No Jorgensen Clamps or Vises in the new Lee Valley Catalog

[Andrew Joiner]

It seems odd to me that Lee Valley no longer carries Adjustable or Jorgensen brand. Any one know why?
They are some of the last USA made quality clamps and vises. Lee Valley is big on North American made stuff so it's odd the're gone.

[Jake Elkins]

Maybe because many of the products are no longer made in USA. About a year ago, I sent this email to the Adjustable Clamp Co:


I exclusively purchase Jorgensen hand screws. Today, I needed another set, and headed to the local Big Box Store to get a pair of #2s. As soon as I picked them up, I noticed several differences between these and those that I have purchased for many years. The wood, the threads, the handles, etc. Even the stamp. Where every pair I own proudly state "Made in the U.S.A", these had no such marking. In fact, when comparing these side-by-side to the Chinese discount #2 rip offs, I could not tell the difference. Needless to say, I did not purchase what was in stock.

Was this just an off batch, or are these now made overseas? If the latter, do you still produce any size in the USA?

Thank you -



to which I got the following reply:


Although many of our core products are still made in the U.S., our handscrew clamps are now imported.

The import line was added in order to stay competitive in today’s market. They are made to our specifications and are carefully inspected for quality and performance. We wish to assure you that we would not allow an inferior product to be sold under the JORGENSEN, PONY or ADJUSTABLE brand name. Our domestic and import products carry the same warranty and we stand behind all our products 100%. If you should have any problems, please do not hesitate to contact us.



I was a little disappointed (perhaps needlessly so), and replied:


Thank you. I appreciate your response.

I realize that clamps are simple devises. So, perhaps the potential lifespan of a "good" clamp versus an imported one are more-or-less equivalent. However, there are other considerations besides quality or even cost when I make a purchase: For many things, fortunately I still have a choice. If one purchase supports at least a single American manufacturing job, while the other supports a company with a race-to-the-bottom policy willing to cut corners by exploiting cheap labor and cheaper materials to turn a quicker buck, I will always choose the former. While as a simple consumer, I might not be sensitive enough to appreciate the difference in the product, I certainly appreciate the difference in the purchase. Most importantly, I believe that the consumer has the right to at least make this decision. And I don't think it is right that I had to write to Customer Support to affirm my suspicions that this product is no longer its former self. I know of several items (and have purchased one) that are painted orange with the word "PONY" written on them that at least inform potential consumers of its Chinese origin. But I can't help but to feel deceived that no such disclaimer was found on the hand screws. Also, while the wood, fittings, screws, and threads looked cheaper, I noticed that the price tag was not.

I probably have close to a 100 Jorgensen clamps in all styles and sizes, and they have been great products, and therefore I have always been a loyal customer. So It saddens me to say that I have purchased my last product from the Adjustable Clamp Company.

Hard to find USA clamps now. For handscrews, I think the Dubuque Clamp Co is about the only game in town (here (http://thebestthings.com/newtools/screwclamps.htm)).

Long-winded rant, but maybe Lee Valley had a similar sentiment.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

It doesn't show up in the "clamps" category that I see, oddly enough, but under new items or a search for "handscrew", it appears LV does carry the Dubuque clamps now.

I haven't bought clamps in a while; is there any game in town for North American made parallel clamps? I feel like the last Besseys I bought where, but I don't know if they still are?

[Phil Thien]

But they (Lee Valley) have added another vendor with US-made hand-screw wood clamps.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=69825&cat=51&ap=1

So for those that want to support US jobs (as well as our friends to the north), they still can!

[Andrew Joiner]

Sad news on the handscrews. Apparently the F clamps are imported now too.

Some of their stuff is still made here. I found this response from Adjustable Clamp/Jorgensen while searching "Most of our core products, pipe clamp fixtures, steel bar clamps, steel spring clamps and woodworker's vises continue to be made in the U.S. The import line was added to stay competitive in today's market."

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

oops . . . Phil's got the link I meant to add into my post.

[Rob Lee]

Hi,

As noted, Ajustable switched to offshore manufacturing, and we went looking for an American replacement. I was personally sad to see them go - we've carried that line for 35 years, and had no intention of ever replacing them...

Cheers,

Rob
( on vacation in China )

[george wilson]

Yes,when USA products go off shore,like Nicholson,they never seem to reduce the prices. If cost of manufacture was the real issue,and being competitive in the market WAS the real issue,you'd think their prices would have been lowered.

As it is,it looks like the bean counters have found cheaper ways to put more money into their pockets at the expense of the poor sucker who buys soft files,and other inferior products that USED to be good quality. Glad I already have all the Jorgenson's I'll ever need,bought many years ago.

[James Baker SD]

I ordered some Adjustable clamps from Lee Valley and was very disappointed to see the made in China stamp on them. I called customer service and they were surprised, but when they checked their remaining stock they confirmed that they were Chinese as well. They told me to return them for a full refund and I did. Got some Dubuques at a local lumber yard instead. Glad to see Lee Valley make the switch.

[Andrew Joiner]

The good part is the Dubuques are Acme threaded, hopefully as good as the former USA Jorgensens,and less cost than the Jorgensens were in the 2011 catalog.
I can see why you dropped the whole line, Rob. For now some of the"core products" are the same trusted USA made clamps. Who knows when they may switch more to imported, maybe without telling you. That leaves disappointed customers like James.

[Gary Herrmann]

I've only got 6 of the Jorgy hand screws, so that will have to do, unless I find some at a garage sale or something. Another one bites the dust. Dang.

I didn't know about Dubuque clamps, though. Good to see that.

[Adam Cruea]

Wow, those Dubuque clamps seem to cost a lot less than the Jorgenson's. . .I might have to order some of those.

And of course American products are becoming hard to find. American workers have no work ethic and want $20 or $30 an hour to push a button while getting 100% medical benefits. No one to blame for off-shoring but ourselves, folks.

And that's coming from an IT guy that will probably lose a job due to off-shoring at some point unless he's willing to take a pay cut to stay competitive. That's part of life, folks. Just my $.02.

[george wilson]

Adam,you can't brand all American labor like that. I settled for less money that I might have gotten so I could do the work I loved,and I've known several others who have done the same. I never got what some guy in Detroit might have gotten who only knew how to screw on a bumper. But,I had a more interesting life!!

