Revo Jr Testing

[tombuhl]

Clamps arrived on Saturday. Packaging in good shape. Which is the first time I've received larger clamps that the boxes hadn't broken open from the weight and shape. Typically they'd have been from LV or Rockler. So very first impression is good. Had to rearrange my clamp cart to make more room. Moved the 48 inch Jorgensen's to wall as they are not used very often. And ditched a couple of Irvin (yucky) clamps to deep space (of the garage). As I put the Bessey's on the clamp rack, I felt the release and movement action of the Revo Jr's and UniKlamp's was not satisfyingly positive or smooth. I'll get better evaluation of that and other performance issues...but first I am going on vacation for 12 days.

I have some complex and in many-multi-stage glue ups to do upon my return, so will have chance to give a fuller experience in 2nd half of the July.

onwards

[tombuhl]

Back from two week vacation. Great visit with friends old and new, but very happy to be back home and in the shop once again.

Initial impression that the "catchiness" of the handle to the bar is not to my liking. I keep my regularly used bar clamps on a Rockler rack (pix attached).

Hook far end on top bar, then lower the handle section over a lower bar. My Jorgensen clamps will self-lower themselves into position. With the Revo's I have to squeeze my hands into the rack to pull handle towards me to lower. Not very convenient.

In use, the mechanism works as appropriate, but at times the grabbiness makes me use force, rather than smooth actions. This could be a problem when clamping at positions other than on flat surfaces.

Now, onto first use. The Revo Jr. is nice size, weight for temp clamping such as dry fitting, or in the case of the photos here, when using them to secure a workpiece with a clamp above or on the side of the work.

I appreciated the lighter weight, coupled with satisfactory clamp head size and reach.

I can foresee using the Jr's for general shop tasks. Less weight hanging off of a set up. I like the action and security of a bar clamp, but the full-sized models can seem precarious in some setups.

onwards

[tombuhl]

Yesterday I did a dry fit of legs and cases of a wine cabinet. Lots of stub tenons, a few floating tenons and sliding dovetails. [individual cases are already glued.]

I wanted to pull together one joint. I would not have been comfortable putting a full-sized clamp up there, without doing some more clamping near the base for stability.

The Revo Jr. was perfect. Satisfactory pressure control without the weight and bulk of a heavier clamp.

Cool

[tombuhl]

First glue up with the Revo Jr clamps.

Three Mahogany boards for the top of my wine cabinet.

Thought of using the Revo Jr's to see how they handled thicker (1-1/4 inch) stock, however I did not have enough of them.

So Revo's on bottom and used Jr's on top.

Nice positive feel to handle and pressure control. The Jr's on top produced the satisfying squeeze out dots without need to crank on the handles.

Very much appreciate the rail protection pads on top clamps. No big deal to use wood scrap blocks, but protection pads make it one less distraction when you'd like to focus on the real task.

On previous post with a Jr pulling together one joint, the pads were very helpful. Rather than keeping the clamps away from my tender wood, I could place the clamps against the case with confidence.

A rather simple feature, but very useful.

[tombuhl]

Another good use for the Revo Jr's. Usually I use F-clamps in this situation. Balancing the first clamp on the rocking, tapered caul is tricky as you go to place the opposing clamp into position. The larger surface area of the Jr's was more stable than the round dots of my F-clamps. Lighter weight than the full-sized clamps made this straightforward without the usual anxious moments.

Used UniKlamps for the first time. Simple work holding on the bench. Light, simple, convenient.

[tombuhl]

Getting serious now. After much pondering I believe I have a glue up strategy and sequence for my Wine Cabinet. Case on its back. Back three legs are dry fit in place and rest on some long clamps to yield room for clamping vertically. Used the two longer Revo Jr's to pull the outside left leg into the case. Nice to have lighter weight clamps on top of the workpiece. They seem like they will pull things together nicely. Because my inventory of Revo Jr's is limited I used a combination of Revo Jr's and Revo seniors to pull front left leg on the case. Secured with stub tenons, leg surface to case edge glue, and two floating tenons. Pulled into position with the four clamps.

Photos show the dry fit, clamping plan. I appreciate the plastic pads to protect the case and legs. Positioning the pads also makes it easy to have the handles close to final position without guessing. Just let the head "fall" to the pad when laying out on nearby cart, then just prior to putting in position, open slightly. A bit less fumbling once the glue is in place is a good thing. Cool.

Next post will show the final clamping.

