Irwin K Clamps

[ssmith1627]

Just saw the latest Wood magazine. They did a test of all the various K jaw clamps out there. The HF model and one other had deflection at the tip of the jaw of about 1/16th of an inch -- they said it wouldn't affect the glueup and was acceptable but something to think about.

A new clamp from Irwin is coming out as they add their own version into the mix. It came out too late for them to evaluate in their article but it is pictured there.

Steve

[BrazosJake]

Hmm, cool, I'll check it out.

I've looked at the HF parallel-jaw clamps, seems to me they weren't priced much (if any) lower than Besseys', Jorgys, et al.

[ssmith1627]

I agree, no cheaper than some of the Amazon deals or what Woodcraft has to offer. But they do go on sale for pretty cheap and the HF coupons are always around as well.

Steve

[havighurst]

Watch for sales at HF. They were recently on sale for $14.99 for the 24". At that price, they are worth considering.

[Andrew Benedetto]

The most interesting thing to me is that pipe clamps had 2K#'s;bar 1.1K#'s;bessey 580#'s,Irwin QG 139#'s of clamping force.
Titebond rec. 100#'s for glue up.

[jackellis]

I've heard several times now that clamps can typically exert a lot more force than is really necessary. I use a thin but adequate, even spread of glue and tighten clamps until they're snug and so far, so good.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Just saw the latest Wood magazine. They did a test of all the various K jaw clamps out there. The HF model and one other had deflection at the tip of the jaw of about 1/16th of an inch -- they said it wouldn't affect the glueup and was acceptable but something to think about.

A new clamp from Irwin is coming out as they add their own version into the mix. It came out too late for them to evaluate in their article but it is pictured there.

Steve

I think I still subscribe that that mag. Can't wait to see the review. I was advised that the HF stores would be carrying the 12" guys in the future. When they go on sale for half price I want to be ready! I think I'll personally get a couple of the 24" and test the deflection.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

The most interesting thing to me is that pipe clamps had 2K#'s;bar 1.1K#'s;bessey 580#'s,Irwin QG 139#'s of clamping force.
Titebond rec. 100#'s for glue up.

You are absolutely correct. One would never use maximum clamping pressure with pipe clamps or parallel jaw clamps. I am guessing there is a correlation between deflection and maximum clamping force. There is very minimal deflection in the higher force capacity clamps, I assume due to being built for higher pressure. Having said that, there are also issues of jaw squareness in some of the higher capacity clamps such as pipe clamps.