(This may be old news to some, but for those it isn't...)

I'm into clamps. I've got some small spring clamps that are great for holding glued pieces in place. The problem is, I only have 10 of them, their throat is extremely shallow, and they're relatively expensive, considering I'd like to have about a hundred more of them.

I decided to try clothespins, but my grocery store was all out. But I *did* notice something in the same section. Enter the bobby pin.



They're dirt cheap, they're slick so that glue doesn't stick well, they have extremely deep throats (quiet, you lot in the back), and they actually look better than black paperclips for Clip-It walls. But it's their versatility as clamps I love.

First, the humble boxfold. Perfect for the long edge.



Holding together sections of chunky walls.



Gluing Clipit Walls.



Crazy strange inside tabs, like the one on this fireplace from P&I



Making multiple shelves temporarily into a single unit, strenghthening them as well (these are keg cabinets from P&I)



I'm sure I'll discover more as I go.

I have a whole slew of clamps too. And I vastly prefer using the longer narrower bobby pins for clip it walls.

But for props and things I use brief strong pressure rather than clamps. I have a pair on long thin jewelry needle noose pliers that work great for this. Square dowels are good too for the very hard to reach places. Just lay the piece so when rubbed with the dowel the tab is between the wood and the cutting board.

Thanks, that's a good tip about the bobby pins. I'll pick some up.

Luckyjoe

Ah, bobby pins! I love the idea; thanks for the tip!

So many times I've looked down inside a small box fold and thought. "OK so how am I supposed to hold that tight?" Even with my long needle nose I end up getting them glued to the cardstock and making a mess.

Will be trying these for sure!

I am going to second the motions, bobby pins are super sweet.
There is another type of cair clip that works well as a clamp, but not so much for joining walls.

I am thinking specificaly of C004 and C002, as I know they are flat and the others are curved slightly. But I imagine with a little willpower and a judiciously applied hammer, you could make C001 and C005 flat as well.

C003 is just dead to me.

Yep, Bobby Pins are awesome. I just recently started to build and found that not only are they good for helping hold stuff while glue dries, they do great at holding the tunnels and corridors together instead of paperclips. And you definitely can't beat the price of them!

Finally have some pictures of magnets at work!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25140352@N ... otostream/

The inside of that looks like so..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25140352@N ... otostream/

If you're a little careful you can get them closer, like this..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25140352@N ... otostream/

Bobby pins are great. I tried paper clips at first but they were too wide in some instances and sometimes scratched the print.

I love using bobby pins for building models