[Adam Cruea]

Adam,you can't brand all American labor like that. I settled for less money that I might have gotten so I could do the work I loved,and I've known several others who have done the same. I never got what some guy in Detroit might have gotten who only knew how to screw on a bumper. But,I had a more interesting life!!

I have a feeling if you came up here to DC and watched many of my co-workers, you'd realize that Americans really have no work ethic and love to complain about getting paid too little. I got admonished for saying "money isn't everything" in a meeting. :(

Heck, Mark from Bad-Axe had a nasty time finding help because of lack of work ethic. It was in his newsletter. I would love to have an opportunity to work with a guy like that who takes such pride in his work and has that level of craftsmanship. Unfortunately, it probably doesn't pay the bills too well, and besides. . .I get paid pretty darned well for doing something I enjoy anyway. :)

[george wilson]

You only have to go to the Post Office to reinforce your argument,Adam!!:),But,at least everyone isn't the same. I LOVE my little 2 person rural post office a stone's throw away. NEVER a line to stand in while zombie like slow movers wait on them.

I think Denmark MIGHT be worse. Could be misinformed,but I hear that many do not work. It is listed as the happiest country to live in. No idea who supports it.

[Andrew Joiner]

I think Denmark MIGHT be worse. Could be misinformed,but I hear that many do not work. It is listed as the happiest country to live in. No idea who supports it.

My daughter and son in law have lived in Denmark for 9 years. He was born and raised there. I asked him about the happiest country rating. He was surprised and said "most Danes are content with what they have and don't expect a lot". He is happy to pay 60% of his income in taxes because he believes in his countries system.

I quit an average paying woodworking shop when I was 19. They tried to force me to join the union so I started my own shop. By working hard and lots of luck I retired at 40.
Hard for me to believe someone is truly happy paying 60% to any government.
I love my son in law but we don't talk about politics.

[Jonathan McCullough]

The decision to move production offshore has little to do with labor costs. Although savings can be attained with cheaper labor overseas, labor costs in the United States haven't risen in the past thirty years, and have become competitive to the point where some manufacturers are starting to make goods in the US rather than deal with the added complexities and uncertainty of international trade and labor arbitrage.

When a company moves manufacturing overseas, what often happens is a complex accounting arrangement whereby corporations set up foreign subsidiaries and manufacturing plants, which then make the bulk of the profits free of US taxes, which are then returned as "loans" to their parent corporations, which are not only tax free, but whose interest is actually tax deductible. So not only do we lose U.S. manufacturing jobs, as well as the ability of those workers to purchase goods and contribute to the GDP, we also lose the tax base, and on top of that we give a tax break to companies that offshore those jobs. If you get out your wallet and pull out a dollar bill, you will be looking at $1 more than many of these companies paid in taxes over the past ten years. Here's (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tax-breaks-offshoring-21655.html) an article detailing what happens and why.

We have no reason to suspect that the people who made Jorgensen clamps didn't work hard, or maintain quality or production, or earned more than the prevailing wage, unless we are willing to concede that the same could be said of anyone who still has a job, ourselves included. And if the reason for their jobs being offshored were really about competition, the price of the goods would have come down to make them more attractive to consumers and "compete" with offerings from other companies, as George mentioned. But the prices didn't come down, did they? When we blame our neighbors' misfortunes in this way, who are just as American as you and I by the way, we're kicking them when they're down.

It's a bit like having your ten year-old nephew approach you at your spouse's funeral, putting hand on your shoulder, and telling you "I know exactly how you feel. But why the long face?"

[Adam Cruea]

The decision to move production offshore has little to do with labor costs. Although savings can be attained with cheaper labor overseas, labor costs in the United States haven't risen in the past thirty years, and have become competitive to the point where some manufacturers are starting to make goods in the US rather than deal with the added complexities and uncertainty of international trade and labor arbitrage.

When a company moves manufacturing overseas, what often happens is a complex accounting arrangement whereby corporations set up foreign subsidiaries and manufacturing plants, which then make the bulk of the profits free of US taxes, which are then returned as "loans" to their parent corporations, which are not only tax free, but whose interest is actually tax deductible. So not only do we lose U.S. manufacturing jobs, as well as the ability of those workers to purchase goods and contribute to the GDP, we also lose the tax base, and on top of that we give a tax break to companies that offshore those jobs. If you get out your wallet and pull out a dollar bill, you will be looking at $1 more than many of these companies paid in taxes over the past ten years. Here's (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tax-breaks-offshoring-21655.html) an article detailing what happens and why.

We have no reason to suspect that the people who made Jorgensen clamps didn't work hard, or maintain quality or production, or earned more than the prevailing wage, unless we are willing to concede that the same could be said of anyone who still has a job, ourselves included. And if the reason for their jobs being offshored were really about competition, the price of the goods would have come down to make them more attractive to consumers and "compete" with offerings from other companies, as George mentioned. But the prices didn't come down, did they? When we blame our neighbors' misfortunes in this way, who are just as American as you and I by the way, we're kicking them when they're down.

It's a bit like having your ten year-old nephew approach you at your spouse's funeral, putting hand on your shoulder, and telling you "I know exactly how you feel. But why the long face?"

I hate that this topic is derailed, but actually, yes, I did concede I make way too much money. My company put a number in front of me and said "is this okay?" I asked for an extra week of vacation, no extra wages mind you, and they tacked on another $1800 a year and said "We're willing to go up to $100,000 if you desire."

My question was why. Money isn't everything, and until people in America realize that, this country won't get much better.

So again, yes. . .I do feel I am exorbitantly paid for the job I do, which in my humble opinion, any trained monkey could do. Yet there are others out there asking me why I don't demand more pay since I'm supposedly "skilled".

Kick your neighbor when they're down, especially when they're griping they can't pay for their two boats, winter house, vacation house, and 4 cars because they lost their highly overpaying job. Businesses aren't in the business of giving every Tom, Dick, and Harry a job. . .they're in business to make money, and a lot of it. If that's through tax dodging, great. If that's through laying people off, great. If that's through cooking the books? Well, okay, but be prepared to reap the whirlwind. Nothing burns me up more than people griping their jobs got offshored or some little immigrant is doing more than they did for half the cost and they got laid off because of it.

[David Weaver]

to which I got the following reply:
I was a little disappointed

Hey, at least they gave you a response. When nicholson started offshoring their files (i had been using files from HD to sharpen my saws), I sent them a message to find out if that was an HD only thing, and I could source US made files elsewhere. They never responded to my request.

