Our Dovetail Bench Clamps—made in the USA, allow you to mount a standard jeweler’s dovetail plate anywhere you need it. They adjust to tables from a thin 3/4" plywood card table at a show, all the way up to a 3.7" woodworker’s bench at a workshop. See image (Or the long side of a 2x4, if you have to.) Now your good gear can go anywhere you need it, and hang on tight, just the way you like it.
The Dovetail Bench Clamps will open up your dovetail accessories to new spots in the studio, and let you take them with you to entirely new places, like shows and workshops-or the beach.
Do you work at home? No reason why you shouldn’t be able to use dovetail accessories, just because you can’t drill holes in your table. That’s what these clamps are for.
Do you need to use your dovetail gear somewhere else in the studio every so often? That’s what these clamps are for.
Feel like working out on the patio because it’s a beautiful day? That’s what these clamps are for.
When you’re on the road, trying to clamp something to a table at a show, ever notice that there is always some sort of table edge rail in the exact wrong spot? So did we. In addition to being able to clamp tables from 3/4" to 3.7" thick (19–94mm) there are several different places that the clamp screw can go through, so that at least one of them should be in the clear.
What They Are
The clamps themselves are two pieces of aircraft grade aluminum, with a standard dovetail plate, and a clamping screw. The two pieces come apart See image, and can be screwed back together at various offsets See image to allow the clamping screw to reach whatever size table is required. The upper plate is Milspec class 3 hard anodized, so that it won’t contaminate your files with aluminum if you slip and file it. It is not hard enough to use as an anvil, but it is as hard as aluminum gets, which is enough to resist accidental file cuts. Since the hard aluminum is not hard enough to pound on, we have one version of the clamp that has a 2" hardened steel disk that you can pound on, or you can chose the version that has a high strength magnet to hold files and burrs where they’re easy to reach, as well as both inch and metric rulers, and a pair of circle dividing guides broken out into divisions of 8 and 6. The choice is yours.
The Back Story
Once upon a time, Brian had to demonstrate our first prototypes of the steel bench pin at a show. The bench pin was designed to use the dovetail system. Which presented a problem: how to get a dovetail plate onto a card table? The original dovetail plates were designed to be permanently screwed into a jeweler’s bench. It’s generally considered rude to shoot your host’s tables full of screw holes. That presented a challenge, answered with the very first version of this bench clamp. The clamp got much more attention at the show than we ever expected. Not being fools, we listened, and at long last, here is a much more refined and civilized descendant of that first clamp.
More Background for Woodworkers
Knew Concepts started out making saws for the jewelry market. Both Brian and Lee had years of experience in that world, and are metalworkers by inclination. The dovetail bench mounting system has become the de facto standard quick-disconnect mount for bench accessories among serious jewelers. There are a wide range of add-ons that can be mounted to it, from small belt sanders, to heat-resistant pads for silver brazing, to multi-axis work clamping systems. The range of available accessories is more limited for the woodworking world, but with the release of our marquetry saws, and the Mk4 Precision Saw Guide, as well as our steel bench pins, and bench risers, we’re aiming to change that.
