A Good Quality Fix For Slipping Parallel Clamps and F-Clamps! Oh...and Some Lidl Clamps.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ส.ค. 2024
- Ah...parallel clamps. Whether you're in the love them or hate them camp, I've come to regard them as essential for my chair glue ups. Known under several names (parallel clamp, parallel jaw clamp or body clamp), they're basically large, encased F-clamps but with larger feet.
When a clamp like this goes, starts slipping and won't tighten anymore, it seems a lot of people put it down glue on the bar. It's not that. The forces going on in these clamps is more than enough to obliterate even hardened glue retirements on the bar. No, turns out, it's the clamping lever itself and a premium manufacturer - Bessey - presents us with a neat fix.
And not just for parallel clamps. As mentioned, these are basically F-clamps so, if you have F-clamps that won't grip anymore, this fix will work for them too.
Following this fix, I give you my first thoughts on a cheap pair of Parkside Lidl clamps ...that turned out to need a fix on day 1! You pays your money, you takes your chance.
Hope you enjoy. Please share if you know anyone in need of this fix.
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This was really excellent, great fix and well implemented. I'll be sure to remember this if one of my big F-clamps starts slipping!
Totally agree about the Lidl quick clamps as well, long as they're used within their limits they're great - two of the Aldi equivalents are my most-used clamps, by a country mile, still going strong after 6 or 7 years of regular use.
Nice one. Yeah, I'm not unhappy for the money spent.
Great tip for parallel clamps thanks for that. Re-Lidl clamps I bought two which were excellent, you can really reef down on them with excellent clam Force, second pair much more like the one you bought fine for tasks as you described.. 👍🏻
Interesting. Someone else commented they replaced the pin through the lever with a nut and bolt and it improved their weak ones. Worth a try.👍
As the old saying goes - one can never have too many clamps. So I bought a dozen from Aldi. Two immediately started to slip on first use. Took them apart and found nothing wrong when comparing to a working clamp. So just decided to send them to be recycled. Next time I know better and try your solution - thanks for that.
BTW Years ago Aldi's clamps were excellent quality. But sorry to say no longer.
Yeah, i mean, it's hard to walk past a £7 clamp deal! On mine, I've got m4 screws on each corner fixing on the body and 9ne going through the pivot on the lever/trigger. Has stopped the slipping but not increased power. I get the impression Aldi/Lidl just brand up bulk surplus from large producers. Sometimes it's good, sometimes junk🤷♂️
I have two mini Parkside clamps and found the quick release button was not moving away from the locking tab due to a small extra bit of plastic holding it to far forward. Trimmed away with a sharp knife it now works fine.
Yeah, the buttons aren't great. Makes me laugh but even in the promo picture they have that I use in the vid, you can see one if the buttons has stuck😂🤦♂️
Yeah for a few quid the Parkside clamps are ok. I have my standard good clamps for most tasks and a few sets of Parkside for once in a blue moon larger projects needing a few extra pressure points.
Same for me bud. For 7 quid, didn't see any harm in another pair of tacking clamps👍
I found my lidl quick clamps have lasted a lot longer than that some silver line ones.
They both broke fairly quickly, the lidl ones are still going along with my Irwin ones.
I don’t have any parallel clamps, but an interesting fix though 👍.
I’ve got a few sets of the Lidl clamps and they’re very handy for the price, however for Xmas I got some 450mm Bessey DuoKlamps and love them, they can spread at the turn of a switch 👌.
They parallel clamp fix would work for F-clamps too if you had any. Always fancied some of the DouKlamps. Reluctant to spend that Bessey money though most of the time.👍
Love the clamp fix.
I have quite a few of the Lidl clamps, in different sizes. I only ever use them for glue ups and they're great for that.
I'm as cheap as they are.
Cheers. Yeah, the Lidl ones are alright. Nit huge power but enough to hold👍
Absolutely why not!
👍👍
If you replace the metal rod inside the body with a corresponding screw and nut going through the body you can improve the clamping power of the Parkside clamps quite significantly. I have done so with all of mine and it works great.
I'm intrigued. Can't think which rod inside the body you mean though.🤔
@@BischBaschBoschThe little metal rod/pin that acts as the pivot point of the lever
Quick fixes. Gotta love those! Take care & stay safe.