[David Weaver]

To continue the discussion about manufacturing costs, too, realize that there is another side of pressure that we don't see - and that is the retailers driving price decreases on their end. They may have paid 70% of retail for an american-made product, tying up a lot of capital. If they can get that product made overseas, they have more leverage to push the manufacturer down.

Most of the big box stores have the market saturated in terms of location. The only way for them to increase earnings is either to increase sales volume or increase margin. Getting someone to charge you 30-40% of retail instead of 70% of retail is an easy way to increase margin.

There was a retailer several years ago who had a 10% over cost sale. I ordered a bunch of stuff from them, some foreign and some domestic. You would not believe the prices on the imported goods when they were marked down to 10% over cost. As soon as I saw the differences in their cost on the domestic products vs. the chinese origin products, I realized at that time we're not going to win the fight of influence with any retailer. LV is the exception, because they operate that way on principle. Everyone else (rockler, etc), when the cost of a chinese made good is 20% of the retail price, they can offer you coupons out the wazoo and still make a whole bunch of money, as long as you're not using it on domestic products. It's a game we won't win as buyers, the seller has all the incentive on the world to deal with another buyer instead of those who are sensitive to origin. There are still a lot of people out there who will pay 20% less for a chinese version of something vs. full price for an american or european product (some of the most vocal about quality problems are the worst offenders). As long as there's even some of those shoppers, a retailer is going to make a lot more money catering to them with a lot less cash tied up and a lot more "coupon" options.

[Andrae Covington]

Just chiming in to say I've had some Dubuque hand screw clamps in various sizes for a few years and have been happy with them. They also make some wooden cam-action bar clamps for light-duty work, which I've never used.


...is there any game in town for North American made parallel clamps? I feel like the last Besseys I bought where, but I don't know if they still are?

I believe the Bessey K-body clamps are still made in Germany, although I've read that their C and F clamps are made in China. The closest thing I know of still apparently made in the USA are aluminum bar clamps by the Universal Clamp Company. This may actually be the same enterprise as Dubuque, I'm not sure.

[Adam Cruea]

Just chiming in to say I've had some Dubuque hand screw clamps in various sizes for a few years and have been happy with them. They also make some wooden cam-action bar clamps for light-duty work, which I've never used.



I believe the Bessey K-body clamps are still made in Germany, although I've read that their C and F clamps are made in China. The closest thing I know of still apparently made in the USA are aluminum bar clamps by the Universal Clamp Company. This may actually be the same enterprise as Dubuque, I'm not sure.

The 2 K-Body I bought last week are both made in Deutschland, ja. :D

[David Weaver]

Just chiming in to say I've had some Dubuque hand screw clamps in various sizes for a few years and have been happy with them. They also make some wooden cam-action bar clamps for light-duty work, which I've never used.



I wonder if they make the bridge clamps and other duds that stew mac sells for instruments.

[Matt Meiser]

Let them know how you feel.

sales@adjustableclamp.com

[Mel Fulks]

We are in a strange economy .Many are broke ,but the whole thing seems to be structured around "updating". As a child I visited relatives who had "outdoor plumbing",now the fixtures come in colors calculated to make you laugh at them as tokens of your earlier lack of sophistication. Time to update! Even in the business of woodworking expensive machinery is being replaced at ever shortening intervals,moulders are replaced in some shops more often than cordless drills.I don't think we will see any lasting economic improvement until there is an understanding of quality and thrift.

[Kent A Bathurst]

FWIW - I was fortunate enough, a few years back, to "meet" a guy on-line that lives in Dubuque.

He picked up, for me, a selection of many sizes of handscrew "seconds" from Dubuque's factory store - a few different private brand names - including their own, but all the same clamp. Good stuff. Have never been able to discern why these were classified as seconds. Not complaining one bit.

[glenn bradley]

Yes,when USA products go off shore,like Nicholson,they never seem to reduce the prices. If cost of manufacture was the real issue,and being competitive in the market WAS the real issue,you'd think their prices would have been lowered.

Its OK. Now that they have made astronomical profits for a few years due to the lost cost of Chinese manufacturing, they can bring those jobs back home and use the profits to re-tool for more USA made goods :rolleyes:

Just give the manufacturers a tax break equivalent to the delta in cost. Then all the people they put back to work can pay income taxes. I see a win-win. . . . I'd never make it in government, would I?

[George Gyulatyan]

I get my Chinese handscrew clamps from HF. Don't see the point of paying extra for the same product that just has a brand name stamped on it.

They tried to "stay competitive" with Chrysler PT Cruiser too. They did such a good job of destroying the interiors of those cars compared to when they were originally produced that they just turned into rentals...

If you want to lower your quality and lose customers, have bean counters run your company.

Pretty soon you'll have nothing of value to sell, will lose your customers and will go bankrupt... Our auto industry is a prime example of this.

[George Gyulatyan]

Just give the manufacturers a tax break equivalent to the delta in cost. Then all the people they put back to work can pay income taxes. I see a win-win. . . . I'd never make it in government, would I?
Disagree. Lower taxes never make manufacturer keep manufacturing in the USA.

Germany has this thing under control. What they've done is increase the worker's wages 5 times, and during the economic downturn didn't lay off a single person. Instead, they shortened the work week. This still kept workers employed and their purchasing power somewhat in tact, so they could actually afford stuff "Made in Germany" ;)

[Brian Ashton]

Wow, those Dubuque clamps seem to cost a lot less than the Jorgenson's. . .I might have to order some of those.

And of course American products are becoming hard to find. American workers have no work ethic and want $20 or $30 an hour to push a button while getting 100% medical benefits. No one to blame for off-shoring but ourselves, folks.

And that's coming from an IT guy that will probably lose a job due to off-shoring at some point unless he's willing to take a pay cut to stay competitive. That's part of life, folks. Just my $.02.


Be sure to let us know which brand of dog food you prefer in your diet when you've tried living of poverty level wages... It's a vicious circle but making workers suffer on unsustainable wages isn't the way to bring prices down.

[Adam Cruea]

Be sure to let us know which brand of dog food you prefer in your diet when you've tried living of poverty level wages... It's a vicious circle but making workers suffer on unsustainable wages isn't the way to bring prices down.

