about any software in the world should be able to load STL. You can convert the STL to other formats such as OBJ/PLY/3MF using 3D Builder in Windows 10.

Are you sure? yes | no

SN:101124102 wrote 05/02/2018 at 05:00

STL is a terrible file format, it would be faster for me to redraft it than fix an stl, hence why I asked for if you had a mechanical drawing. Its easy to add parametric constraints to a step file, much easier than messing with an stl. Converting an STL to OBJ or what ever does not fix or convert an STL properly. You end up with just another version of a tetrahedral mesh, which is a terrible file format for a mechanical part. Well thanks for sharing the idea.

Are you sure? yes | no

Universal Quick-Release Bar Clamps

Description

Details