Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
“You can never have enough clamps” doesn’t just mean quantity—it also means having the right lengths. Long pipe clamps are expensive, difficult to store, and worst of all…you might only need them once every few years.
I know what you’re going to say: “Join shorter pipes using threaded couplings.” And that can work…but only when both ends are threaded. I made my clamps by cutting ten-foot pipes in half, leaving each clamp with one threaded end and one plain cut end. Unless I have those cut ends threaded, couplings won’t help.
But threading isn’t the only problem. A coupling is wider than the pipe, creating a bulge in the middle. That holds the pipe farther away from the project, reducing how deeply the clamp jaws can reach onto the wood. It also means you have to be careful not to bump the project against that raised metal coupling. You could add a shim to protect the wood, but now you’re adding another workaround and losing even more of the clamp’s reach.
Instead of buying and storing long pipes, you can make an emergency clamp extender that works with the shorter clamps you already own.
From a 24-by-48-inch sheet of quarter-inch waferboard, I can cut six extenders. I drill four holes sized to fit the heads of my pipe clamps, then add a fifth hole near the end—just the right size for a bar clamp.
The bar clamp anchors the board to the edge of the project, and each larger hole becomes a pressure point for a pipe clamp to push against.
If you square one side of each hole, the clamp pad seats cleanly—and just like that, you can add pressure across an oversized project using short clamps and one flat piece of scrap.
It isn’t a replacement for a continuous steel pipe when maximum pressure is needed. But for that occasional project that’s just beyond the reach of your clamps, this gets you out of trouble without buying pipes you’ll rarely use.
Like step by step projects? Check out the second channel! → @makethingswithrob
Buy me a beverage! → buymeacoffee.com/makethings ←
Become a patron! → patreon.com/makethings ←
Huge thank you to my patrons that keep this thing going!
*MAKER TEAM*
Michelle B
Keith Current
Rich Lightfoot
Tutor the Barbarian
Aubrey G.
Nukebert
Sam W.
Aaron Knows DIY
G. Salazar
David B.
Marc B.
Richard B.
Ben. K
Bill Patterson
D. Lundman
Make Things
#MakeThings #mtbitesize
“You can never have enough clamps” doesn’t just mean quantity—it also means having the right lengths. Long pipe clamps are expensive, difficult to store, and worst of all…you might only need them once every few years.
I know what you’re going to say: “Join shorter pipes using threaded couplings.” And that can work…but only when both ends are threaded. I made my clamps by cutting ten-foot pipes in half, leaving each clamp with one threaded end and one plain cut end. Unless I have those cut ends threaded, couplings won’t help.
But threading isn’t the only problem. A coupling is wider than the pipe, creating a bulge in the middle. That holds the pipe farther away from the project, reducing how deeply the clamp jaws can reach onto the wood. It also means you have to be careful not to bump the project against that raised metal coupling. You could add a shim to protect the wood, but now you’re adding another workaround and losing even more of the clamp’s reach.
Instead of buying and storing long pipes, you can make an emergency clamp extender that works with the shorter clamps you already own.
From a 24-by-48-inch sheet of quarter-inch waferboard, I can cut six extenders. I drill four holes sized to fit the heads of my pipe clamps, then add a fifth hole near the end—just the right size for a bar clamp.
The bar clamp anchors the board to the edge of the project, and each larger hole becomes a pressure point for a pipe clamp to push against.
If you square one side of each hole, the clamp pad seats cleanly—and just like that, you can add pressure across an oversized project using short clamps and one flat piece of scrap.
It isn’t a replacement for a continuous steel pipe when maximum pressure is needed. But for that occasional project that’s just beyond the reach of your clamps, this gets you out of trouble without buying pipes you’ll rarely use.
Like step by step projects? Check out the second channel! → @makethingswithrob
Buy me a beverage! → buymeacoffee.com/makethings ←
Become a patron! → patreon.com/makethings ←
Huge thank you to my patrons that keep this thing going!
*MAKER TEAM*
Michelle B
Keith Current
Rich Lightfoot
Tutor the Barbarian
Aubrey G.
Nukebert
Sam W.
Aaron Knows DIY
G. Salazar
David B.
Marc B.
Richard B.
Ben. K
Bill Patterson
D. Lundman
Make Things
#MakeThings #mtbitesize