I used to live off of minimum wage just fine, thanks. Granted, I didn't have all the fun stuff I have now, but hey, mom and dad taught me to live within my means. I know, astonishing. . .making $6.25 an hour and actually being able to survive. *gasp* Why ever would I live in a cheap apartment, not buy expensive items, not use credit, and cut costs wherever I could? *gasp*

My God. . .I should go demand $100K+ now just for all my previous suffering and low wages. *gasp* However did I live before? *gasp*

*gasp gasp* Living within your means. . .how absurd.

[Jack Curtis]

OK, now pretend you'll earn minimum wage for your entire working life. Imagine how you'd pay for health insurance, get married, have children, buy a car, house, pay property taxes, pay for auto and home insurance, etc. Problem is that we tend to forget just how hard it was and how doubly hard it would be if those were our constraints forever.

[Andrew Joiner]

To get back on topic. I have both Asian Harbor Freight and Jorgensen USA handscrews. I don't reach for the Jorgensen first. However about 20% of the biggest Asian handscrews have a bit of backlash so they don't stay tight with first crank down. The smaller Asian handscrews don't do this. I think the Acme threads on USA handscrews may help with this or eliminate it.
Aside from this they both clamp fine once you take 2 seconds to tighten with a 2nd crank down on the Asian made clamps.

[george wilson]

The semi Acme threads will last a lot longer than regular V threads. Any backlash is due to looser tolerances either in the screws going through their nuts,or from the wooden holes that the round nuts go through being looser tolerance. An area I would try to make sure of is: Are the wooden handles well pinned to the screws,and are their metal ferrules made of metal too thin to take the pressure from the pins trying to twist as the clamps are tightened. It isn't possible visually to tell if the components are made from poor quality steel,either. You will find that out IF the screws start bending when the clamp is opened wide and clamped on something,or if the pins shear off.

I'm NOT saying that any of these problems may exist with Asian clamps,but be aware that these defects might turn up on real cheap clamps. They have cut corners somewhere.

I THINK I recall having some trouble with Craftsman hand screw handles in the early 60's. Their most annoying feature was that they worked exactly BACKWARDS to Jorgensons. I seldom ever use my old(but nearly new) Craftsman clamps for that reason. When I got Jorgensons,that was the end of the Craftsmans.

[Jonathan McCullough]

To continue the discussion about manufacturing costs, too, realize that there is another side of pressure that we don't see - and that is the retailers driving price decreases on their end. They may have paid 70% of retail for an american-made product, tying up a lot of capital. If they can get that product made overseas, they have more leverage to push the manufacturer down.

Most of the big box stores have the market saturated in terms of location. The only way for them to increase earnings is either to increase sales volume or increase margin. Getting someone to charge you 30-40% of retail instead of 70% of retail is an easy way to increase margin.

Hmm. Interesting. I've been reading a lot about margin compression in both the retail and industrial sectors. The abridged accumulation of my readings is that low central bank interest rates are funneling hot money into, and creating price distortions in, the commodities that industries need to create finished goods. In the context of wood working tools that would mean higher prices for tool steels and the energy needed to make, say, chisels. But the retailers who buy these finished products are discovering that as the economy deteriorates, the price discovery that should be in the commodities markets is occurring at the retail level when consumers balk at the price of finished chisels. Since the manufacturer and retailer have fixed costs in real estate, equipment, and administration, and their business model is based on moving inventory, zero or greatly reduced sales volume, even at a higher price per unit would be catastrophic. Rather than raising risking that scenario, retailers and manufacturers alike are being forced to compress their profit margins, in other words, "we'll lose money on every unit, but we'll make it up in volume!" Well, not quite but . . . . Problem is, some of that hot money is also distorting the equities market, so even as profitability goes down, the stock prices counterintuitively continue to rise.

But negotiating with suppliers whether foreign or domestic isn't the only way to make money in the tool market. One of the worst developments in business in the past decades has been in education, namely that someone with a formal business education can be parachuted into any business and expected to create profits based on whatever the management fad du jour happens to be. The model appears to be one of mergers & acquisitions, followed by liquidation of redundant assets and a search for efficiencies of scale, which in turn create profits for the principals if not the shareholders. But since these managers have nothing beyond a superficial understanding of their host company's history, position in the industry, or more fundamentally, the processes that make the products, many of their business decisions are counterproductive or even destructive. Witness Eastman-Kodak, which fired all its best-paid workers. These guys were no slouches; they had read the writing on the wall, formed their own companies and filed a bunch of patents for digital photography while management back at EK was running around looking for cheaper raw materials and firing anything that moved. An institution is only as good as the actual people who comprise it. Another thing that never shows up on a balance sheet, and doesn't seem to me to be the subject of any serious discussion at board meetings, is consumers' ill humor when confronted by higher prices for inferior products, poor or nonexistent customer service, and an increasingly cynical view of what were formerly identifiable as US companies.

Which is a roundabout way of getting back to the tool business. The other way to make money is to set money aside for R&D, and bring high-quality, innovative new products to a niche market. Your best bet to do that is to hire from within and have a stable staff of committed, capable, and competent employees with a combined experience of decades in the tool making and marketing business. And excellent customer service. Ring any bells? Sounds a lot like our favorite hand tool companies to me.

[Mel Fulks]

I have found that the unwinding often means there is oil or wax on the threads. Fixed a number of them by spraying brake cleaner and winding them in both directions a little,then spraying again. Let us know if it works. Sometimes on these topics we never get "the rest of the story". To the "people of the future" searching for answers it is helpful to know what works. I have no idea why oil is a problem on the clamps.

[Jim Belair]

I have had trouble with the clutch plates on cheap clamps not gripping the bar. Threw them out.

[george wilson]

If you mean oil on the threads of hands crew type clamps,Jorgensens use a double pitch thread on their screws,which makes the screw threads incline at a steeper angle so they can be adjusted faster. The faster the thread angle,the easier they can give way and "back up". I have not ever had this problem with a hands crew myself,but can see that it could happen. I never oil or grease my screws(or let them get rusty,either!)

Jim,if you'd buy a checkering file from Brownell's,you could easily remedy the plates slipping by quickly filing multiple small grooves across the tops of your clamp bars. I think a square thread restoring file would work also. You can get one at an auto parts store. Use the finest thread available on the file.

Somewhere I saw that some maker is putting these little grooves on their bars.

