Lee Valley parallel clamps


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I like the no slip jaws but I really like the rotating handle.

Bush.. having more players in the clamp game means one of two things, quality will increase or prices will drop.

Hmm didn't think of it that way. Hopefully the price drops. I think the quality is just fine with my jets

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They all are pricey compared to the Bessey K-Body madness Amazon and others had in 2005 and 2006. Back then I got all my 52 old school K-Body's for an average of $14.40 per clamp. You had to be fast, but my individual clamps were as low as $11.99 each and the 4 clamp kits with KP blocks were $67.19. Lee Valley and Hartville Tool even had promotions of the 25/50 4 clamp kits with KP blocks for $89. Those were good times back then!

 

I hope I never need to replace them because paying today's prices would be painful!

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They look nice.... but either I am doing something really right or really wrong because I have never had a problem with jaw slippage.  Well, at least not as far as my clamps are concerned (sometimes I do talk when I should listen, but that is another story).  

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Jet clamps are not available in Canada, but even if they were, they're way too expensive.  The 50% off price was still higher (when exchange rate is factored in) than the Bessey regular price.  The Lee Valley clamps are a fair bit cheaper than the Besseys, especially if bought at the introductory price.  Wish there were some reviews on them, I hate to be a beta tester.

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A bit pricey for tools that are made in Taiwan.

 

http://www.ehoma.tw/

Made in Taiwan does not mean low quality. Nor China either. HTC which makes pretty decent cell phones is Taiwaneese. Apple iPhones, iPads, etc. are made in Shenzhen China a short distance away. A large portion of the semiconductor chipsets that power cell phones and tablets are made by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacuring Company (TSMC). Sure there is a lot of crap ( think Harbor Freight) that comes from China or other places is south east Asia which people associate with Asian manufacturing. It is the OEM, or brand that imposes quality controls on the manufacturer and those Asian manufacturers know that. I'll bet Lee Valley is interested in keeping there image as quality brand and did their due diligence before adding this to their product line.

One more, Lenovo, which makes very good quality laptops, is a Chinese company.

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Made in Taiwan does not mean low quality. Nor China either. HTC which makes pretty decent cell phones is Taiwaneese. Apple iPhones, iPads, etc. are made in Shenzhen China a short distance away. A large portion of the semiconductor chipsets that power cell phones and tablets are made by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacuring Company (TSMC). Sure there is a lot of crap ( think Harbor Freight) that comes from China or other places is south east Asia which people associate with Asian manufacturing. It is the OEM, or brand that imposes quality controls on the manufacturer and those Asian manufacturers know that. I'll bet Lee Valley is interested in keeping there image as quality brand and did their due diligence before adding this to their product line.

One more, Lenovo, which makes very good quality laptops, is a Chinese company.

I don't think the idea of where products are manufactured geographically is the issue. It's the fact that American jobs that are outsourced to foreign countries that pay their people $2.00 a day to crank out products and ship them over here and sell them at premium prices. Granted, this is the Bean Counters dream. Buy low, sell high. How long can the American economy withstand the loss of good paying jobs. Just stepped off the soapbox, sorry.

 The clamps look like a great idea, but I have plenty.

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Jet clamps are not available in Canada, but even if they were, they're way too expensive.  The 50% off price was still higher (when exchange rate is factored in) than the Bessey regular price.  The Lee Valley clamps are a fair bit cheaper than the Besseys, especially if bought at the introductory price.  Wish there were some reviews on them, I hate to be a beta tester.

 

My thoughts as well, though I'm tempted to get the "introductory offer" 4 pack to try them out.

 

Then again, we can probably count on another black friday jet sale... I don't have any parallel clamps yet.

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The 4 clamp Bessey set comes with 4 k blocks which are handy when gluing up doors or frame and panel assemblies.

New Lee valley set doesn't have those included. Looking at the single clamp prices saving $5 to get a less powerful clamp.

Handle does look interesting.

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Honestly, I don't think the swiveling handle is really necessary. From my experience with my Bessey's, just turning the handle applies more than enough pressure for the glue to come out from the wood joints like crazy.

 

That swiveling joint is likely to come apart in the short term.

 

It does seem a bit gimmicky, how often should we really be cranking hard enough to need that leverage?

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I don't think the idea of where products are manufactured geographically is the issue. It's the fact that American jobs that are outsourced to foreign countries that pay their people $2.00 a day to crank out products and ship them over here and sell them at premium prices. Granted, this is the Bean Counters dream. Buy low, sell high. How long can the American economy withstand the loss of good paying jobs. Just stepped off the soapbox, sorry.

The clamps look like a great idea, but I have plenty.

And I assume they are all jorgenson/pony clamps (made in USA). If not I will buy your taiwanese clamps so you can invest in american manufacturing. :)

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It does seem a bit gimmicky, how often should we really be cranking hard enough to need that leverage?

UD- Universal Design

With lever action, my seven year old and her seventy year old grandfather (approximations) can still use a parallel style clamp without needing wrist rotation force.

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