What Are Cleco Clamps and How to Use Them - Kevin Caron
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- #MetalFabrication #TinyClamps #KevinCaronArt
From www.kevincaron.com - Artist Kevin Caron shows some incredibly strong miniclamps & shows how to use them ....
An alert viewer sent Kevin Caron a private message: "I saw you using these little clamps on that sculpture you were just working on (Welcome: www.kevincaron.com/art/welcome/ ). What are they?" He was talking about Cleco clamps, or Cleco Locks.
It's a clamp with a spring and a little groove cut into it. Kevin Caron uses a special pair of pliers from Cleco and shows how they snap into the neck of the clamp. Squeeze the pliers, and the clamp opens. "Just a word of warning," Kevin Caron says. "These things bite!" They have a very strong spring and will give you one heck of a pinch.
Kevin Caron found them when he was working on a sculpture and thought, "It would be so nice if I didn't have to work with big monster clamps, the big heavy J clamps or vise grips or anything like that." These clamps are tiny, yet they have a strong grip. He shows how you can't even pull apart the metal being held by the tiny clamps.
You can clamp 2 pieces of 1/4" square stock and turn the metal, but you can't pull the pieces apart. Kevin Caron shows 2 pieces of 3/8" square stock. The clamps are wide enough to hold them together, too.
These clamps are just so small, they're easy to put in small places. They're also easy to forget, so don't lose one someplace by leaving it inside something!
Kevin Caron got these Cleco clamps because he had already been using Cleco removable pop rivets. He shows how the removable pop rivets work, using the same pair of pliers you use with the clamps. With the removable pop rivets, though, you drill an 1/8" hole in whatever you want to clamp. The end of the rivet won't fit through the 1/8" hole, but when you squeeze them with the pliers, the end will fit inside the 1/8" hole. When you let go of the pliers and the head retracts, it locks itself in the hole to hold two pieces of metal together.
The Cleco pop rivets are from the aircraft industry. You'll see them all over the body of an airplane when they're putting the panels on to get everything lined up. Then they take out each temporary pop rivet, one at a time, and put regular rivets in.
Because Kevin Caron was working with 1/4" stock, he didn't want to try to drill a hole in each piece of metal because it wouldn't leave much material on either side - there wouldn't be enough strength. That's why he started using Cleco clamps. It's really worth having some of these around the shop! You'll find a million uses for them.
Kevin Caron appreciates the question and everyone watching. Before you go to www.kevincaron.com to see his wild sculpture, see what happens when you get a little TOO close with the heat ....
Artist Kevin Caron has been sculpting full time since 2006. See - and hear - his amazing metal and large format 3D-printed sculptures, which are found in public and private places coast-to-coast and online at www.kevincaron.com.
"Inspired sculpture for public & private places."
Follow me for more fun and facts:
Facebook: / kevincaronart
Instagram: / kevincaronart
Twitter: / kevincaronart - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
The ending is terrific!
Always good to learn from other’s mistakes. Doh!
If you need to grip something a little thicker than what the clamp cleco will allow, you can replace the screw with a longer screw. Do not worry about the spring tension causing a problem. The tension is fully released by the time the screw is competely removed.
I didn't know that. Thanks for watching and posting.,
I second your enthusiasm for Clecos.. i use them everywhere including assembly of acrylic sheets etc...
Oh nice. That will help!
Yes it will
Interesting.
Glad you think so!
Nice tool, very useful
It sure is!
A little too hot he said....You are correct they are used extensively in the aircraft industry, My experience was watching the sheet metal gurus patch and repair parts on and off the aircraft. Worth the money
A must for metal fab. Thank you
Rock on!
Thanks, they look usefull.
They are!
I got a hold of George my circle cutter is on it;s way Thank you
A very nice man and really knows his stuff.
@@KevincaronSculpture yes he is!!
Thank you, good video.
Glad you liked it!
Another good one Kevin proof positive that size does matter. Thank you.
Yes it does!
Thanks Kevin 👍😁
No problem 👍
Thanks for the tip Kevin. Trouble with sheety type clamps , they are designed for overlapping sheet metal that will usually be riveted.
I recently spotted a sheet metal clamp that holds the sheet metal flat and also keeps the edges 1 mm apart for a nice flat weld .
Search online for "butt welding clamps " . They disassemble after the weld. Clever idea.
Thanks for watching and posting. Will check them out.
Sometime they be priceless!!!
like when you need another hand!
Been using this for a number of years in the air plane industry - guess you must of just found about this .
About 45 years ago!! Just got around to doing a video on them.
Thanks for the heads up... these could be truly handy! Got a link to the site??
Amazon as well as several aircraft part sites.
Pls where did you get these small clamps pls can you pls tell me the name again thanks
You can buy these Clico clamps on Amazon.com
@@KevincaronSculpture Is there a Phoenix area supplier that you like for Cleco rivets and clamps? Space Age in Mesa didn't have them and they suggested Lenhart's who didn't have 'em either.
Thanks Kevin those clamps are the cats ass
Handy little things for sure.
We used many Cleco clamps when we built an airplane. They have been around for many years.
That's how I learned of them.
@@KevincaronSculpture What type of aircraft have you worked on
You say that I only need to buy one pair of pliers, but you don't know me. I usually need one pair to lose and one pair that I can find.
Well,,,, you could make a holster for the pliers and wear them on your belt. Or maybe weld them to the work bench. That will keep them from getting lost.