FYI - Cheap? Clamps

[Jay Pique]

I'd recently been looking at some Fast Action Ratcheting Bar clamps from Penn State Industries

as they looked like a pretty good deal. Today, however, I was in Lowes and saw a packaged set of Columbian clamps by Wilton. Included were:

2 - 18" bar clamps 2 - 24" bar clamps 2 - 2" C-clamps 2 - 4" C-clamps 2 - 1" flex jaw nylon spring clamps 2 - 2" flex jaw nylon spring clamps

Cost me $22.96 plus tax. To get 4 - 24" bar clamps from Penn State (they make 12, 24 and 36 inchers) would have cost me $15.80 plus $6.50 shipping, or $22.30 all in - but no spring or C-clamps. The $6.50 would cover shipping for as many as you want though, so the prices would be much better than Wilton if you were buying in bulk.

Quality remains to be seen.

JP

[Knucklehead]

I took a look at that site, I can get everything on that site for half price in Sevierville, TN at a store called Workshop Tools. They have those aluminum bar clamps in 5' length for around $11 and those 12" clamp n spread for $5 even.

KY

[Bob Drzyzgula]

[...]

The Columbians are probably fine, but FWIW I have a bunch of the Penn State clamps, both the ratcheting steel bar type and the aluminum ones. I'm pretty happy with the steel clamps, I use them all the time. The Aluminum clamps, however, I'm not as pleased with. The rod that's used as a handle to turn the lead screw had two little end caps that would fall off if you as much as looked at them funny, so I gave up and use a screwdriver through the hole in the lead screw to turn them. Also, the jaws are very shallow, I wish they were maybe a half inch deeper.

--Bob