All-in-One Clamps

[jackellis]

I've been looking at two different clamping systems on Amazon. One, by the E. Emerson tool company:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013

and the other by Griset:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...D2Y5TUCCVJ7DGE

I wondered if anyone has used them and what their opinions are. I'm considering the 99 inch model to use as a circular saw guide for cutting sheet goods and either the 24" or 48" model (or both) as auxiliary fences and featherboard holders for the BT's accessory router table.

there are also a number of accessories available. Are any of them more useful than others?

[messmaker]

I have an eight foot version of this and It is a good product. I find myself in need of the four foot model now.I just ruined a piece of plywood by letting my saw wander on my old 4 foot sawboard. By the time you purchase the two guides and the overpriced tool guide, you are getting to nearly $200. This makes me wonder about the EZ Smart or even the Festool. I guess I am saying that the quality is there. I question the value.

[pirinst]

Great Product, however.........

I realized after getting three different lengths and a router and circular saw base plate that both of my circular saws had unwanted play in the hinge joints.

They had roll pins and rivets as the hinge pivot points which were loose. Drilled them out and installed bolts and castle nuts. Now even at 1/4 inch cutting depth, the saw will not wobble around at all. The guides then allow the saw to cut perfectly straight.

Used to use two of the cheapo guides-one on either side of the saw when cutting the plywood sheets and still got wobbly cuts. Did not know why and assumed it was the guides flexing to the sides. After my discovery, I've checked many circular saws at the retailers and they almost all have rivets and roll pins holding the hinges together. Most have unwanted play at the shallow cut depth. Some extremely bad-even over $100 saws! Heck, a cheapo Skill $35 saw that has correct hinges would have outperformed my
Craftsman Professional circular before I did the mods.

If you only cut two by fours and two by sixes with them, you'd never notice a problem-it is only when you pull the base all the way out that you can see the movement.

If I'd known this before getting the expensive guides and base plates, I would not have purchased them. That said, I have no regrets getting the products
since they work as advertized. No need to wrestle with 4x8 sheets and hope they don't kick back on you. I also bought thin kerf blades to help ease the burdon of cutting long cuts.

I check the woodworking mags at the store every month and am unpleasantly surprised to note they never address the saw wobble problem being attributed to the rivets and roll pin hinges. They just say that some saws have sturdier bases at shallow cutting depth and blame the base flex as causing problems. It is so simple to me that I find it hard to believe the experts in the magazines haven't thought it out..... Enjoy your guides,
I'd bet they all are great, regardless of brand-as long as your saw doesn't have the built in wandering cut like mine had before I did mods.

[jbalders]

I have a set of the All-in-one clamps. I posted this recently regarding using the AIOC to mount a featherboard on the BT3K:

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=19741

I love mine. I have an 8', 50" and a few smaller ones. You could do a shop-made version which would work just as well, but when I got them, I had an upcoming project and I didn't have the time to make a sawboard or one of the derivatives. I use mine a lot to cut down plywood to manageable size, and for the aforementioned featherboard. I also use some of the smaller ones to clamp up panels too. I use the router plate to cut dados and rabbets quite frequently too.

I saw the demo at the woodworking show last year. One of the big selling points (if you believe the pusher demonstrator) was that it was 3/4" tall, so you can use normal 3/4" stock as necessary (like for additional support, spacers or whatnot).

I remember seeing a shop-made router board which used some hardboard, an L bracket, phenolic sliders, micro-adjust and a few other neat features. The carriage slid into the fence-guide holes in the router. It might have been in ShopNotes, but it might have been in one of a number of other magazines.