So It is quiet here and I thought I would inquire about other's thoughts on these tools. In another thread we were briefly mentioning Woodpeckers tools and I think we are seeing another tool being offered that rally serves no purpose.
There are numerous varieties of corner clamping tools offered by various companies. And I have never felt that they actually helped in clamping assembly.
My experience has been that they do not eliminate the traditional clamp for mating parts. I see that they do hold the parts at a specific angle but do little to nothing as far as closing the joint tightly. So, you still need regular clamps to make that joint a tight one.
Having said that I have Baltic birch clamping squares that I use to check squatness of a joint. On occasion I use them to hold a joint square after I have used my traditional clamps to close the joint.
If a joint is cut correctly, it is self squaring. and or aligning. Why the need for something like the new Woodpeckers VaryClamp? This tool simply holds the angle of the parts but does not pull the parts together. These type clamps seldom are shown being used with any other type clamp. And with that in mind, I can tell you that only using these type clamps will result in a weak joint that is not properly closed.
That said I have seen a couple of corner clamps that do actually pull the joints together. One style is aimed at picture frames and they have teeth that dig into the mating parts and pulls them together tightly at the joint.
For the most part, the right angle clamping squares can help hold things in alignment for certain conditions. But they bring nothing to the table to make the closure of the joint tight. AND most 90 degree cuts are easy to replicate time and again so these type clamps hold straight stock square while using traditional clamps to close the joint.
The Woodpeckers VaryAngle clamps are designed to aid with other angles. And these clamps have me scratching my head thinking what a PIA. These clamps have a relatively coarse degree scale and locking lever. Hopefully this scale agrees with the one on your miter gauge and or bevel on your saw. If not, you have introduced a problem. I would think never use the degree scale on the clamp and adjust it to fit the way your work goes together. And then why bother using them at all. Again they do not pull the joint together, they simply hold two pieces of work at a specific angle.
I could actually see using this type clamp with metal work, getting the pieces close and filling the gap with a weld.