[Mel Fulks]

I once caused that problem myself by scraping off a lot of accumulated glue and then treating the wood with beeswax disolved in turpentine. The cause and effect was immediately obvious ,thus the brake cleaner treatment. Years later came across a big stack of clamps all marked with a sharpie X because they were "broken" and was able to "fix" them. It might be that the foreign clamps are being oil sprayed for shipping. Most of us are so used to seeing oil on threads it just does not immediately seem to be the cause of a malfunction, good point on the thread pitch. Never noticed it.

[David Weaver]

Hmm. Interesting. I've been reading a lot about margin compression in both the retail and industrial sectors.

I'm sure there is some compression, but in the case of the chinese products, perhaps that increases the price (on something common where a spec commodity doesn't need to be used) to 25% of the retail price instead of 15% or 20%. That would be a huge increase in percentages in the cost, but as a percentage of retail, it's not that big.

Most of the metallic items made in china, are probably made of steel made in china. Mujingfang is a good example.. the retail for a mujingfang high speed steel blade (last I could get them for my plane) was about $12. As far as I can tell, they are similar to M2, I don't know exactly what they are, though. I couldn't get the bar stock to make one for that, but if I had access to chinese high speed steel, I would imagine I'd find the price a whole lot different.

For the more common tools, like chrome vanadium steel (with no specified content, just described as such) and pot metal rods, and plastic jigs, the raw materials are probably still a pretty small part of the price. A much different situation that it would be if someone was using starrett bar stock to make everything. The plastic and steel will cost more in china, but how much margin compression is really happening due to the price of a good made in china when the margin was already enormous?

The effect is probably a lot more pronounced in something like plastic porch furniture or dishes or cheap metal cookware like you'd find hanging at a discount store, where something requires a lot of raw material for the retail price it commands.

Hopefully the consumers will be around in large enough numbers to follow a company like is described in your last paragraph.

[George Gyulatyan]

I have a feeling if you came up here to DC and watched many of my co-workers, you'd realize that Americans really have no work ethic and love to complain about getting paid too little. I got admonished for saying "money isn't everything" in a meeting. :(

Sounds like you're working at the wrong company :)

The other side of the coin is gross income disparity. When a CEO is making 50 times more than the average salary of non-management to middle management employees, there is a problem. The problem isn't just about "fairness", as one can argue both for and against it, but rather structural. This creates an economy where you have a population that no longer has any meaningful purchasing power to sustain an economy because wages haven't kept up with inflation. Every American would LOVE to buy "Made in USA" products at Made in USA prices. Unfortunately most can't.

[George Gyulatyan]

Hard for me to believe someone is truly happy paying 60% to any government.

That depends on what it buys you. If you get healthcare, education, utilities, etc paid for by tax dollars, can get 2 month vacations, and don't have to worry about retirement, and have money left to live with a middle class type lifestyle, then some people might be happy with it.

[David Weaver]

Sounds like you're working at the wrong company :)

The other side of the coin is gross income disparity. When a CEO is making 50 times more than the average salary of non-management to middle management employees, there is a problem. The problem isn't just about "fairness", as one can argue both for and against it, but rather structural. This creates an economy where you have a population that no longer has any meaningful purchasing power to sustain an economy because wages haven't kept up with inflation. Every American would LOVE to buy "Made in USA" products at Made in USA prices. Unfortunately most can't.

This is an argument that's brought up all the time, but there aren't enough CEOs to make a material difference. If you took their salaries and spread it among employees and retirees, it wouldn't really do anything in real terms regarding lifestyle or real income. It does create a perception issue, which is a much bigger problem to explain than the perceived real reduction in most employees' wages due to CEO pay. That's also not a one to one comparison, because it's a lot more likely the CEO's foregone earnings would be distributed to shareholders.

At any rate, the real gap in the wages is between the workers with rare or specific and valuable skills and the workers with common skills, and finally the works who are unskilled. That gap has always been there (litigators, physicians, venture capitalists, options makers have always existed). The issue now is that they are becoming a greater segment of the economy than they ever were, and it skews the disparity between mean and median income.

Whether a CEO deserves as much as they get on average (and not talking about picking anecdotal evidence out of the newspaper and applying it to all CEOs, as most don't make as much as the anecdotal few, and even moreso, reducing their disclosed compensation to actual cash paid in the year reported, and not accrual of non-guaranteed amounts), that's one thing, but whether or not CEOs themselves are responsible for the income disparity in a country where there are 300 million people, and how many highly paid CEOs? 1500 maybe? The impact isn't what people would like to make it out to be to sell advertising space in a magazine or on a blog. The real impact is the difference between workers with aptitude and drive and workers without it, which has a lot more to do with third world countries trying to make it to first world and doing the "easy to figure out" work.

[Jack Curtis]

The other side of the coin is gross income disparity. When a CEO is making 50 times more than the average salary of non-management to middle management employees, there is a problem. The problem isn't just about "fairness", as one can argue both for and against it, but rather structural. This creates an economy where you have a population that no longer has any meaningful purchasing power to sustain an economy because wages haven't kept up with inflation. Every American would LOVE to buy "Made in USA" products at Made in USA prices. Unfortunately most can't.

Exactly, to say nothing of how willing underpaid skilled workers to work overtime when said overly paid manager trots off to have fun in his gated "community" while they slave away. I'm too old to get any joy from our society. About 30 years ago I denied them ownership and started my own company. Didn't do great, no vast piles of money, but enough to get up every day and do it again.

I think you're right about European socialism, George. It would have been real nice to have had health insurance when 9/11 killed my business. And this maniacal race to the bottom will eventually turn around and bite these corporations. That will put us in a real pickle, assuming any of them are still in the US.

[Rick Fisher]

All my Bessey clamps are made in Germany and oddly the USA ?

What is really changing is the market. In the old days, Western Europe and North America where the consumers .. We made the stuff and consumed it .. Simple. Then we started making the stuff in places like China, Brazil, India etc..

Consumption however has really changed in the world.. Gone are the days of needing to be in the USA or Western Europe to sell your goods.. China is the hot market for selling cars and cell phones now .. Oil producing nations have loads of money and huge emerging middle classes.. Brazilians are flying to Miami for shopping weekends.. Its a different planet and a different market than even 25 years ago ..

Woodworking manufacturers sell clamps in China, Brazil .. all over the world. Think of where most of the furniture is made now . . Its a huge, growing market ..

