Or, as real as they get but still use wood. I originally planned to make this clamp completely from steel (except the handle), but thought I’d try it in wood first.

In my previous clamp builds, the part that has always been the weakest is the bar itself. It’s very hard to equal the strength and rigidity of steel, while still keeping the size within reason. So the big change here is the use of ordinary flat bar mild steel for that and the locking plate. I’m using 1/8″ thick steel, which should be more than strong enough for this size clamp, considering the rest of the clamp is wood. For a longer version, moving up to 1/4″ thick by 1″ wide bar is recommended.

The majority of the clamp will be hardwood and I’m using a scrap of maple about 6″ long. From that I cut the end of the clamp (fixed jaw) and cut a slot to receive the steel bar:

The bar along with a filler piece are glued in using epoxy. Later, steel pins will be added to increase the strength of the joint:

The moving jaw is next, cut from maple to 1/2″ thick. I had already made a rough plan for the clamp in SketchUp and took the measurements for the angled cut from that. I made the cut on my homemade band saw and cleaned it up on my belt / disk sander:

I’m using 3/8″ threaded rod for the clamping screw and drilled a 5/16″ hole from both sides using a brad point bit. A bit that is slightly bigger (21/64″) is used to ream out the hole a bit larger.

Threads are then cut in the hole using a 3/8″ tap. I ran the tap in and out a few times to make the threads a bit looser, so that the rod will not bind up in there:

My previous experience with threading directly into hardwood has shown how durable it is, so I don’t have any reservations about doing this.

I cut a slot centred in the other end for the bar:

The handle is just a piece of softwood cut to shape with a 3/8″ hole drilled part of the way in. The threaded rod will be glued in with epoxy, but first I grind a flat spot on the rod to help lock it into the handle. The flat spot fills with epoxy and acts like a key:

While the glue on the other parts is drying, I figured I’d get the locking plate done. It needs a slot cut so that it will jam onto the bar when it’s at an angle, just like a real clamp. I drilled a series of holes and finished cutting it out with a Dremel:

Unfortunately, I didn’t fully appreciate just how important it is to get the slot exactly the right length, and had to do it three time before it worked correctly:

The locking bar is supposed to be 1/2″ wide, but I only have the 3/4″ stock from the bar itself. I had to make it thinner with the grinder, cutting 1/8″ off each side:

The clamp pad is simple enough, starting with 1/2″ plywood with a 3/4″ counterbore drilled about 3/8″ deep. A 1/4″ washer will fit inside and act as a rub plate:

To fit in the counterbore, I had to cut the nut down using the grinder. I guess it would be that big of a deal to use 3/4″ plywood instead of 1/2″ for the clamp pad, and then the nut could be used full size.

After cleaning both, I epoxied the nut onto the end of the rod. Before that, I slide a piece of 1/4″ plywood with a 3/8″ hole onto the clamping screw. This gets glued to the clamping pad and set aside to dry:

Easing over the edges on the clamp pad with my belt sander. Not really needed, but it makes it look a lot less clunky:

The side panels for the moving jaw are cut from 1/4″ plywood and the first side is glued on:

The clamp uses a wooden spring to put pressure on the locking plate. Originally, I was going to make it in three pieces that are glued together, but thought I’d save some wait time and do it in a single piece:

Here’s how it works. It will push against the top of the locking plate so that it will jam when you tighten the clamp:

One important thing is to try not to drop the clamp at this point in construction, or risk breaking the spring:

A setback, but not a huge one. I decided to not tempt fate and make it in three pieces this time instead. Overall, a steel lever spring would be a better choice, but one that is the right size can be hard to track down.

A couple of problems that were quickly fixed. First (yellow arrow) a pivot point for the locking plate to keep it from moving back when adjusting the clamp. Easily done with a tiny triangular block of maple glued in place.
The red arrow points to a shim to push the plate tighter to the spring. I didn’t realize it was slack when I glued the spring on, but the shim is an easy fix:

Pretty close to done, I test to make sure it’s working right before gluing on the other side panel:

Steel pins in the form of 3-1/4″ nails are added at key locations to reinforce the joints, and the clamp is done:

Here it is beside a real 6″ bar clamp for comparison:

Not nearly as strong, but strong enough for many clamping tasks that don’t require a lot of force. It can definitely apply more clamping force than a quick-grip type clamp of this size.

An interesting project and a learning experience. It has made me think of different (possibly easier) ways to get this done in a future version.