My Dewalt 12 inch clamps aren't quite 12 inches

[Michael Rutman]

They measure about an 1/8" short, which is a problem as I am trying to clamp a 12" piece. Any suggestions?

[Dave Sweeney]

If they have one, remove the stop plug at the end of the bar. If they don't, buy longer clamps.

[Rod Sheridan]

They measure about an 1/8" short, which is a problem as I am trying to clamp a 12" piece. Any suggestions?

Hi Michael, they’re probably 300mm as opposed to 12”.

Regards, Rod

[Richard Coers]

Doesn't seem like a complicated problem. Back in the day we just bought a piece of longer pipe.

[Michael Burnside]

Doesn't seem like a complicated problem. Back in the day we just bought a piece of longer pipe.

Even today. If the clamp isn't big enough, we buy longer ones.

[Kent A Bathurst]

What style clamp? Take off a plastic cap or two for your 1/8”

[Roger Feeley]

For certain Irwin clamps, they make a coupler. Take the fixed jaw off of two clamps and use the coupler to attach the bars. They’ve saved my bacon several times.

[Michael Rutman]

They are trigger clamps. I might be able to drill out the stop, but it isn’t a screw or something easy to remove.

300mm would be about the right size, but I could have sworn dewalt are 12” and not metric.

[Alan Lightstone]

Shrinkflation???

[Patty Hann]

They are trigger clamps. I might be able to drill out the stop, but it isn’t a screw or something easy to remove.

300mm would be about the right size, but I could have sworn dewalt are 12” and not metric.

It might be a roll pin.
I have some older Irwin Quick clamps that are not convertible to spreader.
I watched youtube video about converting the old Irwins.. the guy said to use a roll pin punch to pop out the pin.
I used a 5mm size and it worked like a champ.. was able to convert some of my Irwins to spreaders.

[glenn bradley]

I'm with Rod. Return them and buy non-metric clamps :). So many products use nominal dimensions to get around having to make products to sell to we stubborn imperialists. I'm OK when they say 250mm / 6" because then I know it is "about" one or the other.

[Christian Hawkshaw]

I'm with Rod. Return them and buy non-metric clamps :). So many products use nominal dimensions to get around having to make products to sell to we stubborn imperialists. I'm OK when they say 250mm / 6" because then I know it is "about" one or the other.

Maybe they did say it?

https://www.dewalt.com/product/dwht83193/300mm-12-large-trigger-clamp

[Richard Coers]

So now we are complaining about the precision of the advertised length of clamps? Christian has it right, it's 300mm with the roll pin in the bar and 12" or 304.8mm with the roll pin out.

[Jim Becker]

I'm OK when they say 250mm / 6" because then I know it is "about" one or the other.

But you should still be skeptical about that because it should be 150mm/6" :) (actually slightly less than 6", but...)

[Zachary Hoyt]

Maybe you could make the project 11-7/8" instead of 12". That might be the easiest way out.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have pieces of 3/4" plywood that are ~ 4" wide - about 10 to 12" long.
I cut square holes in each end - about an inch or 2 from the end - that are 2" x 2" with my jig saw.

Whenever I need a 12" or 24" clamp that just a bit longer, I just clamp the "stretcher" to one side with a small clamp and stick my 12 or 24" clamp on the other side.

I'll take a picture of them next Spring when I unbury them from where they are stored for the Winter.

[George Yetka]

I have a bunch of dewalt 300# here and they measure 12-1/4"

[Jimmy Harris]

I have those same clamps. And yes, they're not a full 12 inches. DeWalt might be imperial and Stanley/Black and Decker is an American company, but those clamps were probably made in a factory overseas and made by a third party who makes nearly identical clamps for other brands (but with other logos and color schemes). So they're likely 300mm or just designed to fit in with the 12 inch "category" of clamps.

The best solution is to buy bigger clamps. You can never have enough clamps anyway.

You might be able to remove the pads on the clamps or even shave them down. 300mm is only about 5mm or 3-16ths of an inch shy of 12 inches.

[mike stenson]

There's only one market for imperial measurements really. I'd fully expect them to be metric.