[george wilson]

I am wondering why they still carry Nicholson rasps. Are they still any good? Reports have said their teeth no longer resemble the teeth on the old #49 and #50 rasps. The Nicholsons I tested(triangular Mexican ones) were soft skinned to way below the tooth line(any soft skin at all would ruin the files). What is the story on the Nicholson rasps? What am I missing? If they are still good(which I hope),I'd really like to know.

[Kent A Bathurst]

George - my #50 was USA made. When I later added a #49, it says Brazil.

The consistency and accuracy of the points in the #49 is not as good. Surface coverage and consistency, points down to the edge - almost hanging over in some spots. It still functions well enough, and as my coarsest rasp, it's not doing anything that won't get hit by a minimum of one more pass with a finer rasp - up through some Aurious I have.

From what I've read in other comments, it makes me think that I got one of the better offshore rasps. Consistency from one to another may be suspect. You may hit, or you may miss, was my take. But - it struck me to some extent as nibbling around the margins and fueled by the "General Complaint Committee on Off-shoring". Not that we would run into any of that here........ ;)

[Jack Curtis]

Seems to me that if you want to reward/encourage great treatment of workers, you'd go for German stuff every time. But that's often a pricey reward, so why not encourage North American workers by buying NA sourced products, like Rob does. That is until every company in NA replaces workers with robots.

[Chris Griggs]

George, I too have a Brazil made Nicholson 49. It works fairly well for rough initial shaping and cuts fast enough. However, in addition to not leaving a great surface, in use it doesn't feel as sharp as my Gramercy or the other better rasps I've used. By that I mean is I feel like I need to apply more pressure (though not an extreme amount) to feel like its really cutting. By contrast I can feel my Gramercy biting in and cutting smoothly in use with very very little pressure. My Gramercy (handle makers rasp) is a much finer tooth count so its kinda comparing apples to oranges but I've used a coarser Auriou and Roczo and they have that same smoothness, sharp bite, and speed that my little Gramercy does.

Anyway, in my opinion, the story with the current Brazil made Nicholson's is that they are OK user rasps. They certainly can do some good work and they are definitely more than just a "tool shaped object", BUT they don't cut anywhere near as fast or smooth as a high end hand stitched rasp of similar coarseness. Also, while they do work well enough, from what I've heard (I believe from John Coloccia) is that for a budget rasp, the Dragon rasps are significantly better.

[Mike Tekin]

I am wondering why they still carry Nicholson rasps. Are they still any good? Reports have said their teeth no longer resemble the teeth on the old #49 and #50 rasps. The Nicholsons I tested(triangular Mexican ones) were soft skinned to way below the tooth line(any soft skin at all would ruin the files). What is the story on the Nicholson rasps? What am I missing? If they are still good(which I hope),I'd really like to know.

George,

I agree - maybe that will change and soon they will phase out the current poor Nicholson offerings. I noticed they added Grobet to mill files and a 4-in-1 rasp to their catalog.

[george wilson]

You have to BEAR DOWN with the new #49's? On my old USA ones,they are way TOO GRABBY when new,just the opposite effect. This means to me that the new #49's are not very sharp,and they MAY also not be hardened(which could account for them needing excessive pressure to cut). I'm not going to buy one to find out at the price they are.

[Chris Griggs]

You have to BEAR DOWN with the new #49's? On my old USA ones,they are way TOO GRABBY when new,just the opposite effect. This means to me that the new #49's are not very sharp,and they MAY also not be hardened(which could account for them needing excessive pressure to cut). I'm not going to buy one to find out at the price they are.

I just went and ran my 49 over some cherry to better remember how well it cuts. Here's the thing I didn't remember. It starts out cutting well, its not so much that its not sharp as much as it it that it clogs very quickly and does not unclog easily. I put it to the wood and it grabbed in and cut much better than I had remembered, then after about 10 strokes I started feeling like I had to start pushing down a bit to get it to cut. It's not that you need to bear down all that much... all in all it works pretty well. But put it next to really good rasp and it is very clearly inferior. Its definitely not too grabby....

[Jim Ritter]

It's not even like a company has to go looking for an overseas source. When I was sourcing shops to make the pieces for the chain leg vise I put a request for quote on a machinist forum. I had three Chinese companies want to do the job. The first run of parts was not large and they knew that but they wanted the job and assured me they could do it on time, on budget etc,etc. I chose three US shops to do the work. Two were great, one is not working out so well.
Jim

[David Weaver]

I am wondering why they still carry Nicholson rasps. Are they still any good? Reports have said their teeth no longer resemble the teeth on the old #49 and #50 rasps. The Nicholsons I tested(triangular Mexican ones) were soft skinned to way below the tooth line(any soft skin at all would ruin the files). What is the story on the Nicholson rasps? What am I missing? If they are still good(which I hope),I'd really like to know.

I have a brazilian #50. It won't wow anyone but it works OK. It's just ugly to look at when you look at the sides, and the teeth do seem to large and thick and dense, it gives you a sense that they just don't care. I bought it at jamestown distributors or some place where it was about 25 bucks. I'd never give $50 for one.

[Ed Edwards]

I have great respect for LV.
With that said, look at their price for Dubuque hand screw clamps; then go to the Dubuque web site and look at the price difference.
$10.00 less...

Ed

[george wilson]

When I want more rasps,I'll either make them,or buy more of those Japanese curved tooth files like John C. here was so kind as to send me an example of. LV carries those. Maybe they are made in USA(OUH-SA):).

[Paul McGaha]

I was in my local Home Depot yesterday. The Jorgensen Cabinet Master Clamps are still marked US made.

Dosen't sound like that will last though.

I bought a 24". Think I'll go back and get a couple of 36" clamps. That will pretty much finish me off.

PHM

[george wilson]

Paul,they are NOS. Buy them up,if you'll EVER want them. I've cleaned out my Home Depot of NOS USA Nicholson files. All the ones left now are HECHO EN MEXICO. No me gusta !!(sp?)

Many years ago,I got lucky: The famous huge place here called The Pottery Factory branched out into a hardware section which had Jorgenson hand screws MUCH cheaper than usual. I bought a few dozen different sizes. Months later,when I went back,I saw their prices had jumped EL MUCHO!! I think they had accidentally priced those clamps at what they had paid for them!!

[David Weaver]

Many years ago,I got lucky: The famous huge place here called The Pottery Factory branched out into a hardware section which had Jorgenson hand screws MUCH cheaper than usual. I bought a few dozen different sizes. Months later,when I went back,I saw their prices had jumped EL MUCHO!! I think they had accidentally priced those clamps at what they had paid for them!!

