Special Tools: Lantern Clamps

It can be difficult to work on a lamp or lantern if you don't have a second pair of hands to hold it in place for you. It takes brute force to remove some of these parts and you're going to need some help.

You can spend a whole lot of money on a lantern clamp, but you don't need to. My goal is to keep this hobby as inexpensive as possible and I'll show you a few clamps that I have made and/or use in my shop. I'll also tell you where you can find a quality pre-made clamp.

The Workmate® Lantern Clamp. As long as it has the four little feet that originally came with it, this is the most versatile lantern clamp ever made.

The top of a Workmate has numerous pre-drilled holes to set those little feet in. By trial and error, you can usually find the right combination of holes to securely hold the lamp or lantern in place.

If you have children, steal an inner tube from their bicycle tire. If not, spend a few dollars and go buy one. Wrap the lamp or lantern fount with the inner tube before you clamp down on it. It will grip it better and protect from scratching.

I found that my Workmate® 200 would not hold large catalytic heaters or small lanterns, so I drilled a few additional holes and it works perfectly.

The Homemade Plywood Lantern Clamp. This is a relatively simple lantern clamp that I made from scrap lumber and a couple of woodworking clamps. You place the clamp in a bench vice, select the appropriate jaw set for the application and then secure the fount within the jaws.

The clamp that I made will hold Quick-Lite lamps, double mantle lanterns and both sizes of single mantle lanterns, plus a number of single-burner stoves. You'll need plywood, and 12" length of two-by-four, a bicycle inner tube, a hand or table saw, a scroll saw and a few standard hand tools to build one. Click here to learn how.

Pre-made Lantern Clamps. There are a number of them out there, some made from metal and some out of wood. I own an aluminum clamp and I've used a few of the wooden ones out there. They work but can get spendy.

When searching for a good clamp, look for versatility. Don't buy one that doesn't hold a wide variety of fount sizes. As of the time of this writing, there are a number of clamps available online (eBay search) that are similar to this photograph, for about $130.

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