I was sick of running out of smallish clamps, so I went and got a 20-pack for about $17.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009T8AKY
They have a maximum practical clamping thickness of just under an inch, and are surprisingly strong.
I don’t think I’ll run out of clamps on a job anytime soon… which of course means that I will outgrow 20 clamps sooner than I think.
Wow I very recently bought these ones:
Adjustable Heavy Duty Spring Clamps set 28-Piece Muslin Clamps for Photo Studio Backdrops Backgrounds Woodworking DIY Projects https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076P3DWQ7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4hrSBbA8AVDQ8
I’ve been doing wood and acrylic inlay projects, and I anticipated that these would be helpful. I got one project done with their help before my forge went and died in me, so once I get it replaced I definitely will be using these in my future work. Glad to see someone sharing the idea!
That’s a good set you got there. I have a few of those 2" size, they are really handy for fine work. I almost got a bunch more of that size, but decided that the 4.5" would be more all purpose for what I’m doing lately, and that I’ll buy the small ones if I find myself directly needing them.
I typically am only working on keychains so the 2 inch ones were more my style, but the pack I got had a couple bigger clamps as well. I figured the small variety would tide me over for now 
The ones that I have lose their pads during some clamping actions, which makes them really annoying. They look the same as these, so just FYI.
In the reviews I had read about this a couple of times, hasn’t happened to me yet, but good info for others for sure.
fwiw, i looked at camelcamelcamel and these are very often under $12, even cheaper.
Might grab these for other projects.
I have a project now and again that needs a clamp further into the design, but usually with the laser it is on the edges.
Here is my go-to for laser projects.
Seems like a weird choice, but once tried they win the first grab since the laser materials are usually thin.
Do you ever get dents form the relative small contact surfaces? The medium/big clips clamp down pretty hard, I would think it would dent most woods?
These are the small ones, I agree the large ones are bear traps.
Limited to less than 3/4 inch but like I said, works well for the thin laser stuff.
Have not seen any scratches on acrylic or wood damage (so far)…
I bought several at Harbor Freight that look like those and yes, the pad parts tend to snap off…super irritating! Lol. Ya get what you pay for…
I have a few super strong ones that have more of the thinner edge on the clamp as opposed to a foot and yes, I’ve messed up projects when I forget to use a flat piece in between the clamp and sides…
I have a set of 4 2”-size from harbor freight. The ones I linked to seem to be a good bit higher quality than the ones from HF. I have yet to see one of my HF specials snap off but the new ones are much more solid and clamp a lot more securely.
Awesome, I might get those then…thx for sharing.
I use those Amazon ones. I regularly accidentally glue them to thing theyre clamping, and despite that none of them have broken yet. I feel like if things can survive me, they can probably survive most people. Lol.
I actually bought them accidentally when trying to buy another pack of these clamps. The 20 set ones are a little rougher plastic, but theyre much clampier (technical term). Plus, the biggest ones of the mixed pack sometimes require me to use two hands, which is a stupid feature for a clamp.
Typically I would add a bit of epoxy and adhere the pad back to the clamp foot. It’s not a permanent solution, but it does expand the clamps usefulness.
That would be too efficient…lol. Half the time I don’t notice they were broken until after I needed them and then forget to fix it afterwards…
Thanks for sharing!
This topic was automatically closed after 32 days. New replies are no longer allowed.