On Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 6:49:13 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>
> anyone tried this out
I'll take a bit of a contrarian view. I have about a half dozen of the 12 inch clamps and they work fine for small tasks. They ratchet down pretty tight. How can you go wrong for about $3 each on sale.
On 2015-10-27 23:49:09 +0000, Electric Comet said:
> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>
> anyone tried this out
>
>
> I have had very poor luck the HF.
Go for better ones.
CP
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
On 10/27/2015 6:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>
> anyone tried this out
>
If you are serious about woodworking and plan to use the clamps often it
is very likely that you will seldom use these clamps once you replace
them with better ones.
On 10/28/2015 2:52 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
> On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 10:57:56 -0700, Gramps' shop wrote:
>
>> On Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 6:49:13 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
>>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy
>>> a few the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on
>>> these clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>>
>>
>> I'll take a bit of a contrarian view. I have about a half dozen of the
>> 12 inch clamps and they work fine for small tasks. They ratchet down
>> pretty tight. How can you go wrong for about $3 each on sale.
>
> I've got a bunch of the HF bar clamps in lengths up to 30" They work
> great as long as you're just gluing up and not trying to simultaneously
> straighten warped wood :-).
>
> IIRC, HF has 2 versions. One marked Pittsburg, which is what I have, and
> another "brand" which seems to be the one generating most of the
> complaints.
>
Strange enough, my wife has a long arm sewing machine and it came with 4
Pittsburg clamps and I was impressed, for sewing needs. ;~)
On Friday, October 30, 2015 at 7:05:27 AM UTC-4, Mike Marlow wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
> > stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
> > upper/mid 80s here...
> >
>
> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about to put
> some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front porch yesterday.
> I was watching the stacks lean more and more over the space of a week or so
> until finally...Oh well, I get an additional day of heat out of those pieces
> now.
>
Firewood on the porch? You should have leaned it up against the
refrigerator. ;-)
On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 10:35:37 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
=20
> If you are serious about woodworking and plan to use the clamps often it=
=20
> is very likely that you will seldom use these clamps once you replace=20
> them with better ones.
Many years ago I had a really big glue up and bought a bunch of HF clamps. =
I had bought the big all wood clamps (a Jorgenson C clamp knock off) and p=
lain ductile iron clamps before and they worked great.
So I figured I would be OK if I bought their bar clamps and some squeeze cl=
amps. They worked for the first glue up, then one or two failed after the =
second glue up, and then finally after about a year of use all but two of t=
en had failed. It was worse with their hand squeeze clamps, which I use th=
ree or four times a week sometimes all day as a second set of hands. Event=
ually, after light use all of them (about 6) failed completely.
To put this in perspective, I have four bar clamps that were made in the 19=
20s or 1930s and have been heavily used. They still work fine, although wi=
th the bars a little bent (and being really heavy) they are more backup cla=
mps than anything else. I have some off brand of squeeze clamp I bought at=
HD about 20 years ago that I have used for all twenty years, and they stil=
l work fine. Ditto my 3' and 4' Stanley and Irwin clamps which are probabl=
y in the 15 year range. I have Pony pipe clamps that have to be 50 years o=
ld that were given to me by a retired contractor that used them for everyth=
ing you could imagine, and they work just fine.
With their short, piss poor track record, HF turned I will never buy anothe=
r HF clamp unless I figure some way it might be a one time use. Clamps are=
tools I expect to work, period.
Robert
On 10/28/2015 1:02 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 10:35:37 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
>
>> If you are serious about woodworking and plan to use the clamps
>> often it is very likely that you will seldom use these clamps once
>> you replace them with better ones.
>
> Many years ago I had a really big glue up and bought a bunch of HF
> clamps. I had bought the big all wood clamps (a Jorgenson C clamp
> knock off) and plain ductile iron clamps before and they worked
> great.
Wine, beer and bourbon drinkers have a saying... "Life is too short to
drink cheap ___________!"
I'll add clamps to that. Over the years I have accumulated a large
collection of Jorgensen clamps of all shapes and sizes. I've also
bought some sets of Bessey's (courtesy of a tip here years ago on some
fantastic deal available from a major supplier - forget who but it MAY
have been Amazon).
