HF Clamp Guide?

[JoeyGee]

Has anyone used the HF clamp guide (under the Pittsburgh name)? I saw the 50" for only $20 today, but didn't know if it is any good.

I didn't like the looks of the moveable head on the clamping end. It seems it would be hard to make square. Are all clamp guides like that?

[phi1l]

I didn't like the looks of the moveable head on the clamping end. It seems it would be hard to make square. Are all clamp guides like that?

The movable head is a "feature" that facilitates making non-square cuts. They work well for square cuts too,.. once you have them lined up

[sparkeyjames]

I have taken long looks at the HF clamps. I mean all of them. The only ones worth buying are the wooden clamps. The rest fall well short of quality clamps like Bessey and Jet.


The wooden ones like these....

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=4852

[dbhost]

I have taken long looks at the HF clamps. I mean all of them. The only ones worth buying are the wooden clamps. The rest fall well short of quality clamps like Bessey and Jet.


The wooden ones like these....

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=4852

In what way? I own Pittsburg bar clamps, and size for size they are every bit as high quality as my Jorgensens.

[Pappy]

Joe isn't talking about clamps, but a saw/router guide that clamps on to the work piece.

[cgallery]

I have eight of the aluminum bar clamps from HF, four of the 48" and four of the adjustable length (which I can't find at their web site, maybe they're discontinued).

These clamps are lightweight and aren't going to compete with the big parallel clamps out there in terms of clamping pressure.

Knowing that I can't rely on clamps to put a death grip on crappy joinery, I make sure my joints don't need 2000 pounds of pressure to come together.

I've been happy w/ them.

Every once in a while I look at the parallel clamps in stores and think, "good heaven these things are heavy."

[LCHIEN]

You didn't give a link or a picture so i assume its this kind of clamp guide you're talking about:



most of those clamp guides like the All-in-one Emerson etc have a clamp which swivels a small amount to let you adjust the angle at which it clamps. You would need to use a T-square to square it up before you clamp it on. Then make the cut and it will be square.

Rockler sells these attachments to help square it up if you want to.

[rcp612]

My local?? HF, (42 miles away), stocks the E.Emerson clamps as shown in Loring's post that are widely sold by just about all woodworking supply houses. And they are very reasonably priced compared to all the others.
I have the 24", 36", and 50" and am very pleased with them.

[JoeyGee]

Yes, I am talking abut the saw/router guides that clamp to the workpiece. This is the link to the 50":

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93589

They have different sizes as well. I think I am going to pick up a couple with 20% coupons. $16 for the 50" seems like a pretty good deal.

As for other HF clamps, I have several and have been satisfied with them.