Bespoke Lamont clamp is "value for money", says Stephen Anthony Design Ltd

The bespoke clamp was specially constructed to meet
Ian Moore's specific requirements.

STEPHEN Anthony Design Ltd was established in May 2002 with a view to making the finest handmade furniture and providing the highest level of service whilst delivering value for money. To this end, the company has recently purchased a pneumatic matrix table assembly clamp from Alan Lamont of Lamont Clamping.

“For the past 15 years we had been using a manual cramping system. It had its problems in ensuring items we were cramping were flat and was also labour intensive in setting up,” the company’s Ian Moore told PW&SS.

“I do go every two years to the woodworking shows in Birmingham looking out for new innovations, new ideas, different ways of doing things. This year I specifically went with the knowledge we would have the capacity to re-invest and had pin-pointed cramping as being one of the areas we wanted to improve on. I had done my homework before I went and wanted to see the goods in the flesh. There was nothing else like Alan’s at the show.

“Lamont is pretty much the only company out there that will bespokely make what you want. We had some fairly unique requirements. The clamp is positioned underneath a fairly low mezzanine floor: a lot of other off-the-shelf versions on the market were too tall. With Alan’s product he makes them to order so they can be made to measure.

“We made allowances for the height it had to fit under. We had it built to the length we wanted, and there were other specific specifications. For example, although clamps can be built for a specific purpose and a lot of what we do is door and frame assembly, he also made clamps that press dovetail drawer boxes together. Also, as the press is 4 m in length, we can clamp up in 4 m plank worktops together. We have combined all the uses we would need and built in the flexibility to achieve all of these in one machine, saving space and money.”

Ian continues, “It is a great deal more accurate than our previous cramp. We are able to press up our doors, etc, and we can ensure they are flat with no twist in them when they are taken out. It is easier and quicker to use than our old system. It is a time saving, money saving device.”

When asked if he would recommend it, Ian replied, “Yeah, all of it, the whole thing. Alan is very good, a nice chap, who understands all of our requirements. We worked together on designing it and he included some design features to complement and achieve what we needed. The quality of the clamp, its robustness, is possibly over-engineered but therefore it is extremely good value for money. I would highly recommend Alan and what he makes, it is very good.”

This article first appeared in the February/March 2017 issue of Panel, Wood & Solid Surface.