Like Timex, all of the above take a licking and keep on ticking.
Nothing fancy, just a solid tool that continues to do what it is
supposed to do and does it well.
Perhaps only 30% of my collection were bought new. That's the beauty of
quality tools... somebody can abuse them and somebody like me can
stumble across them on Craigslist, garage sales, estate sales, etc. and
with a couple of enjoyable hours in the shop cleaning them up, have a
well worn but full functional clamp to add to the collection for pennies
on the dollar.
On Fri, 30 Oct 2015 19:21:13 -0400, "Mike Marlow"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Not worth the effort to try to take it apart, and put it back together.
You just have to burn it faster Mike.
Oh wait it is November real soon, that will take care of itself.
Mark
On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 4:10:11 PM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote:
>=20
> I have experienced this with the squeeze clamps but not at all with the b=
ar=20
> clamps or the pipe clamps. Neither of those have failed over more than 1=
0=20
> years of use. I put them to use for things far more than just woodworkin=
g.
Always important when talking about the quality if HF that it can vary wild=
ly. Each batch is a lot number, and according to one of the store managers=
I talked to (take that for what it is worth) different lots can vary in qu=
ality. However, to reinforce his comments go to the net and check their we=
bsite and you can easily see that the same exact product will have a differ=
ent lot number and get different reviews. My personal (YMMV) experience be=
ars this out as well. So it is quite likely that at least more than one of=
us here have had different experiences with their Pacific Rim offerings, e=
specially if we consider that we are now comparing product manufacturing ti=
melines of more than a decade.=20
I
> > have Pony pipe clamps that have to be 50 years old that were given to
> > me by a retired contractor that used them for everything you could
> > imagine, and they work just fine.
=20
> My HF knock offs of the Pony pipe clamp continue to work as good as day o=
ne,=20
> some 20 years later. Not sure that you're really making a point here=20
> Robert.
Note I simply said that I had Pony clamps and was commenting on their longe=
vity. I didn't comment on the HF quality. But... if a point is to be made=
, my HF knock offs went in the trash. I had one roll off the saw horses on=
the job and the cast iron cracked, then broke when I used it to clamp. I =
dropped one and it landed on the crank and it broke off. With there being l=
ittle difference in the price of a real Pony and an HF, for me, personally,=
I don't have time to screw with that type of tool.
>=20
> >
> > With their short, piss poor track record, HF turned I will never buy
> > another HF clamp unless I figure some way it might be a one time use.
> > Clamps are tools I expect to work, period.
=20
> The squeeze clamps they sell have proven to be unreliable for me. That=
=20
> said, the bar clamps and the Pony style clamps just continue to perform.=
=20
> Can't understand the difference in experience...
See above. If every single product was made to the same exact tolerances f=
rom the same exact material for its entire production run, we could simply =
go to some convenient website and read one review from a competent reviewer=
and hundreds of thousands of folks would be served.
But since manufacturers constantly change their manufacturing techniques, m=
aterials, place of manufacture, and in come cases simply re-engineer a lowe=
r end product like a clamp without notice or fanfare I think it logical to =
gather personal experiences of tools that reflect a track record of real wo=
rld use.
To put that in perspective, almost everything I bought about from HF seemed=
to be junk about 20 years ago. It was ONLY at your suggestion that I try =
one of their spray guns. If you recall, I loved it. I used it until it sp=
it more than sprayed, and bought another exactly like it from HF to use for=
general spraying. Even though they looked the same, they weren't. I took=
it back and traded it for another, and had the same exact experience. So =
I took it apart and while it was the same model number, the fit and finish =
of the internals weren't anything like the one I bought at your suggestion.=
Same brand, same model, same appearance, but different.
Just sayin'...
You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are stockin=
g up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the upper/mid 80s here...
Robert
On 10/30/2015 10:04 AM, Leon wrote:
> On 10/30/2015 6:05 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
>>> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
>>> upper/mid 80s here...
>>>
>>
>> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about to
>> put
>> some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front porch
>> yesterday.
>> I was watching the stacks lean more and more over the space of a week
>> or so
>> until finally...Oh well, I get an additional day of heat out of those
>> pieces
>> now.
