Stan Wiley
10-14-2009, 10:43 PM
I recently took delivery on some Jet clamps and before I made my purchase I did my homework on the Creek, because I did not have immediate access to see the Jet parallel clamps first hand. Some members liked them, some did not. One member asked “ is there a secret” to making them work, as he was having enough trouble with the trigger/handle mechanism that he could not understand why some people thought they were so wonderful. Well they were on sale at Rockler so I picked up six 40 inchers. I also wanted some 24 inchers and the best way to get them was in the cabinet package: 2-24” and 2 –40” also included were the Cross blocks and the bench dogs. Amazon was offering the cabinet package, with free shipping, so I got two sets of those as well. :D Well I unpacked the ones I got from Rockler, and had some shipping damage (more on that later, also the Amazon shipment was damage free). I said to myself, “well this is the moment of truth are they going work smooth or not?” Well they DID NOT ! :( I was disappointed but I was not about to ship them back. For better or worse they are MINE now! And I was keeping them. It was strange though, because sometimes they worked really well and sometimes they did not. After a little more detective work I came across the answer :), remember these bad boys do not come with an instruction manual. It is all in the wrist as they say, here is what I mean. (if you already know about this, fine, but I did not read about it, but I could have missed it)
The procedure to use when you are “opening” the clamp is: press the trigger either 1/3 or even all the way, (did not seem to make a difference) and while holding the trigger there, “LIFT UP” on the handle, while holding the trigger and the handle in this position simply move the clamp to the open position wherever you want it to be. NOW to “close” the clamp, again press the trigger but this time “PUSH DOWN” on the handle and with the trigger and the handle in those positions move the clamp towards the “Closed” position wherever you want it to be.
It is kind of like rubbing your stomach with one hand while patting the top of your head with your other hand at the same time, have to get used to it. Remember the handle does not move very far, maybe ¼ inch or so, but it is the “SECRET” to making these clamps an absolute pleasure to use. Why Jet chose not to share this with us in the form of simple instructions on a slip of paper shipped with the clamp is unfortunate. Anyway the secret is out now, so spread it around. :cool:
Now I said I had another story about the delivery of the Jet clamps. The ones that shipped from Rockler (UPS ground) came 2 clamps in a carton and there were three cartons banded together. The two outside cartons really took a beating, the one in the middle was spared any damage. One of the clamps had its handle broken right off at the point where it attaches to the screw shaft. So that had to be replaced and Rockler sent a new one out as soon as I called. Later UPS called to schedule a pickup of the broken clamp and the box it came in, so they could Dick Tracy what they did wrong. I asked UPS what they were gonna do with the broken clamp, as it would be no good to them after they analyzed it. But he said all the defective shipments wind up going to Atlanta (I think that is where he said) and get auctioned off by the tractor trailer load. WOW tractor trailer loads of damaged assorted goods? Anyway that way they recoup some of their costs. That was the major damage. I also had some minor, repairable damage. On the end of the handles are these plastic “plugs” (the handles are hollow) and the packages had been subjected to enough shock that it popped the plugs right out of the handles on at least four of the clamps. Upon inspection I could see a few shinny spots where an attempt to use, what appeared to be super glue, on the edges of the plugs proved to be not enough to do the job. Jet needs to look at this problem, as it really does not give the purchaser a warm and fuzzy feeling about how these clamps are going to stand up to everyday shop usage. It is a quick fix but one that you don’t really feel you should have to do. These were not cheap even on sale (for me anyway) I have just 14 of the Jet clamps and it was what I consider a sizable investment, but now I have them.
Another curious thing I noticed is that the shipment of 40 inch clamps I got from Rockler were an orange/red color but the cabinet sets of 40 inch and 24 inch clamps I got from Amazon were a dark red, no orange at all color, himmm…. I wonder when they switched colors and why?
Would I buy Jet again? Yup absolutely, now that I now the “SECRET” !!
The procedure to use when you are “opening” the clamp is: press the trigger either 1/3 or even all the way, (did not seem to make a difference) and while holding the trigger there, “LIFT UP” on the handle, while holding the trigger and the handle in this position simply move the clamp to the open position wherever you want it to be. NOW to “close” the clamp, again press the trigger but this time “PUSH DOWN” on the handle and with the trigger and the handle in those positions move the clamp towards the “Closed” position wherever you want it to be.
It is kind of like rubbing your stomach with one hand while patting the top of your head with your other hand at the same time, have to get used to it. Remember the handle does not move very far, maybe ¼ inch or so, but it is the “SECRET” to making these clamps an absolute pleasure to use. Why Jet chose not to share this with us in the form of simple instructions on a slip of paper shipped with the clamp is unfortunate. Anyway the secret is out now, so spread it around. :cool:
Now I said I had another story about the delivery of the Jet clamps. The ones that shipped from Rockler (UPS ground) came 2 clamps in a carton and there were three cartons banded together. The two outside cartons really took a beating, the one in the middle was spared any damage. One of the clamps had its handle broken right off at the point where it attaches to the screw shaft. So that had to be replaced and Rockler sent a new one out as soon as I called. Later UPS called to schedule a pickup of the broken clamp and the box it came in, so they could Dick Tracy what they did wrong. I asked UPS what they were gonna do with the broken clamp, as it would be no good to them after they analyzed it. But he said all the defective shipments wind up going to Atlanta (I think that is where he said) and get auctioned off by the tractor trailer load. WOW tractor trailer loads of damaged assorted goods? Anyway that way they recoup some of their costs. That was the major damage. I also had some minor, repairable damage. On the end of the handles are these plastic “plugs” (the handles are hollow) and the packages had been subjected to enough shock that it popped the plugs right out of the handles on at least four of the clamps. Upon inspection I could see a few shinny spots where an attempt to use, what appeared to be super glue, on the edges of the plugs proved to be not enough to do the job. Jet needs to look at this problem, as it really does not give the purchaser a warm and fuzzy feeling about how these clamps are going to stand up to everyday shop usage. It is a quick fix but one that you don’t really feel you should have to do. These were not cheap even on sale (for me anyway) I have just 14 of the Jet clamps and it was what I consider a sizable investment, but now I have them.
Another curious thing I noticed is that the shipment of 40 inch clamps I got from Rockler were an orange/red color but the cabinet sets of 40 inch and 24 inch clamps I got from Amazon were a dark red, no orange at all color, himmm…. I wonder when they switched colors and why?
Would I buy Jet again? Yup absolutely, now that I now the “SECRET” !!