Didn't see any subforum for tools and jigs and such, so I thought I'd post this here.
I was in the process of making my first rosette out of a piece of mesquite I had laying around. I'm putting it on a walnut top and the two grains looked very similar so I thinned down some extra maple binding I had to use as purfling strips to set the two grains apart. I wanted to glue them all up and install them as one piece (ok, I'm new at this, any and all suggestions as to how to make this more efficient are greatly appreciated, but not the point of this thread). How do I clamp this thin, thin, thin stuff???? Hmmmmm..........
I had some wooden clothespins laying around that the wife used to hang out clothes and that I had tried for clamping up kerfing (don't care for the clamping tension)........
so I examined them a little more closely. What a wonderful invention!!! So simple, yet so versitile!!
I thought, hmmmmm...., maybe I can do something with this. First, disassembly.....
then off to the spindle sander to put a little concave "gripping lip" on the "wrong" end.....
then reassembly with the spring reversed.....
then glue up and try them out........
and, VIOLA!!!!, a soon-to-be-finished-and-installed rosette!!!
I may have to hit the Dollar Store and get me some more of these! Handy little tools....and cheap, too!!!