>>
>
>
> LOL! SO Mike what were you thinking was going to happen while you
> watched that stack lean more and more over the space of a week?
He's retired now. So you know how it goes. He'll get to it later... He's
too busy doing ...... what was it again you were doing Mike ??? :-)
--
Jeff
On 10/30/2015 6:21 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
> Leon wrote:
>> On 10/30/2015 6:05 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
>>> [email protected] wrote:
>>>
>>>> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
>>>> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
>>>> upper/mid 80s here...
>>>>
>>>
>>> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about
>>> to put some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front
>>> porch yesterday. I was watching the stacks lean more and more over
>>> the space of a week or so until finally...Oh well, I get an
>>> additional day of heat out of those pieces now.
>>>
>>
>>
>> LOL! SO Mike what were you thinking was going to happen while you
>> watched that stack lean more and more over the space of a week?
>
> Well, of course I knew it was going to go over, but you can't just push them
> back into place - they just go over when you do that. So - I stacked the
> next rows against them hoping they might support the leaning rows. No luck.
> At that point you just wait for it to fall and restack what you have to.
> Not worth the effort to try to take it apart, and put it back together.
>
In the past I have moved several rows from the top and restacked in the
opposite direction to balance the stack.
Yes, we have fire wood down here. ;~)
On 10/30/2015 6:05 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
>> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
>> upper/mid 80s here...
>>
>
> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about to put
> some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front porch yesterday.
> I was watching the stacks lean more and more over the space of a week or so
> until finally...Oh well, I get an additional day of heat out of those pieces
> now.
>
LOL! SO Mike what were you thinking was going to happen while you
watched that stack lean more and more over the space of a week?
On 10/30/2015 7:59 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On Friday, October 30, 2015 at 7:05:27 AM UTC-4, Mike Marlow wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
>>> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
>>> upper/mid 80s here...
>>>
>>
>> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about to put
>> some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front porch yesterday.
>> I was watching the stacks lean more and more over the space of a week or so
>> until finally...Oh well, I get an additional day of heat out of those pieces
>> now.
>>
>
> Firewood on the porch? You should have leaned it up against the
> refrigerator. ;-)
>
That or the "worsher". Thanks for the mental image Mike!
On 10/29/2015 1:11 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
> Greg Guarino <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 10/27/2015 7:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
>>> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
>>> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>>
>>> anyone tried this out
>>>
>>
>> I have eight of the ones they sell now; the ones with the two-tone blue
>> handles. I have used all of them, although not too many times. I suspect
>> that trying to apply great force might be bad for these molded-on
>> handles, but the force they are capable of was plenty to make the glue
>> squeeze out, so they seemed useful at a very low cost. The "fit and
>> finish" doesn't seem too bad actually.
>>
>> I've tried their "Quick-Grip" style clamps, but only in the store. Those
>> immediately felt like junk. I'm surprised they didn't break right there
>> in the store.
>
> The HF "Quick-Grip" are indeed worthless, but the HF "Quick Gear Clamp"
> of a couple of years ago are true gems, as good as the Bessey or
> Jorgensen from which they were cloned.
>
> http://lumberjocks.com/topics/46370
>
> http://toolguyd.com/bessey-kliklamp-ratcheting-bar-clamp/
> http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Gear-Clamp/T21186
>
>
Yep, I totally agree on the gear clamp. I like them better than my
KliKlamps.
--
Jeff
Leon wrote:
>On 10/29/2015 12:11 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
>> Greg Guarino <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> On 10/27/2015 7:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>>>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
>>>> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
>>>> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>>>
>>>> anyone tried this out
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have eight of the ones they sell now; the ones with the two-tone blue
>>> handles. I have used all of them, although not too many times. I suspect
>>> that trying to apply great force might be bad for these molded-on
>>> handles, but the force they are capable of was plenty to make the glue
>>> squeeze out, so they seemed useful at a very low cost. The "fit and
>>> finish" doesn't seem too bad actually.
>>>
>>> I've tried their "Quick-Grip" style clamps, but only in the store. Those
>>> immediately felt like junk. I'm surprised they didn't break right there
>>> in the store.
