Best clamps|

[WonderWoman]

Im trying to drill/jigsaw a small bitof wood but Im finding my 1 G clamp gets in the way alot and i feel Im forever unscrewing it and moving it around so I can get to the bits I want to cut.
Ive seen 'clip' clamps, like bulldog clips but they look like they wont open up far enough to take the layers of wood.
what do you suggest?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Hi WW
If G-clamps are doing th job OK, but the issue is speed, then you may wish to look at trigger claps. They come in loads of sizes from a few inches to a metre, and cheap ones can be found on the market, Aldi, Wilko's etc. I have a load of the Wolfcraft ones and they are usually what I reach for first in a glue-up.

http://www.tool-up.co.uk/shop/diy/WFC3455.html

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jorden]

I bought a set of the Lidl clamps a few weeks ago, and binned them over the weekend, their reasonable clamping pressure when new quickly got weeker until i couldn't hurt my hand with them - maybe the HSE would like to buy them and make them compulsory

Dennis

 

[Gill]

Alternatively, you could make yourself a bench hook such as those here and here. Just place your wood against the lip of the hook and it won't rotate when you're drilling into it. I'd suggest you put a piece of waste wood between the hook and the wood you're working on, though, or you'll soon drill straight your hook and have to make another.

Bench hooks are wonderfully useful in so many ways yet they're cheap and easy to make.

Gill

 

[SketchUp Guru]

I find that double-sided carpet tape is an excellent alternative to clamps. I use it all the time for holding work pieces down, attaching templates for routing, etc.

Here in the US, it comes in 2" widths. I end up cutting it into narrower strips with a utility knife.

This is the stuff I use. The roll has lasted me about 3 or 4 years and I still have a long way to go before I run out.

 

[JFC]

I use speed clamps , they are G clamps with a mastic gun action and never fail . i hold timber onto my roof rack with them

 

[mailee]

I have a set of the Lidl clamps and they are still working great, quick and easy to use and only £2.99 a pair, I got dozens of them.

 

[como]

I have some of the lidl clamps (the one's with plastic handles), which I found to loose their grip after a few uses. However this can be fixed!

Take the handle apart and you will find that the trigger pivots on a small metal pin, the circular plastic recess on either side of the handle which holds the pin tends to get broken.

Drill through either side of the handle where the recess is located and reassemble the handle but use a nut and bolt straight through the handle to replace the pin.

I've done this fix to quite a few of mine and they grip really solid.

Hope this makes sense, if anyone needs photo's shout up and I'll repost these instructions with photo's.

Cheers

Mark