What you are looking at is a go bar deck sitting on the extension table of my table saw.
Go bar deck.
Go bar deck assembly from a sheet of 3 4 plywood cut six pieces each 2 feet x 2 feet.
The go bar deck or the use of bent sticks between two solid surfaces is a very old method of applying clamping pressure while gluing two parts together.
After trying a couple of alternatives from the local big box store as well as my back yard i broke down and bought a set of 3 16 fiberglass rods for the go.
The compression bars are made from straight grained maple with a 3 16 x 3 8 cross section.
A gobar clamping deck is a nifty system for clamping.
3 8 threaded rods were used to make the deck easy to break down and store.
The bars worked well when left 1 2 3 4 longer than the clear distance to the upper deck.
By bending fiberglass or wood rods between the upper and lower decks it is easy to put pressure just about anywhere you need it.
The basic idea is that you apply vertical pressure using rods usually fiberglass under tension.
Now you could just use lots and lots of expensive clamps with many cauls but most luthiers use what is called a go bar deck.
Stack and glue two of the pieces together and stack and glue the other four together the extra thickness is required to give the go bar deck base sufficient stiffness.
The deck is roughly 2 feet square and 2 feet tall.