>>
>> The HF "Quick-Grip" are indeed worthless, but the HF "Quick Gear Clamp"
>> of a couple of years ago are true gems, as good as the Bessey or
>> Jorgensen from which they were cloned.
>>
>> http://lumberjocks.com/topics/46370
>>
>> http://toolguyd.com/bessey-kliklamp-ratcheting-bar-clamp/
>> http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Gear-Clamp/T21186
>>
>>
>
>Hummmmm I'll have to take a look. The Besseys are "ok" I have had
>problems with them holding for a period of time and then loosing their
>grip. Bessey replace all 4 of mine with 6 and for certain 2 of those
>have shown signs of not holding for long periods of time.
Unfortunately they only offered them in 2013, (item number 60434). Thanks
to Jeff's post I was able to snag the last 2 at my local HF.
http://www.homeownershub.com/woodworking/parade-magazine-hf-559975-.htm#560022
On 10/28/2015 4:09 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> .
>>
>> So I figured I would be OK if I bought their bar clamps and some
>> squeeze clamps. They worked for the first glue up, then one or two
>> failed after the second glue up, and then finally after about a year
>> of use all but two of ten had failed. It was worse with their hand
>> squeeze clamps, which I use three or four times a week sometimes all
>> day as a second set of hands. Eventually, after light use all of
>> them (about 6) failed completely.
>>
>
> I have experienced this with the squeeze clamps but not at all with the bar
> clamps or the pipe clamps. Neither of those have failed over more than 10
> years of use. I put them to use for things far more than just woodworking.
>
>
>> To put this in perspective, I have four bar clamps that were made in
>> the 1920s or 1930s and have been heavily used. They still work fine,
>> although with the bars a little bent (and being really heavy) they
>> are more backup clamps than anything else. I have some off brand of
>> squeeze clamp I bought at HD about 20 years ago that I have used for
>> all twenty years, and they still work fine. Ditto my 3' and 4'
>> Stanley and Irwin clamps which are probably in the 15 year range. I
>> have Pony pipe clamps that have to be 50 years old that were given to
>> me by a retired contractor that used them for everything you could
>> imagine, and they work just fine.
>
> My HF knock offs of the Pony pipe clamp continue to work as good as day one,
> some 20 years later. Not sure that you're really making a point here
> Robert.
>
>>
>> With their short, piss poor track record, HF turned I will never buy
>> another HF clamp unless I figure some way it might be a one time use.
>> Clamps are tools I expect to work, period.
>
> The squeeze clamps they sell have proven to be unreliable for me. That
> said, the bar clamps and the Pony style clamps just continue to perform.
> Can't understand the difference in experience...
>
.
Hey Mike! Until you have used some good clamps any clamp seems to be
good. ;~)
On 10/28/2015 3:59 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
> Leon wrote:
>> On 10/27/2015 6:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may
>>> buy a few the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver
>>> works on these clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>>
>>> anyone tried this out
>>>
>>
>> If you are serious about woodworking and plan to use the clamps often
>> it is very likely that you will seldom use these clamps once you
>> replace them with better ones.
>
> I have to admit that I have not really followed this thread, but what I will
> say is that over time. the Harbor Freight clamps have not received bad
> reviews by people here. Perhaps those were different clamps than what are
> being referred to in this thread, and that would be my bad, but as a whole
> as I've seen it, the HF clamps have received pretty good reviews here. Not
> sure why you would talk about them in terms of "better clamps".
>
I have some inexpensive clamps, I reach right over them when I want to
clamp something. I have about 20 Kbody style clamps, they are the first
off the clamp rack. After that I use my inexpensive clamps. I think it
is more of a matter of me liking a clamp with a big face.
On 10/29/2015 12:11 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
> Greg Guarino <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 10/27/2015 7:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
>>> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
>>> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>>
>>> anyone tried this out
>>>
>>
>> I have eight of the ones they sell now; the ones with the two-tone blue
>> handles. I have used all of them, although not too many times. I suspect
>> that trying to apply great force might be bad for these molded-on
>> handles, but the force they are capable of was plenty to make the glue
>> squeeze out, so they seemed useful at a very low cost. The "fit and
>> finish" doesn't seem too bad actually.
