A clamp is a fastening device used to hold or secure objects tightly together to prevent movement or separation through the application of inward pressure. In the United Kingdom the term cramp is often used instead when the tool is for temporary use for positioning components during construction and woodworking; thus a G cramp or a sash clamp but a wheel clamp or a surgical clamp. There are many types of clamps available for many different purposes. Some are temporary, as used to position components while fixing them together, others are intended to be permanent. In the field of animal husbandry, using a clamp to attach an animal to a stationary object is known as "rounded clamping." A physical clamp of this type is also used to refer to an obscure investment banking term, "fund clamps." Anything that performs the action of clamping may be called a clamp, so this gives rise to a wide variety of terms across many fields.

Types

Temporary

These clamps (or cramps) are used to position components temporarily for various tasks: * Band clamp or web clamp * Bar clamp, F-clamp or sliding clamp (upper left in the top photo) * Cardellini clamp – jaw-style clamp that clamps onto round, square, or rectangular tubing; or onto flat objects, such as dimensional lumber or plywood sheets—to mount motion picture lights, or grip equipment such as gobo heads * C-clamp (also G-clamp or G-cramp) (lower centre in the top photo) *

Flooring clamp A flooring clamp is a clamp(or cramp) for holding tongue and groove flooring in place while laying. Use A flooring clamp is used for holding tongue and groove flooring while individual boards are being face nailed. Up to 8 to 10 boards may be c ...

A carpenter's clamp used to cramp up floorboards prior to fixing. * Forked clamp stainless steel for ST ground glass joints with/without

setscrew In American English, a set screw is a screw that is used to secure an object, by pressure and/or friction, within or against another object, such as fixing a pulley or gear to a shaft. A set screw is normally used without a nut (which distingu ...

. Sizes for: ST 14, 19, 24, 29 and 45. * Gripe (a specialized clamp, tightened with a wedge, for holding strakes in position when building a

clinker Clinker may refer to: *Clinker (boat building), construction method for wooden boats *Clinker (waste), waste from industrial processes *Clinker (cement), a kilned then quenched cement product * ''Clinkers'' (album), a 1978 album by saxophonist St ...

boat) * Hand clamp * Handscrew (upper right in the top photo) * Holdfast, a bench clamp for holding things to a bench top or side The bench forms the fixed jaw. * Magnetic clamp (see Magnetic base) * Mitre clamp * Pipe clamp (top of the top photo) * Sash clamp (a specialized, long form of bar clamp) * Set screw * Spring clamp (first item of third row in photo) * Speed clamp * Step clamp, a type of serrated-edged clamp used in conjunction with step blocks when machining or milling parts in metalworking * Toggle clamp * Toolmakers' clamp (a smaller, precision version of the handscrew, all in steel) * Pinch Dog (a small "staple" shaped device, designed to straddle a joint, and pull the joint tightly together during the glue up process) * Clip hangers are a subset of clothes hangers

Permanent

* Hose clamp * Marman clamp * Wire rope clamp * Joiner's dog

Medical

There are various kinds of surgical clamps: * Foerster clamp * Hemostatic clamp * Pennington clamp * Gomco clamp * Mogen clamp *

Bone clamp A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and e ...

Serrefine A bulldog forceps, clamp or serrefine is a type of forceps which is used in surgery. It has serrated jaws and a spring action so that it will grip and hold sutures, tissues or vessels. The spring may be weak or the jaws sheathed in a soft mat ...

Other

* Castration clamp * Wheel clamp * Pandrol clip * Tube clamp (name for the different clamps used in a tube and clamp scaffold) * Nipple clamp

Types

Temporary

Permanent

Medical

Other

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading