24" Clamp guide $7 at HF

[LCHIEN]

The just published Wood magazine has a full page HF add with a coupon for this clamp guide for $6.99 (and a free 25' tape measure to boot.)

http://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch-clamp-and-cut-edge-guide-66126.html

Compare to the 24" clamp guide at Rockler for $42. http://www.rockler.com/all-in-one-lo...mproved-clamps

if you don't have one of these at all $7 is not much. As a clamp genre, they're good for circular saw guides, drill press table low profile fence. If your router table is narrow enough it makes a great quickie low profile router fence for grooving but of course you can't bury a router bit in the fence. For handheld router use its a great guide.

Its definately not as nice as the Rockler version but is the Rockler 6 times better?

It clamps OK, the thing says it will take up to a 22° angle to the table edge. The sort of weak looking point is the red plastic pieces that swivel the angle to the clamping faces. I can imagine them breaking. THe HF clamp does have a lifetime warranty, though. If clamps firmly and with no appreciable wiggle when clamped hard enough. The sliding jaw is a little more difficult to slide into place than the Rockler... but it works, maybe use will free it up a little.

I figured I'd give it a try for $7. Oh, and the free tape measure goes into the car glove compartment to replace the free 6 foot tape measure I got somewhere that's a whole lot less well made than the HF tape measure.

[tfischer]

I have the 4' rockler version. I don't use it often but comes in handy when I do. I typically use it to cut down sheet goods, and am often finding myself wishing I had an 8' version so I could cut in both dimensions. Not sure I'd use a 2' version very often.

[frumper64]

I have both the 2 foot and 4 foot versions of there HF clamps / guides. As Loring said, they work surprisingly well for the price. I use them mainly as a circular saw guide for cutting sheet goods into manageable pieces.