Thread: Ratchet bar clamps are Superman and I'm Kryptonite

I've never had a problem with the irwin ones - certainly not like you've been having - and they tend to be my main clamp. I happily squeeze hard on them, and the only popping noise I have heard is from my finger joints.

I have one that is a bit dodgy (can slip a bit) but that one did manage to hide outside in the rain for a few weeks, and I haven't cleaned the rust off it yet.

Squeezed the hell out of my Irwin Quick Grips with no probs for the last 10yrs

RSG,
I have a wall full of GENUINE Irwin clams - never have come close to breaking any of them.

Those clamps in your link might carry the Irwin colours but I doubt they are the genuine article. Those triggers look too flimsy to me

I expect to pay upwards of $25.00 per clamp - and I guess it's old story of getting what you pay for


Ian

Originally Posted by RedShirtGuy

No matter how gentle I am with ratchet clamps like these I always...and I mean ALWAYS break the trigger handle when tightening them up. It's not like I'm going at them two handed or anything. They just don't like doing their job.


.

yep, I've snapped a few of them, mainly at the umm (furthest end) just thought it was my super human strength, (single hand tighten)
I just add it to my "stupid/things not to buy again"

Originally Posted by RedShirtGuy

So I was forced to get some (cheapish at ~$45 a pop) 3.8m metal sash clamps just so I could keep working. I suppose they'll come in handy, and being metal, not so likely to break the moment I look at them. I went for such a long bar thinking that it would accommodate all of my future clamping needs even though I'm only doing small things for the moment.

That's some seriously long clamps!

While on the subject, which ones are better, the normal Irwin or heavy duty blue and silver ones?

Sontax, not Irwin. Total rubbish and false economy as you (and I ) learnt.
The Irwin are much better and worth the extra few dollars.

What they said. Color notwithstanding, the openings in the brackets are key to failure. If they look weak, they most likely are weak. BTDT.

Cheers,
Joe

Sontax is an excellent example of how good packaging and marketting can be used to push crap into our hands and deplete our bank balances.

Yeh the first lot I broke were Sontax. The ones I got today are pretty much the same but coloured primarily black with yellow bits and without a brand name on them, so I'll just call them Richmond's because they perform just as well the AFL team of the same colours I'd go so far as to say these ones are worse than Sontaxs' because the surviving one's trigger handle has way too much left/right play in it and it keeps crunching into the handle body when I squeeze it.

Maybe next time I'm feeling brave I'll grab some short regular Irwins and see how I go. The handles do look a lot meatier and it's a name I recognise as at least ok. Thanks for the good words about them.

Like was said, you get what you pay for and this will teach me (for a little while anyway ) to not try and be smart with money. It ended up costing more to try and save a few bucks over the short term.

Hey Red Shirt Guy,

Tried the same and the same results, Got a heap of the el cheapo's through work, first job that I used them, the back yard was littered with clamps, couldn't even squeeze out the glue from the joints,I Only buy Irwin now, have a few now, Bunnies here (Mandurah WA) has 4 packs of 300mm what I call small jaw clamps on special for $24.00 odd. at the moment, i will be getting some tomorrow.

HazzaB

Redshirtguy,

I have about a dozen of the Irwin style clamps. Before Irwin bought the company they were called something else. The oldest clamps (4) are branded 1988 so can only speak very highly of them. If you buy the irwin style and brand you will be happy for a long time into the future.

Regards Mike

I have 12 of the old Irwins - some do slip but those that don't have worked for years - only problem now is having enough hand strength. The newer blue and silver Irwins, 4 of, are great and tend to be the ones I now reach for first - large pads, little effort but tight grip.

Rust has always come as standard equipment on Irwins - check out the pile [brand new] in the store and you will often find some that are halfway there.

Regards,
Bob

Yeah! I bought a "four-pack" like yours out of the $10 specials bin, and it took me three days to realise they were not a bargain. I am a slow learner and keep buying junk tools!

My old Irwin Quick Grips just keep clamping on - probably the best around. But even here there are three (I think) strength ratings - basically light, standard and heavy duty, priced accordingly, and now not all Irwins are made in the USA, so quality does vary.

Cheers

Graeme

PS: The old ones were made by Vice Grip Inc, which was then taken over by Irwin, I think.

The QickGrip/Irwin type are OK - there are now two sub-species I found, the original with a basically rectangular bar & the newer model with a figure '8' bar - the figure 8 bar clamps are much heavier duty & the bars don't sem to rust as much as the older model.

For a few dollar more - or sometimes LESS - you can get Bessey DuoClamps, which actually can clamp their nominal capacity, unlike nearly all other clamps with are a few inches shorter.