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This is a keeper for sure!!
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What a great idea......thanks for sharing ! 
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Rob, ripping that flat side using the TS turned out rather simple. I took a 3' length and screwed the dowel to a 1 x 2 slave board with two short screws, one at each end, just through the back side of the board, and then into the dowel. Then I ripped the flat using the TS and removed the screws when done. The slave board that holds the dowel steady during the rip is the secret. I had enough dowel to make 8 pairs of clamps. Cheers!  Oh, and BTW, I made my own 1" dia. dowel using glued up strips of scrap 5/4 and a 1/2" router bit: 
Rip to width. Plane to thickness. Cut to length. Join.
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If you're going to "roll your own" dowels with the router, you could just leave a flat...
Benny
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jsears said:
probably wouldn't see the humor in it, and have a heyday in a civil suit. Or at least try to.
According to the website, there's no patent (i.e., "patent pending" at this point). So there's nothing to sue you over. Once he gets a patent, he can sue you, though, possibily even retroactively for any infringement (like this thread, for example) back to the time the application was published by the USPTO.
“Those who think the world began less than 10000 yrs ago are worse than ignorant … deluded to the point of perversity, they are denying not only the facts of biology but those of physics, geology, cosmology, archaeology, history & chemistry.” – R. Dawkins
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BarryO said:
[blockquote]jsears said:
probably wouldn't see the humor in it, and have a heyday in a civil suit. Or at least try to.
According to the website, there's no patent (i.e., "patent pending" at this point). So there's nothing to sue you over. Once he gets a patent, he can sue you, though, possibily even retroactively for any infringement (like this thread, for example) back to the time the application was published by the USPTO.
[/blockquote] If you are saying it's possible for him to sue me over posting pictures of the clamps that I made, I suppose he could. But I sincerely doubt that it would go anywhere. I never suggested that the clamps were my idea or "invention". As a matter of fact, I believe I said that I used Blokkz clamps as a model for mine. And I am not offering to sell them to anyone. I would venture to say that every one of us have taken someone else's ideas, patented or not, and copied them to meet our needs, in one way or another.
Definition of coplaner: It's the guy on the outfeed side of a planer handing the stock back to the guy on the infeed side.
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It's not an issue of whether someone claims something as their own invention or not. In fact, someone being "honest" and saying they used someone else's invention as a model would be, in effect, an admission of guilt ("willful infringement"). That is, it would be if the patent were to be issued. As I mentioned, I don't know if the USPTO has published the "office action" on the application yet.
Even if the infringing device is not offered for sale, it's still infringement, although you could argue that damages to the inventor are minimal. Nevertheless, the holder of a patent holds exclusive ownership to it, and can prevent all other uses, including use by individual infringers.
This isn't just of academic interest. A few years ago, a FWW reader came up with a gadget (or thought he had), and submitted it as reader tip, which the magazine published. It turns out it infringed on a patent owned by Lee Valley, and Rob Lee's lawyers went after the magazine, threatening them with lawsuits, etc. I suppose if this clamp was patented, August Home could experience the same thing: by encouraging readers of their forum to build their own infringing devices, it would damage the marketplace value of their invention (which I believe was the argument of the LV lawyers in the FWW case).
I do find it odd that there's alot of talk about how much people like "made in USA" tools, and yet as in so many cases, when a USA company markets a tool, a common reaction is "too expensive", and folks look for alternatives.
“Those who think the world began less than 10000 yrs ago are worse than ignorant … deluded to the point of perversity, they are denying not only the facts of biology but those of physics, geology, cosmology, archaeology, history & chemistry.” – R. Dawkins
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These type clamps have been around for ages. The guys on woodsmith use something similar as well. I doubt there is any grounds for a suit. Most jigs are produced as a convenience for those that don't want to make one themselves.
Turning big pieces of wood into small pieces of wood
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bennybmn said:
If you're going to "roll your own" dowels with the router, you could just leave a flat...
Very good point. However, I made the dowels before I made these clamps that called for a flat. Otherwise, that's what I would have done. I have used this technique to make dowels all the way down to 1/2". It gets a little tacky for anything smaller. The glued up laminations also allow for making a very true dowel by canceling out crook and bow as you fabricate the square stock. However, solid stock also works well. There are also many projects that don't really require a perfectly round dowel. Rolling your own makes a lot of "cents" if you check the prices on hardwood dowels these days.  BTW, leave a short flat on the ends to fight the tendency to roll. Then cut that off when you are through with all four passes.
Rip to width. Plane to thickness. Cut to length. Join.
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Edwin Hackleman said:
BTW, leave a short flat on the ends to fight the tendency to roll. Then cut that off when you are through with all four passes.
Good point! Ever since I saw these clamps in the catalog I have been thinking of making my own. No need for them just yet, so I haven't. But when I do...  I was also thinking of screwing up into the dowel with a counter sunk screw thru the flat piece, instead of relying on the glue.
Benny
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