Were they selling them in the dirt floor section of the place? I can't remember too much about that place, but I do remember being there once when it rained and there was water everywhere in the store. For some reason, I remember dirt or mud...and a lot of weird imported junk like tiki torches.

[george wilson]

When I first came here in 1970,the buildings were cheap,uninsulated,un air conditioned metal buildings. They were dirt floor,and there were actually CHICKENS running loose everywhere!! Pooping on whatever struck their fancy!!

Eventually,they got concrete floors and better metal buildings. Now,they have made up these cutsey looking fantasy facades that repeat every 5 or 6 buildings, and go on for BLOCKS,but I have not been inside them,ghastly bad as they look from the outside. I'm sure the VERY peculiar individual who started the outfit has been long gone.

Across the highway from this is STILL this grotesque looking 19th.C. huge grinning,toothy smile sign. Must be 15' across,and rather frightening looking,I think,like many 19th.C. cartoon faces. The seniors going to shop by the bus load,could first go there to have their dentures made,and pick them up at the end of their shopping!!

Now,I am a senior,as old as many of them,but I am NOT QUITE there yet!!!:):):) Despite having been the VICTIM of 1950's Coast Guard dentistry,I still have all but a few of my teeth.(the wisdom teeth are gone).

I think the days of bargain shopping at the Pottery are LONG GONE. I somewhat preferred the old days,sans poop. There were actually low prices back then. There are also NO BARGAINS in the outlet malls that have populated the outskirts if the town. I used to take my lady friend and her daughter to some in Pa.(where there were REAL outlet stores), many years ago. She'd buy Danskins for her daughter,on the way to the then decent flea markets. Now,everything is on Ebay,hardly anything worth seeing in the flea markets anymore(at least not the stuff I want to shop for).

[David Weaver]

I have fuzzy memories of the 80s', but I did think I remembered dirt. Glad it was confirmed. I also remember it being an endless bunch of stuff that was unique compared to everyone else. There was probably some good stuff there, but I would've been too young to know, and within a half hour I was just walking around looking at the ground waiting to do something more interesting.

There are a lot of stores being called "outlets" now that are nothing of the sort. That used to mean discounted stuff up here, or closeout. Now it just means factory stores in cheaper-rent areas than malls. I am too cheap to shop in any of them, especially if they are mostly made of tag-price retail items.

Malls and flea markets are going the same way around here. The only successful ones that I can think of are the ones that went upmarket (the malls)..I can't remember the last time I went into a mall, the internet has really changed things. We do have one good flea market left here, but it doesn't have much of anything that you can readily sell on ebay - that's obviously already on ebay. Most of the stuff looks like it's been passed around from dealer to dealer (as they all raid booths of newbies before opening if someone new shows up). I've gotten a few things, but if I counted mileage, it would all end up being a waste of money.

[Mel Fulks]

Eeeeeeeettttttttttt

[Mel Fulks]

Unable to edit or delete the result of a malfunction. Sorry.

[george wilson]

At least explain what Eeeeeeeetttttttt means.:)

[David Weaver]

I sense a steven spielberg link somewhere. ET ET ET!

[george wilson]

Under the Freedom Of Information Act,I DEMAND an explanation!!!!!!!

[Mel Fulks]

Couldn't make computer work.May have been Melfunction. Glad no one called an ambulance.

[Steve Clardy]

Glad no one called an ambulance.


I almost did. Had the 91 made, then........couldn't stop laughing, and gave up. :D

[Gary Herrmann]

I was in Lowes yesterday. I saw some US made Jorgie handscrews. I think the big ones were $20 each.

I picked up 6 at $5 each at an estate sale a few years ago. There must have been 40-50. Maybe I should bought more, but I had 30 bucks in my pocket...

[Mel Fulks]

Your purchase brings up a good point. Most of us prefer to buy that stuff used and there is a lot of it out there. I've worked for people who usually only bought clamps when a competitor went out of business. Woodworking as a pastime is booming but the business of woodworking is different. Fewer shops, more factories. I think that's PART of why things like clamps have gone up so much. When kitchen cabinets go metal again it will depress the price of a lot of woodworking equipment.Yes,there are quality small shop craftsmen doing well,but that is not enough to replace the demand for tools that existed when sash, doors , frames ,mantels,shutters ,cabinets,etc.were commonly made locally .Much of the factory output is done with dedicated machines very different from the tool needed by shops.

[Ron Petley]

Yah, when I started out I was told to buy the Jorgie clamps, been using them for 20+ years and they are great, to bad, although I have not really bought many from the original purchase, point is they are still great to this day.
Sorry a little late to the party but wanted to through that in, those clamps have done a lot of service. I live in Canada but hey it is a big America.
Cheers ron

[Tony Perrone]

Just a coment about Bessey clamps made in Germany. A freind of mine is big into knives and was telling me Henkel knives are really made in China and they are marked made in Germany. This is how they get away with it they make them in China but don't sharpen them therefor they are Henkel (Tools) they ship them to Germany and Sharpen them now they are Henkel knives made in Germany.

[Kevin Groenke]

Looked at Jorgenson clamps at Menards yesterday. All of the Cabinet Masters and I-Beam bar clamps were marked Made in USA.

[Larry Whitlow]

Got the new Woodcraft catalog a couple of days ago. Noticed the Jorgenson clamps were ID'd as made in USA.

[John Coloccia]

When I want more rasps,I'll either make them,or buy more of those Japanese curved tooth files like John C. here was so kind as to send me an example of. LV carries those. Maybe they are made in USA(OUH-SA):).

Glad you liked that Iwasaki file. Those Brazilian made Nicholson rasps are a mere shadow of what they used to be. Yeah, they remove wood, but the finish is atrocious. Hey, I was at the flea market the other day and picked up a little roll of NOS Nicholson needle files. They are not nearly as nice as the ones you sent me, but they're about 10 times better than most of what I see today. For $3, the price was right.

I just noticed this thread. It's too bad Jorgensen started going overseas. I will not, under any circumstances, buy Jorgensen clamps that are not made in the USA. When I want Asian products, I will buy them at Asian prices. I don't care what sort of quality checks they will claim to have. I've see enough JUNK Asian steel to know better.