>>
>> I've tried their "Quick-Grip" style clamps, but only in the store. Those
>> immediately felt like junk. I'm surprised they didn't break right there
>> in the store.
>
> The HF "Quick-Grip" are indeed worthless, but the HF "Quick Gear Clamp"
> of a couple of years ago are true gems, as good as the Bessey or
> Jorgensen from which they were cloned.
>
> http://lumberjocks.com/topics/46370
>
> http://toolguyd.com/bessey-kliklamp-ratcheting-bar-clamp/
> http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Gear-Clamp/T21186
>
>
Hummmmm I'll have to take a look. The Besseys are "ok" I have had
problems with them holding for a period of time and then loosing their
grip. Bessey replace all 4 of mine with 6 and for certain 2 of those
have shown signs of not holding for long periods of time.
Greg Guarino <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 10/27/2015 7:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
>> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
>> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>
>> anyone tried this out
>>
>
>I have eight of the ones they sell now; the ones with the two-tone blue
>handles. I have used all of them, although not too many times. I suspect
>that trying to apply great force might be bad for these molded-on
>handles, but the force they are capable of was plenty to make the glue
>squeeze out, so they seemed useful at a very low cost. The "fit and
>finish" doesn't seem too bad actually.
>
>I've tried their "Quick-Grip" style clamps, but only in the store. Those
>immediately felt like junk. I'm surprised they didn't break right there
>in the store.
The HF "Quick-Grip" are indeed worthless, but the HF "Quick Gear Clamp"
of a couple of years ago are true gems, as good as the Bessey or
Jorgensen from which they were cloned.
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/46370
http://toolguyd.com/bessey-kliklamp-ratcheting-bar-clamp/
http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-Gear-Clamp/T21186
On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 10:57:56 -0700, Gramps' shop wrote:
> On Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 6:49:13 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy
>> a few the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on
>> these clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>
>
> I'll take a bit of a contrarian view. I have about a half dozen of the
> 12 inch clamps and they work fine for small tasks. They ratchet down
> pretty tight. How can you go wrong for about $3 each on sale.
I've got a bunch of the HF bar clamps in lengths up to 30" They work
great as long as you're just gluing up and not trying to simultaneously
straighten warped wood :-).
IIRC, HF has 2 versions. One marked Pittsburg, which is what I have, and
another "brand" which seems to be the one generating most of the
complaints.
Leon wrote:
> On 10/27/2015 6:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may
>> buy a few the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver
>> works on these clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>
>> anyone tried this out
>>
>
> If you are serious about woodworking and plan to use the clamps often
> it is very likely that you will seldom use these clamps once you
> replace them with better ones.
I have to admit that I have not really followed this thread, but what I will
say is that over time. the Harbor Freight clamps have not received bad
reviews by people here. Perhaps those were different clamps than what are
being referred to in this thread, and that would be my bad, but as a whole
as I've seen it, the HF clamps have received pretty good reviews here. Not
sure why you would talk about them in terms of "better clamps".
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
[email protected] wrote:
.
>
> So I figured I would be OK if I bought their bar clamps and some
> squeeze clamps. They worked for the first glue up, then one or two
> failed after the second glue up, and then finally after about a year
> of use all but two of ten had failed. It was worse with their hand
> squeeze clamps, which I use three or four times a week sometimes all
> day as a second set of hands. Eventually, after light use all of
> them (about 6) failed completely.
>
I have experienced this with the squeeze clamps but not at all with the bar
clamps or the pipe clamps. Neither of those have failed over more than 10
years of use. I put them to use for things far more than just woodworking.
> To put this in perspective, I have four bar clamps that were made in
> the 1920s or 1930s and have been heavily used. They still work fine,
> although with the bars a little bent (and being really heavy) they
> are more backup clamps than anything else. I have some off brand of
> squeeze clamp I bought at HD about 20 years ago that I have used for
> all twenty years, and they still work fine. Ditto my 3' and 4'
> Stanley and Irwin clamps which are probably in the 15 year range. I
> have Pony pipe clamps that have to be 50 years old that were given to
> me by a retired contractor that used them for everything you could
> imagine, and they work just fine.
My HF knock offs of the Pony pipe clamp continue to work as good as day one,
some 20 years later. Not sure that you're really making a point here
Robert.
