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Originally Posted by bobj3 HI rstermer
I'm a user of cams ,,, I have made many,many of them... from 1/2" dam. to 2" dia. and from from 1/2" high to 1 1/4" tall , I have made them with a hole saw and using dowel rod, by the way dowel rod works the best..  ,,, most of the holes are just off the edge of the dowel ,to get the max caming action out of them..
They work better than the wedges in most jobs..
I have but sand paper on some and that helps hold them in place or to say hold the stock in palce.
I also drill all the holes the same so I can use the same allen screw with them all/most...it's a 10-24 x 1 1/4" allen cap screw...
But I also use sq.drive dry wall screws when I need to...
I use a stop block on the chop saw so they all come out the same, the norm is 8 of each size..
Thumbs up on the cams
Hope this helps..
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Thanks, Bob. Will any hardwood do for the dowel or do you have a preferance? For strength, it would seem you would want to leave adequate wall thickness from the edge of the cam to the edge of the pivot hole, otherwise the wall might crack. How much material do you usually leave? Also, how do you decide how far to set the cam back from the material the cam will be locking in position? Distance from center of pivot to furthest edge of cam minus an eighth? Or a sixteenth? It seems to me that the distance is a critical facor, too close and the cam won't be able to rotate far enough to effectively lock up, too far and the cam won't apply enough pressure. Finally, when setting the cams in position, is hand pressure all that is required or do you use a tool (slip joint pliers?) to lock them in place?
Thanks for the info!
rstermer
Edit: As I think about it, the optimum amount of interfernce between the the workpiece and the cam must depend on the diameter of the cam. A large diameter cam will hit the workpiece at a shallower angle, and thus generate less pressure (once everything is snugged up) per degree of rotation than will a smaller diameter cam. Also, the closer the pivot is set to the edge, the greater the pressure generated per degree of rotation will be for a given size of cam. So it is fairly complicated to get it just right. Yes?
RAS