Seems like their bar clamps and some others are still made in the USA, thankfully. Maybe what I'm seeing is NOS and outsourced ones will start creeping in? I wish more companies would just be upfront about exactly where their products are made so I don't have to dig to figure it out.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Just because I brought it up, none of my Bessey clamps have legible markings anymore, but I was looking for something at Lowes, and see that the F style clamps all say made in Germany, and the K Body Revos all say assembled in the US of foreign components, or something along those lines. Their PDF of the Revo Jr (http://www.besseytools.com/pdfs/sales_sheets/en/BESSEYKBodyREVOJR_Eng_Apr04_2012.pdf) does state "German engineering, German steel, assembled in USA facilities." FWIW. Didn't think to check their handscews to see where they were made.

[Doug Richardson]

Stopped in Menards yesterday, and found that their selection of Jorgensen Screw Clamps were all stamped with "Made In USA". Old stock maybe?

[Mike Gillispie]

I just got some cabinet masters in from Amazon....the ones I received were made in USA. Maybe old stock or perhaps the CBs and I beams are still made in the USA?

[Stanley Covington]

The last set of pipe clamp screws I bought was about a year ago on Guam at Home Depot. Two of them broke under hand pressure due to poor casting quality. Of course, HD replaced them, yet not one of the fifty or so Joregenson clamps I bought in ancient times ever broke, all made in the USA of course.

I used to work for a Japanese company that had cast structural components manufactured in Guangzhou at a Taiwanese-owned factory. Quality control in China is extremely difficult, and once you have workers properly trained in QC techniques, they leave to work for Uncle Wong. The biggest QC/QM problem in China is steel. There is no virgin steel available unless you import it yourself (it will be adulterated if you have a supplier import it for you). Everything is made from melted scrap with NO metallurgical testing unless you do it yourself. A total cluster frack. Of course, it looks great, but it often is cracked, so 100% magnaflux or ultrasound testing is absolutely necessary. Is Jorgensen doing this QC/QM? Since I don't see any serial or lot numbers on their castings, a measure absolutely essential to QC/QM of cast steel products, the answer is a resounding no.

I would like to know why this happened at Jorgensen. Was it the Unions? Was it environmental-related cost issues? Was it Home Depot or Rockler demanding they sell their products at he same price as Chinese made products or be removed from the list of approved vendors? In any case, we are the loser.

Stan

[george wilson]

I haven't noticed any price reduction on tools that went "South".like Nicholson Mexican made files. The only thing I've noticed about them is that I can file their new one easily with an old,USA made one.

[Andrew Joiner]

I haven't noticed any price reduction on tools that went "South".like Nicholson Mexican made files. The only thing I've noticed about them is that I can file their new one easily with an old,USA made one.

A respected tool maker like George can easily tell these Nicholson Mexican made files are inferior. The average consumer may be fooled. What a sad thing.

Most clamps will clamp no matter the country of origin. Files are nearly useless if they're soft.

That's the great thing about a forum like this. A bunch of clamp and file using people discussing actual experiences. It becomes a reference and research tool for everyone, including manufacturers.

As an experienced user of tools,I'm learning that age old brands can't be trusted. I've been testing and returning inferior products for years. Now it's become normal to be suspicious of every product's quality and origin.

[Zach Dillinger]

A respected tool maker like George can easily tell these Nicholson Mexican made files are inferior. The average consumer may be fooled. What a sad thing.

Most clamps will clamp no matter the country of origin. Files are nearly useless if they're soft.

That's the great thing about a forum like this. A bunch of clamp and file using people discussing actual experiences. It becomes a reference and research tool for everyone, including manufacturers.

As an experienced user of tools,I'm learning that age old brands can't be trusted. I've been testing and returning inferior products for years. Now it's become normal to be suspicious of every product's quality and origin.

Unfortunately, the only reference the corporations use these days is the corporate balance sheet... if its cheaper to make something overseas they will do it, sell it for the same price, and make more profit for their CEOs.

[Paul McGaha]

See post #13 in the following thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?195565-American-made-Bench-vise-Who-makes-them

It seems the offshore stuff is beginning to show up in the stores.

Just my $.02 but I think it really is too bad and our loss that US made Jorgensen products won't be available to us anymore. In due course it might be Jorgensen's loss too though.

I'm glad that I pretty much have my clamps at this point.

PHM

[george wilson]

WAIT!!!WAIT!!! I have just had an epiphany !!! The new Nicholson files are for use by chefs making BUTTER sculptures for banquets!!!:):):)

[Bill Wyko]

Considering how many clamps that can be mfg'd in a given time frame vs how many employees it takes to do the job, I just can't see a substantial savings. I guess we should call them Jorgen-son now.

[Ken Harris]

Those of you who classify american workers as lazy shame on you,yes there are lazy people in all walks of life,I have seen them and so has everyone else but to generalize is like saying anyone who is not white as subhuman,companies are moving overseas because of greed.I looked at a chevy tahoe made in mexico,priced in the 50,000 range.You say we make to much money,guess what you will get your wish go work at a service job making minimum wage.

[Brian Holcombe]

LN is making handscrew clamps now, I recently ordered one, so I'll find out what they're like in a few days. I just vote with my dollars ( what more can a consumer do?). I like good stuff so I continue to order it and avoid the Big Box as often as possible.

[Daniel Rode]

Is this the revive a year old thread to make a point about one's politics forum?

I'd kinda prefer that we stick to things at least slightly related to hand tools and woodworking.


Those of you who classify american workers as lazy shame on you,yes there are lazy people in all walks of life,I have seen them and so has everyone else but to generalize is like saying anyone who is not white as subhuman,companies are moving overseas because of greed.I looked at a chevy tahoe made in mexico,priced in the 50,000 range.You say we make to much money,guess what you will get your wish go work at a service job making minimum wage.

[Frederick Skelly]

And of course American products are becoming hard to find. American workers have no work ethic and want $20 or $30 an hour to push a button while getting 100% medical benefits. No one to blame for off-shoring but ourselves, folks..

Adam, just a quick note. Im an American worker and I have a rock solid work ethic Sir. I dont deny there are people just like you describe. But please dont paint all of us with that brush, ok?
Fred

[J. Greg Jones]

LN is making handscrew clamps now, I recently ordered one, so I'll find out what they're like in a few days...
They are made for Lie-Neilsen by Dubuque Clamp Works-same clamp as those sold with the Dubuque label by Lee Valley, Tools for Working Wood, and others. I have some and they are fine clamps.