So I’ve been cutting out and assembling a ton of boxes with dividers for organization and am interested to know if anyone has come up with a clever way to hold all these tiny pieces together while they are drying. I have a ton of furniture clamps in the garage however, they are far too bulky to be of use.
Have people been leaving their dividers loose? Have a bunch of tiny clamps? Use elastic bands? I would love to know, gluing is by far the slowest part of my process.
I tend to use CA glues which dry pretty much instantly, but then of course you have the possibility of gluing yourself to the project. I’ve had to dribble acetone to release my fingers from my projects.
I use these little clamps I picked up at Harbor Freight:
https://m.harborfreight.com/6-in-ratcheting-bar-clampspreader-62122.html
The come in sizes from 4 inches on up and they work perfectly for clamping little boxes together as the glue dries.
That’s a great price, I’ve got about half a dozen of the Irwins, and they set me back an entire order of Proofgrade.
I mean honestly, they’re not the most robust clamps. 
But when you don’t want something super strong that will bow in the sides of your boxes they seem to work well!
For the size I think they’re about as robust as they need to be. I have about 60 of the 4 inch clamps and about 20 of the 6in ones; and six or eight 12in clamps. I use them all the time. I would not use any HF clamps larger than that.
I thought I had a decent clamp stash, but that is a lot of clamps! 
I bought them on sale last summer, so they were ridiculously cheap. And, as the saying goes: “you can never have too many clamps.” It’s amazing the number of times I’ve been doing something and thought that it would be nice to have a clamp, only to remember the stash in the garage 
I use CA (super glue) most of the time but if there is cause to use a slow setting glue I use rubber bands for small things and then regular clamps for larger things.
Same here. I have been using rubber bands for stuff like finger joints. Or sticky tack for the dividers.
Harbor Freight is the bomb when it comes to cheap clamps. As a woodworker, I can never have too many clamps and even with cheap construction and materials found there, they are still worth every penny.
That being said, I glue a lot of stuff together with CA glue as well. I find the gel works better as it has a longer set time, which is sometimes needed to move pieces into the right spot, and it stays where you put it.
I grabbed a pile of four-inch clamps from harbor freight, and when I got to the shop I realized that one of them was slightly different than the rest. Checked the tags and it was a different product number. That one doesn’t work well at all. It must have been from an earlier batch. The others work great. Not at the studio right this second, so I don’t have pics/product numbers.
I also use the little one-piece clamps from the catalog, spring clips, binder clips, rubber bands, and tape.
(Also +1 on the wood-formulated CA glue)
I use the blue masking tape to hold things together when I use slow drying glue. This gives me a hinge like joint that I like when i’m putting pieces of a box together.
They do have multiple versions of the same clamps with slightly different materials. The 6in ones that I bought are item #96210. Item #62239 looks exactly the same, but is slightly lighter. One appears to be made by Pittsburgh, the other by Pittsburgh’s Automotive branch. The other size clamps are similar; with multiple product numbers that are almost exactly the same.
If you have an old car inner tube, they can be cut into great elastic bands, and bicycle tubes work great too though obviously a smaller size, some place that changes tires would go through a lot of different sizes (bike shops too) they are much stronger than similar rubber bands you might buy.
I prefer these to the ratcheting clamps.
Am I really the first one to wonder why not make the fit a little tighter, so they hold themselves in place while whatever glue you choose dries? Isn’t that kind of the point of having such a precise machine at our disposal?
You can get super big ones at Michael’s/Jo-Ann’s/Hobby Lobby.
Or just adjust your tabs & slots for a snugger fit. A good finger joint should require a bit of persuasion from a wooden hammer (which you can cut on your laser).
Very careful design could eliminate the need for glue at all. I have been studying Japanese woodworking that accomplishes that, though the complex 3d cuts are hard, and designs need to take that into accounts.
It all depends on desired result.
You could use CA, Wood, hide, spray, glues or even epoxies. These all have pros and cons. CA is fast but brittle, wood glue is slow or fast depending on your project but very strong. Hide glue is tricky but if needed it can be taken apart. Spray glue or contact cement would be good for big panels or leather. But it is messy. Epoxy could be fast or super slow setting, clear, strong and if not careful messy.
For clamps you could use same clamps as for woodworking just smaller. Tape is great at holding small glue ups. Elastics are just as good if you have the right size and are reusable. You could make jigs to help clamp projects specially if you want repeatable results. Anything heavy to clamp down panels.
You could alway Norm it up and use a brad nailer or a pin nailer for smaller stuff. For big things nothing beats screws. These however are not always the desired look or effect on projects.
I recommend some YouTube videos from “I like to make stuff”, “Make something” since they also have forges. “Diresta” and “woodwhisperer” should be great also as long as you search their videos in reference to your project at hand for more relevant information