A pipe clamp is a type of clamp

Clamp (tool)

A clamp is a fastening device to hold or secure objects tightly together to prevent movement or separation through the application of inward pressure...

 often employed in woodworking

Woodworking

Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...

 or cabinet

Cabinet (furniture)

A cabinet is usually a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors or drawers for storing miscellaneous items. Some cabinets stand alone while others are built into a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood or, now increasingly, of synthetic...

 shops. It is, usually, comprised, of commercially manufactured clamp heads or "jaws" and a length of common threaded pipe

Pipe (material)

A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...

. The capacity of the clamp is determined by the length of the pipe used.

Description

A pipe clamp uses clamp heads produced commercially by numerous manufacturers. They are available in various diameter

Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

 sizes, commonly ½”or ¾”, suited to the same diameter piping. The pipe is usually threaded on both ends. One head is fixed on the pipe by spinning it onto standard pipe threads. This head includes the screw

Screw

A screw, or bolt, is a type of fastener characterized by a helical ridge, known as an external thread or just thread, wrapped around a cylinder. Some screw threads are designed to mate with a complementary thread, known as an internal thread, often in the form of a nut or an object that has the...

 mechanism

Mechanism (engineering)

A mechanism is a device designed to transform input forces and movement into a desired set of output forces and movement. Mechanisms generally consist of moving components such as gears and gear trains, belt and chain drives, cam and follower mechanisms, and linkages as well as friction devices...

 for tightening the clamp. The other, moveable, head slides onto the other end of the pipe. This head has a mechanism, often a series of moveable “clutch

Clutch

A clutch is a mechanical device which provides for the transmission of power from one component to another...

es” which allow it to slide along the pipe when setting up the clamping operation but which lock onto the pipe when clamping pressure is applied.

Pipe clamps serve a similar purpose to bar clamps but are generally less expensive to purchase and have a versatility derived from the ability to use a variety of lengths of pipe to suit ones needs. The same clamp heads might be switched over from a two foot length of pipe to a twelve foot length as the project at hand dictates. Having threads at both ends of the pipe also allows the use of pipe coupling

Coupling

A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. Couplings do not normally allow disconnection of shafts during operation, however there are torque limiting couplings which can slip or disconnect when some torque limit is exceeded.The...

s, joining two lengths of pipe to extend the length of the clamp.

Uses

A common use of pipe clamps in woodworking is for edge gluing; several boards being joined edge to edge to produce a wider surface such as a table top or cabinet components. In this case several pipe clamps will be set up on the workbench

Workbench

A workbench is sturdy table at which manual work is done. They range from simple flat surfaces to very complex designs that may be considered tools in themselves. Workbenches vary in size from tiny jewelers benches to the huge benches used by staircase makers...

so that clamping pressure can be applied evenly along the length of the boards being joined.

Pipe clamps can also be used to assemble the four sides of boxes or cabinets. As with most other forms of clamps, a wide variety of uses might be found.