Tip for Centering Clamping Pressure

If you use pipe clamps to glue up a solid-wood panel, it's important that the clamping pressure is centered on the thickness of the panel. If it isn't, you'll end up with a buckled panel. What I do to center clamping pressure is fit a dowel that's the same diameter as the thickness of the panel between the clamp jaws and the panel (see Photo). The dowel redistributes the clamping pressure so it's centered on the workpiece. The result is a perfectly flat, glued-up panel.
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