I like using a shopmade featherboard to hold work securely against a machine fence, but clamping the board to the tabletop can be a challenge. The clamps don’t always reach deeply or hold securely enough. To get a good grip on the featherboard, and to position it easily at any working angle, I made this clamping bridge. The device mounts to the mitergauge T-track on router tables, auxiliary bandsaw tables, and newer tablesaws, and can accommodate a featherboard of any length.

I made the clamp body from a block of white oak, but any durable hardwood will work. The ends of the block are secured to the T-track with a pair of long Phillips flat-head bolts threaded into star knobs and set in drilled holes. Three stacked washers on the end of each screw ride in the T-track.The other two knobs apply pressure to an aluminum clamping bar. Run the featherboard under the clamping bridge, position it against the workpiece, and then turn the two center knobs on the bridge to push the clamping bar down, securing the featherboard.

click to enlarge

Drawings by Jim Richey.

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