>
> With their short, piss poor track record, HF turned I will never buy
> another HF clamp unless I figure some way it might be a one time use.
> Clamps are tools I expect to work, period.
The squeeze clamps they sell have proven to be unreliable for me. That
said, the bar clamps and the Pony style clamps just continue to perform.
Can't understand the difference in experience...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
Leon wrote:
> On 10/28/2015 3:59 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
>> Leon wrote:
>>> On 10/27/2015 6:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
>>>> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may
>>>> buy a few the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver
>>>> works on these clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>>>>
>>>> anyone tried this out
>>>>
>>>
>>> If you are serious about woodworking and plan to use the clamps
>>> often it is very likely that you will seldom use these clamps once
>>> you replace them with better ones.
>>
>> I have to admit that I have not really followed this thread, but
>> what I will say is that over time. the Harbor Freight clamps have
>> not received bad reviews by people here. Perhaps those were
>> different clamps than what are being referred to in this thread, and
>> that would be my bad, but as a whole as I've seen it, the HF clamps
>> have received pretty good reviews here. Not sure why you would talk
>> about them in terms of "better clamps".
>
> I have some inexpensive clamps, I reach right over them when I want to
> clamp something. I have about 20 Kbody style clamps, they are the
> first off the clamp rack. After that I use my inexpensive clamps. I
> think it is more of a matter of me liking a clamp with a big face.
Yeah - that makes a lot of sense. It's different from what you had posted
above, but it makes a lot of sense.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On 10/27/2015 7:49 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
> i am tempted by the sirens of cheapness at harbor freight so i may buy a few
> the word online is that the ryobi eyebolt/wingnut driver works on these
> clamps once you remove the crappy stock handle
>
> anyone tried this out
>
I have eight of the ones they sell now; the ones with the two-tone blue
handles. I have used all of them, although not too many times. I suspect
that trying to apply great force might be bad for these molded-on
handles, but the force they are capable of was plenty to make the glue
squeeze out, so they seemed useful at a very low cost. The "fit and
finish" doesn't seem too bad actually.
I've tried their "Quick-Grip" style clamps, but only in the store. Those
immediately felt like junk. I'm surprised they didn't break right there
in the store.
[email protected] wrote:
> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
> upper/mid 80s here...
>
Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about to put
some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front porch yesterday.
I was watching the stacks lean more and more over the space of a week or so
until finally...Oh well, I get an additional day of heat out of those pieces
now.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
Leon wrote:
> On 10/30/2015 6:05 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
>>> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
>>> upper/mid 80s here...
>>>
>>
>> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about
>> to put some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front
>> porch yesterday. I was watching the stacks lean more and more over
>> the space of a week or so until finally...Oh well, I get an
>> additional day of heat out of those pieces now.
>>
>
>
> LOL! SO Mike what were you thinking was going to happen while you
> watched that stack lean more and more over the space of a week?
Well, of course I knew it was going to go over, but you can't just push them
back into place - they just go over when you do that. So - I stacked the
next rows against them hoping they might support the leaning rows. No luck.
At that point you just wait for it to fall and restack what you have to.
Not worth the effort to try to take it apart, and put it back together.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
woodchucker wrote:
> On 10/30/2015 10:04 AM, Leon wrote:
>> On 10/30/2015 6:05 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
>>> [email protected] wrote:
>>>
>>>> You doing OK up there? IIRC, this should be about the time you are
>>>> stocking up your firewood readying for winter. Still in the
>>>> upper/mid 80s here...
>>>>
>>>
>>> Yup - doin' fine. Got the firewood all up for the winter and about
>>> to put
>>> some of it up again! Had a bit of a collapse on the front porch
>>> yesterday.
>>> I was watching the stacks lean more and more over the space of a
>>> week or so
>>> until finally...Oh well, I get an additional day of heat out of
>>> those pieces
>>> now.
>>>
>>
>>
>> LOL! SO Mike what were you thinking was going to happen while you
>> watched that stack lean more and more over the space of a week?
>
> He's retired now. So you know how it goes. He'll get to it later...
> He's too busy doing ...... what was it again you were doing Mike ???
> :-)
Mostly... thinking...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]