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Warning: I picked cheap clamps over the expensive ones, and my project paid the price | Ask Anything - Librear

Warning: I picked cheap clamps over the expensive ones, and my project paid the price

About 2 years ago I had to decide between a set of 4 quick-grip clamps for $30 or one nice parallel clamp for the same price for my woodworking bench. I went with the four packs (thought I was being smart) and they all slipped under pressure within a month. The glue joint on a nightstand I was building opened up at 2 AM because a clamp let go. Now I wish I'd just bought the single good clamp from the start. Has anyone else had a budget tool choice backfire on them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

william3201mo ago

Man I gotta push back on this hard. You’re blaming the clamps but it sounds like you just didn’t check them before the glue set. Even cheap clamps can hold a nightstand together if you crank them right and give them a good test. I’ve got a drawer full of those Harbor Freight quick grips and they’ve been fine for dozens of small projects. The trick is not to max them out overnight or in high stress spots. The real mistake was probably using four of them on a joint that needed one good bar clamp anyway. A single parallel clamp wouldn’t have saved you if the glue joint was already weak or if you didn’t let it cure long enough. Sometimes people blame the tool when the technique is the real problem.

faith_price71mo ago

That nightstand failure at 2 AM is brutal, but what exactly happened with the clamp - did the quick-release mechanism strip out or did the whole plastic housing crack? I'm asking because I've got a mix of cheap and mid-range clamps and I'm trying to figure out if the issue is the quick-grip style itself or just the really budget ones that can't handle pressure. I almost grabbed a similar set from Harbor Freight last week, so knowing if the mechanism failed or the frame gave way would help me decide if I can still get away with the cheaper option for lighter jobs.