Cheers mate. I'd rather not be doing them of course but, I'd rather a quick fix than a throw away👍
Bought some of the Parkside clamps some time ago, two of them broke at the lever just at the point where it enters inside. I have yet to fix but am thinking of shaping some ply to replace and toughening up the nose end somehow. 👍
Yeah, the lever definitely seems a weak spot. Ply might work. Bit of aly plate for the nose part maybe?
"When you need a hole in a hurry" 😂
😂 "Hold " dear boy....when you need a HOLD in a hurry🤦♂️
I’ve got a few of those Parkside clamps and they are very good for the money 👍🏻. Will get a couple more when they come around again.
Not much power to them but they'll tack stuff together just fine. In the ships again now if my local is anything to go by 👍
@@BischBaschBosch Just picked up another 4. Good shout, thx 🙏
Oh and lidls F clamps are comparable to any out there. Decent clamp with a lot of force and decently made.
Glad you are happy with yours and for £7, I'm not unhappy with the pair I bought. The ones I have though are far, far weaker in terms of clamping force than any other quick clamp I own inc the Rutlands ones I show of a similar size but, especially my larger Irwin and bessey ones. Not even close. Lidl items come and go so there's every chance the ones I have (the currently available ones) are different to ones they've sold previously.
@@BischBaschBosch nah I’ll agree with you there. They are definitely weaker, but strong enough for glue ups (which is my main use)
@@torque8899 Exactly. Still useful👍
….. the real issue with the Parkside clamps; I was secretly hoping that you’d figured out how/why the bloomin’ handles are back to front!! 😅
An excellent point! I did notice it - how could you not - but I forgot to mention it. I wonder if that might be one of the reasons Lidl have a bunch of them they can sell for £7 a pair🤔
That Bessey implementation is really good. I have a couple of those clamps but I never noticed that feature. I’d assumed the extra grip surfaces on the side of the bar did the heavy lifting. It looks like there are six grip surfaces, whereas cheap screw clamps often just have two (if that makes any sense). I’m _almost_ tempted to open a working Bessey parallel clamp….. 😅
Yeah, Bessey and Piher are kind of the benchmarks. Not much to see inside. Still basically a covered f-clamp, just made well.👍
Thank you Dude - that saves me having a dis-assembled clamp on my bench for ages.
👍👍👍.Thank you
Cheers man👍
Funnily enough one of my Rutland parallel clamps sratered slipping the other week so I'll be doing this to it 😁 when I first brought them about 3 years ago they had to send me a replacement as one didn't work from day one.
Nice one. Just make sure you get the drill/hole position right, and it's a pretty neat fix I think - thanks Bessey😁👍
Great fix
Cheers mate👍
I think if you come across cheap clamps that do the job buy them as we all know you can never have enough clamps
I'm in the seemingly odd (for a woodworker) position of actually having enough clamps! At least for now. Still hard to dismiss a bargain clamp deal if I see one though.
You are a gd genius how you improved those sauters, how do you even think of that in the first place.
As for lidl clamps, I was in "why not" boat and bought several packs of all 3 sizes. 2 big and one medium broke on the first use. I find them very, erm, unresponsive? No hold or very weak to over tight with no middle ground at all. When too tight red release wont release. Plastic feet are very slippery. But while I am finding them very frustrating to use, I have used them for the past 3 years and even fitted several kitchens with them and countless doors. I also found them very hard to use one handed.
Any suggestions for nice one handed clamp that isnt bessey? Cheers
Cheers mate. Not the Lidl ones are always the same. Some folks have reported that they're pretty strong. Mine aren't, though not as bad as yours by the sounds of it. The extra bolts I put through mine help. Clamps from Jorgensen or Piher are always worth checking out if not Bessey. There's some decent looking one handed clamps at Rutlands on offer I wouldn't mind trying out. 👍
@BischBaschBosch going to have a look at those, thank you 👍
I'll be having a butchers at my Bessys next time I have a min, I fucking hate them and think they're shit cause probably for the exact problem you have mentioned mate.
Yeah just try giving their grub screw a quarter tur fir some fresh thread👍