Design a wooden hold-down in Easel, with a long slot to adjust its reach and a rear hole for a leveling screw.
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Start from a blank workpiece
Make a wooden hold-down for your CNC, using colored MDF like Paul Kaplan’s clamp set. The M5 threaded insert and two screws are separate hardware, not parts you carve. In Easel, first draw the 4½ × 1¼-inch body. Next add a 2¼ × 0.3-inch through slot so the clamp can slide toward the board, then a ¼-inch rear hole for the insert. The screw in the rear insert supports the heel on the wasteboard; the screw through the slot pulls the nose down onto the board. Open Paul Kaplan’s DIY Clamp Set project for his insert-and-screw assembly instructions. Match the stock setting to your sheet before carving; Paul used 3/8-inch MDF, while the recording starts at 0.32 inches. Remove the holding tabs after cutting.
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The shared files supply wooden parts, not the bolts, inserts or wasteboard. Oak and MDF hold-downs press on the board from above; plywood side clamps grip its edges and leave the top clear for carving.
Short and long wooden hold-downsby Douglas CaputoDouglas made 3, 4½ and 6-inch clamps from a scrap of oak. The different lengths reach nearby or diagonal mounting positions. His shared sheet contains the bodies, slots and insert holes; the threaded inserts and bolts are separate parts. The gallery’s stock label differs from his oak build note, so use the note and your actual stock thickness.
A colored MDF clamp setby Paul KaplanPaul’s blue clamps press down on a board from above. The shared design supplies flat clamp bodies with adjustment slots and rear insert holes. He used colored MDF and separate M5 threaded inserts and screws. His instructions describe 3/8-inch stock; set the material thickness for the sheet you actually use.
Side clampsby Neil bartlettNeil’s plywood pieces press against opposite sides of a board rather than covering its top. The shared design includes the slotted clamp shapes and NDB lettering shown in the finished photo. He used X-Carve clamp screws, which are separate parts. The front-to-back reach is limited, so extend the pieces if your board cannot fit between them.
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Adam Simmons suggests making an L bracket near the home point and using the cams to push the board into it, rather than using four cams together.
Comment by Adam Simmons: read the source.
From Yet Another Set of Cam Clamps by Jonas Karlsson.
Ask a questionPaul Kaplan says he added the sloping nose on a belt sander after carving. His project instructions explain that this lower profile makes it easier to keep the bit from hitting the part of the clamp over the material.
Comment by Paul Kaplan: read the source.
From DIY Clamp Set by Paul Kaplan.
Ask a questionMatt Slaga reports using this fixture on both the original 4 × 2-foot X-Carve Pro wasteboard and the newer 2 × 2-foot Pro T-slot wasteboard. He says those Pro boards share hole dimensions, but the original X-Carve does not.
Comment by Matt Slaga: read the source.
From Square and L Clamp, XCP w/ Countersunk holes by Matt Slaga.
Ask a questionMeasure from your wasteboard’s mounting hole to the edge of the board you want to hold, then give the clamp’s adjustment slot enough travel to reach it.
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