[tombuhl]

Photos show final clamping to secure outside legs to the two cases. Was able to do the small case to leg with the Revo and Revo Jr clamps I have. Positioning action is satisfying, feedback when tightening is good and as mentioned earlier, I appreciate the pads, both to protect the workpiece and as an aid to staging. For the larger case I used variety of clamps on hand including some older Bessey (K type ?) clamps I have. Without the plastic pads, I taped strips of scrap along the outside of the legs. Not a big deal but did make me appreciate those nifty pads.

For those curious, the cases are primarily Hickory with horizontal lines (case tops, bottoms, and later open shelf) in Honduras Mahogany. Couldn't find long enough straight grained hickory so went with Ash for the legs.

Tomorrow I will glue the center leg to the two cases, as well as surface glue the inner case sides to each other. Then we get to do the back legs which are made more complex because the back panels fit into leg grooves. Which just happen to be at right angles to the floating tenons. I am trusting a strategy will present itself as I continue.

Nice to have the extra clamps for this project. I am finding myself drawn to the Jr's as they have enough holding pressure for most type of gluing. Limitation is clamp head size but for this project the Jr's are plenty large enough.

I am becoming more comfortable with moving the clamp heads in use, but it is still awkward when placing in and taking out of my clamp cart.

[tombuhl]

All my Revo and Revo Jr. (and others from the rack) clamps were busy with a complex case glue up (pix tomorrow, I think).

So turned my attention to edge shaping for the cabinet top. Would have been great time to have my leg vise and sliding deadman. Alas, that project might come later this year, or next.

In meantime I used face vise; a thick, clamped scrap to the front bench apron; and a UniKlamp to secure the top on edge.

Recently I've used the Jr's and UniKlamps in places where I'd generally use F-clamps. I like my heavy-duty F-clamps, but if a lighter clamp does the job, great.

The cabinet clamps have added benefit that the holding face is not rotating while tightening (unlike F-clamps), which can be big benefit at times.

Re: Revo Jr handles

I have read reviewers who appreciate a softer and larger handle such as on the Revo (seniors) and Jet's among others.

I appreciate the larger handles, but for me, I haven't felt the smaller, wooden handles on the Revo Jr's are a significant negative.

My old Bessey's are similar to the Jr's in that regard and while it is not as optimal as the full-sized Revo or even wooden Jorgensen's, they are adequate to my senses.

Today, I spent a few moments comparing prices on Amazon.com. In some cases the price difference between full-sized Revo's and the Juniors is negligible.

So while I appreciate the lighter clamps in many cases, would I choose them if the larger clamps were the same price or less than 20% different?

Guess it would depend upon the size of my clamp collection. Larger size may be more versatile, but I have grown to appreciate the smaller, lighter formats of the Juniors to the extent that I would purchase some Juniors, once I felt I had a reasonable selection of full-sized parallel bar clamps. In my case I am close to that point.

onwards

[tombuhl]

Today, I spent a few moments comparing prices on Amazon.com. In some cases the price difference between full-sized Revo's and the Juniors is negligible.

So while I appreciate the lighter clamps in many cases, would I choose them if the larger clamps were the same price or less than 20% different?

Guess it would depend upon the size of my clamp collection. Larger size may be more versatile, but I have grown to appreciate the smaller, lighter formats of the Juniors to the extent that I would purchase some Juniors, once I felt I had a reasonable selection of full-sized parallel bar clamps. In my case I am close to that point.

Up until this evening I had recorded my experience and impressions without looking at the other posts. Attempting to give my impressions, rather than being influenced by other entries.

Tonight, I did peek at an early statement by Marilyn (Seattle) which posted the question, "Would you buy the Revo Jr clamps if you could not afford full-sized parallel bar clamps?"

I would choose to wait or buy fewer (and make do) clamps of the type I really wanted. This is my approach, given my situation. I like/demand (well-developed sense of entitlement I guess) quality tools (in any activity I put my time to) and would rather wait, than accept less. I am pretty good at waiting...at least that is my story.

So for me, it is a question of, "is the quality satisfactory and satisfying for the uses I envision?" In that light I could see myself purchasing some of the Juniors. But not because they were less expensive unless that price differential were in neighborhood of half the cost of full-sized models. Which from my brief survey is not the case.

Thanks, it has been fun putting these clamps through their paces in my day-to-day activities as a serious hobbyist designer/woodwoker.

