Jet Parallel Clamps... NOT Parallel?

Considering that a clamp of that type is not machined, nor has the production engineering methodology for precise tolerances, "close" probably counts.

My Bessey's are close enough not to worry about, and the results have so far been perfect enough. :)

Now, when Festool starts making parallel jaw clamps ....

Ideally they should be parallel. There is no adjustment.

Taunten recently did a review of parallel jaw clamps. Some of them were noticeably better than others at keeping parallel under load.

Chris

Is this with a load or without?

I could suspect that under load they might square up. I could also suspect that under load they could deflect. So I am covered either way and should come out look> Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?

Both.

I thought so, too, but they didn't.

Funny.

Think I remember reading that the jaw faces aren't completely parallel until they're clamped down at which point they do align forming a perfectly square clamping surface.

I have Jet, Bessey, and Cabinet Master parallel clamps. None of them are parallel at some stage of tightening and or depending on the opening on the clamps. Simply put, the bar will bend and that prevents the consistant possibility of a perfectly parallel set of jaw faces. BUT these type clamps tend to work about as good as you could expect.

That is correct however that point is at a specific pressure at any given opening distance. Change the opening distance or pressure and you are over or under.

Mine aren't perfect, but they are close enough. I have a million clamps, and to fight off the fact that they all twist a bit (Besseys.... not much, though) I use a lot of clamps and a little pressure.

I think so. Most of the time when you see twisting or wracking it can be minimized by reorienting the victims in the clamps.

However, when teaching others the art of the glue up, almost without fail the most likely culprit in their glue up failure is placing the clamps and material on an uneven surface to glue up. And uneven table top, gluing on saw horses, etc., bring a whole different dimension non parallel clamps.

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Robert

wrote

Bingo. It took me awhile to learn that but once I did it solved a lot of frustration. I built an assembly table with legs that could be adjusted to level.

Max

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs. How do they work?

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs. How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".

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What is a "water board"?

Similar to a henway

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What is a "water board"?

Don't you watch the news?

Silly me. I thought we were talking about woodworking, for once.

On topic, but ... next to irrelevant:

My set of four Jets arrived today -- 2 @ 24", 2 @ 40"

The latest special "Tools & Shops" issue of FWW put them at #1 -- above Bessey, Jorgensen, and all other comers.

Here's hoping!

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:49:18 -0500, the infamous " snipped-for-privacy@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" scrawled the following:

It's sheer torture, isn't it?

-- Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand. -- Oprah Winfrey

LJ quoting OPRAH's life lessons???

OUCH!

Robert