The Woodworkers Rod Holder

grabcad

This is my take on a simple and robust rod holder design, produced from sustainable materials requiring a bare minimum of tooling and production costs. The inspiration for my design is the wood worker's cam clamp, this device is simple to build and to use and those who have used them know that they do a great job of providing clamping force without causing damage to wooden surfaces. The clamp holding the device to the canoe is nearly identical to the one used in a cam clamp with the method for adjusting the jaw width removed, if this were to be used for different styles of canoes such as aluminum ones with a cylindrical gunwale the throat of the clam could be deepened and an adjustment bar fitted to make the holder universal. The pitch and yaw adjustment of the rod itself proved more interesting and i tried out several cam designs to get a compact and rigid system while not becoming overly loose during adjustment. During assembly the screw fastening the three parts together is tightened down with the cam in its fully clamped position until the desired clamping pressure is attained and the screw is kept from rotating by using semi-permanent Loctite. Using this system the rod holder can go from a position parallel to the water to vertical and swivel freely about the screw. Notes on Manufacturing: Clamp Body: - Produced entirely out of wood and can be made using a CNC router table. - Note: the grain direction in the rendering is 90 degrees to what it should be, the grain should run parallel to the clamp jaws for optimal strength. Cam Pins: - The cam pins can be made of stainless steel or aluminum and should have a slight interference fit between both the body and the cams, if needed they can be pinned to the cam so that they do not slide out though this should not be an issue. Cams: - The cams are entirely made of wood and can be produced in a single operation using a CNC router table. Swivel Pin: - The swivel pin can be made of stainless steel or aluminum and does not require a particularly good fit in the clamp body. The only machining needed on this part is to drill and tap a hole for the screw to attach to. Swivel Plate: - The swivel plate can again be produced on a CNC router or even on a manual router in long strips that can be profiled then put onto a drilling machine to have the holes drilled and finished with a chop saw. Rod Holder, - The rod holder is the most difficult part to produce and also the on that is most easily changed to accommodate manufacturing. The critical features of the rod holder can again be produced by a CNC router. Thank you for looking