Thread: Experience with the Pro Grip rail

Jill, I have the shorter and the longer Pro-grip clamps, and find them very useful, for guiding both a router and a circular saw. They have two clamp positions, and even with the first, provided I have positioned it correctly - which is easy to do - have not had any problems with sideways movement. Nor have I experience any problem with flex. The size of the head clamping area is around 35 mm.

Can't say whether the heads can be replace easily; I have had my clamps for over a year, and have not needed to do any replacing.

Ron

Jill,

I have recently purchased the 50 inch one with the saw and router base plate. Unfortunately, I have not used it yet but I have no reason to doubt that the clamping system is not first class.

I have clamped it across a large sheet of ply and am impressed and think it will do exactly all I want.

Have a look at this US site as they have more information on it then what Carba Tec does. I got mine from Carba Tec although Woodcraft in the US appear to have a clone which does not look quite as substantial and not much cheaper.

Check out here: Woodworking tools, supplies, plans, accessories and more - ptreeusa.com


Look at the clamping column on the list of products for the information.

Peter

I have 3 of different lengths, highly recommended, see here:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f13/pr...system-102585/

day jill
ive got 3 of these and have used them quite successfully with the 71/4 circ saw but havent tried with router
they arnt as nice as the festo system bit more fiddly as you need to know where blade is going to cut easier with the festo as edge of track is where it cuts but the clamps work well and i havent got any sideways slippage if clamped to the third stage (they seem to have 3 stages of clamping)using the longest track on 2400mm panel I managed to move offline as was reaching and hadnt done the clamps up hard enough.
overall I think they are quite acceptable for the money

Jill,
I purchased the exact one a few months ago and used it extensively for making some melamine carcasses and trimming the bottoms of some doors.
My first use was a little dissapointing as I found that it did not centre itself squarely on the piece, so I had to make a mark on either side of the workpiece before clamping. I then discovered that you can buy some wide jaws (From Carbatec) which screw to the existing face and it made it a lot more stable during cutting with my circular saw. I still had to mark either side of the workpiece to ensure that it was square though.
The more I use it the more I like it and I purchased it to do the exact same things you want to do. I had contemplated buying the longer version as this size can be a little small sometimes, but I just acquired a TS55 and guide rail, so I may not use it as much now.
As for the clamping aspect, it does not move as long as you position the movable clamp up to the workpiece before clamping. If you are really unsure, an extra clamp may just do the trick, but I never needed it. Actually, if you did put a clamp on it, my Makita 7 1/4" saw would not move passed the clamp as the motor would hit it.
As for using it for glue-ups, I have not used it for that application yet and I don't think the clamp would suit to pulling up a number of boards together. For light duty applications it may be alright.
Finally, I didn't find the rail flimsy and would be confident to use it as a guide for handheld routing, which is exactly what I purchased it for.
Cheers,
Sean

Many thanks for this valuable information, everyone, much appreciated. Definitely the way to go for me, now
regards,
Jill

I've got a pair of 36" ProGrips. Very useful for long run router and jigsaw cuts. Their low profile makes the great for that purpose. Also for glue clamping small jobs. Well worth the money.

I can only endorse the comments above. I have the 36" and recently bought the 50" have used the smaller one extensively and the bigger one in the last week on full sheets of 19mm mdf. I make sure that I mark both sides of the sheet to ensure square- I have been using an old 9 1/4 AEG saw with no problems. I haven't tried it for gluing only for sawing. I make sure that the lever/lock is fully down and I have had no problems.
Regards,

Hello all,

on the basis of this thread (that arrived with perfect timing for my needs!) and my research online and in person at Carbatec Brisbane, I bought the 24" version and the router plate as a sort of trial--so I thought I'd report here for people who might find it useful for their own research. Having spent some time this weekend getting to know it and making dados all over the place I'm very impressed. I'll definitely be getting the extra long version for ripping sheets with a little circular saw later (as I don't, or won't during building) have space for a table saw. Having three T bolts that come with the router plate offers plenty of versatility in setup too. And I'd happily use the clamped rail alone as a straight edge for shorter cuts with a circular or jigsaw too, as someone suggested (I think the chap at Carbatec who served me, who has a set at home suggested this too, as he hadn't bought the circular saw plate either). With regard to issues about measuring and adjusting on the fly, it seems this is a good system for jobs with many repeated cuts of a similar type--for instance, I measured that i was cutting dados 85mm from the rail with the 19mm bit in my router, so I factored that into my guides and had a go at setting the line for the cut and then attempting to set the rail to cut exactly to that line and it is quite easy once you have the mind set. I'm considering getting another router and leaving myold one set up in the plate, in fact. The system is surprisingly handy and great value, I'm sold, so thanks for the tips!