Dewalt parallel bar clamps

[shed9]

Picked up a few of these in the last week or so;

https://www.dewalt.co.uk/products/dwht83831-1--600mm-24-parallel-bar-clamp
Despite the short time I have used them, they are just superb, I have a fair few Bessey bar K clamps and have to say these come across as better built versions. The heads slide easier and the end stops seem a better design to me. The bars themselves are smooth but this hasn't proved to be a problem yet. Only downside is they are quite heavy but then there is a lot of solid metal in the design and I'm using them on the surface to clamp from below so this works in my favour right now. The threads on the clamp are also not as big but that has not shown to be an issue as yet. There is also no slip covers on the clamp heads but again, not an issue, not for me anyhow as I often place sacrificial material between the clamps and the end material.

I picked up a few via Tradepoint and some through Screwfix so got a discount on them but the standard selling price is around £35 per clamp although the 48" version seems better value at only an extra £5 - just can't get hold of the 48" at the moment though.

If they hold up over the next few weeks I will certainly be buying more.

 

[starlingwood]

Do the handles pivot for that extra bit of force and is it made of aluminium or steel? They look good.

 

[shed9]

Do the handles pivot for that extra bit of force and is it made of aluminium or steel? They look good.

Not sure what you mean by pivot, if you mean the soft grip handles that you use to turn the pressure up then yes but I suspect all parallel bar clamps work that way. It's possible I'm being dumb here in answering your question....

The metal is steel and it's quite heavy gauge. I can imagine a product development process trying to get away with the least amount of material and this feels to me like the engineers won this argument, not the accountants. When I first picked one I was genuinely surprised at the weight, I expected it to be a lot less based on my general experience of parallel bar clamps. Don't get me wrong, I still think Bessey is the king in this domain but these Dewalt clamps are viable contenders in my opinion, especially if the price comes down. Seems only Screwfix have stock at the moment and only in the 24" range.

 

[starlingwood]

Some handles just twist (like Rutland ones), some you can twist and pivot them 90 degrees and crank up a bit more tightness, it's also useful feature if you cant get your hand around the handle if its a large complicated piece you're glueing up.

I need some more so will buy a few I think value seems OK, thanks for sharing.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Someone pointed to these the other day - might be worth a look.
http://www.tools-warehouse.co.uk/Po...oducts/107/?sort_dir=0&sort_column=4&Start=25

 

[shed9]

Some handles just twist (like Rutland ones), some you can twist and pivot them 90 degrees and crank up a bit more tightness, it's also useful feature if you cant get your hand around the handle if its a large complicated piece you're glueing up.

That makes sense and I know what you mean now, no these are just a straight handle with no pivot point.

 

[shed9]

Someone pointed to these the other day - might be worth a look.
http://www.tools-warehouse.co.uk/Po...oducts/107/?sort_dir=0&sort_column=4&Start=25

Thanks for that, always useful to know good sources of clamps. I noticed Jorgensen have started selling their one handed clamps through B&Q these days, we may start to see some of the beefier variants start to come through.