[muthrie]

Tonight, I did peek at an early statement by Marilyn (Seattle) which posted the question, "Would you buy the Revo Jr clamps if you could not afford full-sized parallel bar clamps?"

I would choose to wait or buy fewer (and make do) clamps of the type I really wanted. This is my approach, given my situation. I like/demand (well-developed sense of entitlement I guess) quality tools (in any activity I put my time to) and would rather wait, than accept less. I am pretty good at waiting...at least that is my story.

So for me, it is a question of, "is the quality satisfactory and satisfying for the uses I envision?" In that light I could see myself purchasing some of the Juniors. But not because they were less expensive unless that price differential were in neighborhood of half the cost of full-sized models. Which from my brief survey is not the case.

Yes, I keep learning the lesson of buying the best tool (clamp) for the money. Otherwise, I end up buying it again and THAT doesn't really save money.

[tombuhl]

Major clamping party on Saturday. On Friday, I had clamped on the two outside front legs to their respective cases. Saturday could clamp the front middle leg which will bring the two cases together. At the same time the cases would be surface clamped to each other on the common surface. Took lots of clamps including some F-style clamps for the case to case gluing.

This would have been a good time to clean and tighten up the clamp rack as it was thoroughly depleted by this stage.

Alas I just thought of that now (that the clamps have returned to their resting place).

Quite a few glue surfaces to attend to so I had my lovely wife, Gastil, assist Much appreciated.

And very much appreciated the boxes of Bessey clamps that arrived late last month.

After this sets up we will proceed to the rear of the cabinet.

[tombuhl]

Saturday afternoon.

Front legs are glued to the cases and the cases are glued to each other.

Flip it over and prepare for Saturday’s round two .

This was more complex than the front as all three back legs and the two panels captured in the leg grooves had to go in at one time. Could not glue the panels to the legs separately as location was just too exacting to reply on measurements or even relative dimensioning. Thus this was a two person proposition. I was able to do test fit by myself, but that was without glue setting up, running and basically doubling (or more) the complexity. In addition to the three legs and two back panels there was a floating shelf that had to occur simultaneously.

Did a dry run for most of the clamps to have them ready to go, somewhat in sequence they'd be required. Lots of parallel bar clamps including the Revo Juniors, retro Bessey's and even a UniKlamp or two. With a boatload of heavy clamps on this case it was nice to have the Revo Juniors for some of the top-most clamping.

Took clamps off on Sunday. Beginning to look like something real.

As my lovely wife and I admired our work, we modified some of the plans for this treasure.

Won't be using clamps for those. so that story will be saved for another venue.

Many details to wrap up before moving it into the gallery/living room.

onwards

[tombuhl]

As the test cycle comes to a close, I can say that I made good use of the Bessey clamps including, but not limited to the Revo Juniors.

I have never used the Jet parallel bar clamps that many people have in their shops, but the Revo's compare favorably to my Jorgensen's and are a big improvement over my classic Bessey's.

When opening the UniKlamps from the Bessey shipment, I did not expect to find much use for them.

However, I find that I prefer them to my F-style clamps when they provide appropriate clamping strength. The head does not rotate as with the F-style clamps when tightening. A big plus in many situations. I appreciate the lighter weight compared to my good F-clamps and I do not really like my lighter (cheaper I think) F-clamps. Security of the clamping is much better than quick clamps that I've used (and loathed, after the honeymoon was over in my first six-months of woodworking). The UniKlamps are not quite one-hand clamps, but almost.

My large wine cabinet project is now past the mega-clamping stage, but many details before it is declared done. Today was cutting mortises for the knife hinges on the three doors [case mortises were done long ago, before cabinet glue up]. Once again the UniKlamps were appreciated to hold two MDF pieces to the door for more secure routing. The big Festool router in photo image was not used as its base opening was too large for the balancing. Some day I'll make a base with small opening, but in meantime after dialing in the cutting depth, I set the OF2000 aside and brought out the trim router.

UniKlamps meant the assembly was much lighter than with F-clamps. a plus when inverting and placing in the face vise.

Thanks Bessey, Danette and Marc S. for including me in this project. It was fun to post impressions and photos of the clamps in action.

[tombuhl]

My lovely assistant, Gastil, begged and begged, so I finally allowed her to try out the new Bessey clamps on her after-hours project.

She approved of their functionality, but said she couldn't declare a final judgement unless she had her own set.

I said I would get her some of her own...as soon as I had enough clamps.

; )

and we all know when I will have enough clamps.

it has been fun

rock on