On Thu, 18 Jan 2018 17:02:45 -0500, "dadiOH" wrote:


"-MIKE-" wrote in message
news
On 1/18/18 1:53 PM, dadiOH wrote:
"-MIKE-" wrote in message
news On 1/18/18 10:13 AM, Dr. Deb wrote:
On Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at 8:46:35 PM UTC-6, DerbyDad03
wrote:
They suck.

I look at HF bar clamps as exactly what they are, inexpensive
clamping tools. I could get frosted if I paid $20+ ea for them. But
they are around a quarter of that. If one breaks, I can
still buy two more for the cost of a "Name" brand and be ahead.

Then there is the fact I have a LOT of them and have had no problems.
Could it be that those who are having the problems are simply over
stressing what should be a light duty clamp?


What's alight duty clamp, though.

Beats me, I see little to no difference between the HF quick release
clamps and equivalent ones from Jorgenson et al. If anything, I'd
say the the hf ones - those sold now - are heftier. I use them to
clamp all manner of things.

And shouldn't the jaws of even a light duty clamp stay at 90
degrees to the bar.

IME, no clamps like this do that because the bar flexes as pressure
is applied. That's no problem as long as the clamp is properly
positioned on the work piece; i.e., if you don't try to make the
clamp head perpendicular to the work.


I'm not sure what you're talking about. The above doesn't make a lot of
sense to me.
Just so it's clear what I'm talking about, here's a picture of the issue.
http://mikedrums.com/HF_Bar_Clamp.JPG

It might make more sense if you were talking about quick release clamps like
this...
https://shop.harborfreight.com/media...37_zzz_500.jpg

We, it always helps if everyone in a conversation is talking about the
same thing. I have a bunch of the above, too. They're OK for really
small stuff. Keeping the jaws parallel isn't a big deal with this
sort of clamp. The jaw is so small, it doesn't matter much.

I thought you were talking about Mike's bar clamp, as well. Or
perhaps these:

https://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-ratcheting-bar-clampspreader-62125.html

Both suck eggs.


The end jaw doesn't even *start out* at 90degrees to the bar with no
pressure at all.
With pressure applied, it gets worse.
This is completely unacceptable and in my mind renders the product
defective as to its sole purpose.

It really doesn't matter if the jaw is at 90 degrees or not as long as you
can set the clamp so that the area applying the pressure is where you want
it.

No special technique or tool modification needed.

Right. Different clamps. Different issues.