Ideas to help hold 2x4 (and thicker) stock when joining

[Charlene Christensen]

I'm very new here, so I'm open to any suggestions.  I've been happily working with the Kreg jig for a little while, and recently added the HD to my collection so I can work on bigger stock.  I'm currently working on a road-side stall to sell flowers from.  I'm using some reclaimed wood which is just shy of 2 inches thick.  Does anyone have any ideas for how to hold the wood snug whilst I'm screwing it together?  Everything I've tried so far only works for thinner wood.  Thanks in advance!

[KregCS]

Charlene, 

Unfortunately, when working with larger pieces like this you kind of have to improvise. I know some people when working with larger pieces have used ratchet straps in order to hold them together while joining. Some use some small brads while they wait for the glue to dry or before screwing them together as well. Depending on the length you could even use some long bar clamps to hold these in place. Unfortunately, there is not a go-to tool for these applications so experiment and if you find something that works well please let us all know. 

[Tony]

Hi Charlene,

I might suggest that you use another piece of wood that it clearly flat and clamp that down over the 2 pieces that you're joining.  In some cases, with larger projects that no longer fit on a work table, you have to improvise on the fly as the Kreg rep mentioned above.  Last Oct, I built an outdoor sofa out of cedar 2x4's and 2x6's using the Kreg HD jig.  This was my biggest project to date.  I used a lot of squeeze clamps and other pieces of wood to hold the 2 pieces that I wanted to join in place until I was able to drive the screws in place.

Tony

[Doug]

I use the Bessey wood clamps in the 4 packs from Home Depot.  I can clamp squared pieces of wood to hold the location of the piece with the kreg pocket holes.  That can keep the piece from moving while I fasten the Kreg screw.  Also I use the 90 degree corner clamps where they fit.  I'd be building bookcases and cabinets. 

[Charlene Christensen]

Thanks everyone for their replies! That's great information.  I very much like the idea of using the straps; I think this would work very well for what I'm currently working on.  The cedar sofa that Tony built sounds lovely, and I'd like to move onto making some outdoor furniture.  The tip of using squeeze clamps and other pieces of wood is definitely useful.  Good to know as well about the Bessey clamps; I'd looked into these but would have to buy them online since I'm in New Zealand.  Do they seems worth the money?  Many thanks once again, great tips everyone!

[Tony]

I just bought a bunch of Bessey clamps from Amazon 2 months ago.  Hopefully this will work.

https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-GSCC2-524-2-5-Inch-24-Inch-Economy/dp...

https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-GSCC2-536-2-5-Inch-36-Inch-Economy/dp...

[Charlene Christensen]

Thanks Tony that's awesome!