Vise and table problems

[melk]

Hi,
There has to be someone out there who has solved this problem. My TU Chapter runs fly tying classes and invariably the table edge is too thick for the C - clamp for the vise. I have suggested just buying 6 cheap pedestals but there are those who want a better, well different solution. Anyone with an idea on how to easily attach the C - clamp to a table where the edge is thicker than the C - clamp?
Thanks,
Mike

[Byron haugh]

There are C-Clamps made which are “adjustable” in that they don’t have a maximum gap length.

[Steve Molcsan]

Another thought would be to get a c-clamp that will fit the table thickness then clamp a piece of wood
that will be of the correct size to the vise to the table and then clamp the vice to that piece.
There are several small clamps that should fit the table so not to be to cumbersome
put the clamp tee handle to the table underside..
ACE hardware comes to mind for clamps.. you might even be able to use wood screws instead
of a clamp to secure the right size piece to the table.
Just a thought..

Good luck.

[jcampbell]

Why not just putting a 3/4 inch piece of plywood on the table with an over hang for the vise clamp or change locations.

[johnstoeckel]

Another thought would be to get a c-clamp that will fit the table thickness then clamp a piece of wood
that will be of the correct size to the vise to the table and then clamp the vice to that piece.
There are several small clamps that should fit the table so not to be to cumbersome
put the clamp tee handle to the table underside..
ACE hardware comes to mind for clamps.. you might even be able to use wood screws instead
of a clamp to secure the right size piece to the table.
Just a thought..

Good luck.

I've used Steve's solution -- wood scrap and a separate c-clamp. In fact, at one time I used to carry a wood scrap and c-clamp with me when I went out somewhere to tie. It works very well and has the advantage of preventing marks to the table top. If you have a group tying, you may be able to use a long strip of wood scrap (length of the table) with a clamp at each end.

[DBenner]

I don't have a pic of my son's setup, but if you can picture a 9x13 sized piece of laminated plywood or laminate board some sort with an upside down "L" made of 2x2 wood attached with screws up through the plywood. This gives a stable platform and a vise-clamp mount. The added bonus is that the clippings land on the plywood and then you can just lift and dump into the garbage when done.

[whatfly]

Buy pedestals. Tried the other recommendations mentioned here and just not worth the effort for a class. In my club we made a point of replacing all the old Thompson A style vices with Peak non-rotary pedestal vises for exactly this reason.

[melk]

Thanks everyone. We are having class tomorrow night and we'll see what happens. We could probably get by with 2 or 3 pedestals for my 3.5 cents.
I'll bring up the other options also.
Thanks again,
Mike

[NJTroutbum]

I have used plywood over the top. I ripped a 4x8 sheet lengthwise to get 2x 18" strips. Then spray painted them white for visibility, and c-clamped them to the top with a 3" overhang. That gave a shelf and also gave a center portion for drinks ad such so they would not spill anything on materials.

[Ray Kunz]

My solution was direct but luckily not costly. An associate was a machinist and made some pedestal bases machined from pieces of 1/2 inch steel plate. Problem solved.