Review: 5/5
Thrilled with These Over My Normal C Clamps.
I am an avid do-it-yourself-er and do a lot of projects around the house. Comparing to my all-metal C-clamps, I am extremely thrilled with these so far and excited to use them on my next project. I think they are a lot easier to use than C-clamps and it seems to hold extremely tightly (with 2 just like my C-clamps require). I plan on using these instead of my C-clamps going forward unless they let me down, and only time will tell.
I find them so much easier to quickly clamp, tighten, and release. With my normal C-clamps that you tighten and release by the screw mechanism, it takes too long to size for the job, tigten, or move. With these, you can resize at the press of a button and it easily slides open. To size for the job, just press the button and slide into place, then a few quick squeezes on the ratcheting handle it tightens snugly. I find if I am working with something that needs moving and re-clamping on the table or to work on multiple items, these seem so much easier to release and re-clamp. Plus, these seem to tighten snugly better than my C-clamps without leaving a mark compared to my C-clamps that I tighten so much as to leave a round depression in the wood. The rubber contacts seem to compensate by better friction than my C-clamps, but you can also just add a piece of junk wood in-between for your C-clamps too instead of applying directly to the piece you are clamping. Because I always have to have a piece of junk wood to help clamp with my C-clamps, I think these will not need it and are more convenient.
The large clamps seem much heavier duty and are the easiest to use. With the weight of the metal bar, when you release to apply it to clamp something it sizes by gravity to the right size, then you just ratchet easily a few quick squeezes. The little clamps don’t quite release to slide as easily at first because they stick a little bit more, but is still rather easy and release. At first all of them stick a bit out of the package until you slide them a few times. The construction is a mix of metal & plastic. The piece slides along a metal bar that seems to be of good quality. I can’t see the insides of the ratcheting mechanism, so I cannot say how it makes contact to assess its quality. The ratchet handle and casing is plastic, but doesn’t seem to be a problem and probably helps keep it light enough to make it easy to work with and well balanced. One comment I have is that the rubber contacts can sometimes fall off when not in use which slide over the meta contact points. They stay on well enough, but the little clamps especially I have knocked them off while moving them around. The rubber contacts make for great friction to help hold it in place, but I suspect they might eventually crack in the long run. But for ease of use, I think I really like this and the rubber contact might be the best fit for the job.
I haven’t used these for long, but in some tests I did for clamping wood to a wooden table like I do for do-it-yourself projects, it clamped very tightly and snugly. Just like my C-clamps, one clamp will not do, especially the little camps. Just like the C clamp, you can rotate the object and pivot around it. Two clamps, even if small clamps, could hold a piece of wood very snugly in place. If I really worked at it, I could tug it out slowly and eventually if I repeatedly pulled on the clamped item very hard. But applying the big clamp seemed to put a stop to that if I was really going to be tugging at it. So I’m not quite sure what the other reviews meant by light duty applications or any problems with tightening. I found this to clamp very tightly with a few quick ratchets and 2 clamps or more seemed to hold extremely well, at least while new out of the box.
UPDATE: After several months having used them on various household projects, I am still thrilled with these. I slightly damaged one of the rubber grips by trying to use a little clap to hold a circular object while I drilled it. I like that these are rubber and don’t damage the object I am holding because they can apply friction without over squeezing and my normal C claps metal screw would have to slightly crush it to hold it. These were so much easier and faster to use than my metal C clamps. I just drilled some wood and needed to hold them in place. The large claps were so fast to release and apply with a new piece of wood. When I buy clamps again, I would look more for something like this and will not go back to my old clamps if I don’t have to.
Product Title: KR Tools 19196 Pro Series 6-Piece Ratcheting Bar Clamp and Spreader Set
Model: 19196
Post time: Jul-30-2017