Question about miter jointed face frame clamping

[ear3]

I'm putting together a bathroom cabinet and did a miter-jointed face frame (secured with Dominos).  But I got a bit ahead of myself and profiled the edge of each board before gluing it up, figuring I would just use the Bessey strap clamp for the glue-up.  But when it came to clamping time, the edge wasn't wide enough for the plastic corners to rest on.  So I had to toss the frame and build another one (using rail/stile construction this time), and will now do the profile only after it's put together and attached to the carcasse.

But it go me searching for clamping methods for mitered frames (face or picture), which I don't have all that much experience with.  I was wondering what people's preferred methods/clamps are, particularly for frames that have some sort of edge profile?  There just seem to be so many different options out there, and I don't want to waste money on subpar solutions.

 

[Bauskac]

I sure like to use the miter spring clamps like:

http://www.collinstool.com/base.php?page=collins_miter_clamps.htm

There are others, but I use them for all my miters.  In fact the last trim out I did, I used them the clamp up the window casings on my mft, pinned the joint, and then just nailed the whole thing as a unit.  Worked pretty good, the miters stay aligned better the nailing each piece independently. I was wishing I had the domino to secure the joint.

 

[epicxt]

I use spring clamps for thin stock and Clam Clamps for larger stuff after putting a few Dominos in for good measure. The Clam Clamps are really powerful.
miterclamp.com

 

[ear3]

I use spring clamps for thin stock and Clam Clamps for larger stuff after putting a few Dominos in for good measure. The Clam Clamps are really powerful.
miterclamp.com

Yeah, I've heard others say good things about the clam clamps.  I think I'm going to invest in 4 of them for the larger frames I will build, though they will probably be overkill for the smaller ones.  Anything good that is intermediate b/w spring clamps and the clam clamps?

 

[Harvey]

There's a heavier duty spring clamp; I believe Ulmia were the originators, but you can find a few knockoffs on Amazon. I just bought some of them (the knockoffs) but haven't used them yet.

Gary Katz has a good comparison of them here-
http://www.garymkatz.com/ToolReviews/miter_clamps.html

 

[ear3]

Thanks Harvey.  The Garrett Wade site referred to in the article is incredible -- didn't know about it before.  Soooooooo many clamps....never enough clamps.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Recently I've been using the Collins Pocket Edge system for all of my window and door casings, and might be suitable for your face frame since you can cut plugs for the holes if you're worried about them being visible.

For casing work the Pocket Edge can't be beat. It's essentially a Kreg jig for your casings. Just drill the pockets on the head casing where no one will see it (you can also use the jig to cut matching plugs). Since you're using screws, glue and special spring clamps you get awesome joints in VERY short time frames, great for production work.
http://www.collinstool.com/base.php?page=edge_pocket.htm

 

[Brent Taylor]

I have used the Bessey strap clamps on all sorts of small frames, you can remove the corner blocks( for lack of a better term) and just use the strap. If the Diominos are in place you should have no problem. I do it with small frame with spline in the mitre joint. Give the strap clamp another try on the discarded unit, it's always good to try new things. Good luck B