a method and apparatus for controlling the hydraulic pressure in an hydraulic clamping cylinder to correspond with a desired clamping force and to compensate for overshoot of the hydraulic pressure caused by time delays in operating the components in the hydraulic circuit . the control arrangement involves the sensing of the actual hydraulic pressure during the clamp force maintenance portion of a clamping cycle and comparing the actual pressure with a desired pressure to provide a correction signal to be utilized to control the operation of the hydraulic system during the next succeeding cycle so that the actual hydraulic pressure during the clamp maintenance portion of the clamping cycle during the next succeeding cycle results in a clamping force that is closer to the desired clamping force .