Clam Clamps Miter Clamps...

[richard poitras]

Clam Clamp Miter Clamps. Anybody own any of these clamps or have ever tried them, If so what are your thoughts .. They are from Chestnut Tool Company

http://www.miterclamp.com/index.htm

[Jeff Wright]

I, too, am considering ordering some as I am trimming out my home here in Florida. As you are no doubt aware, his site has some helpful videos and articles on the clamps' use. Also, Gary Katz has some info on his website:

http://www.garymkatz.com/ToolReviews/clam_clamps.html

[Jesse Cloud]

I started a thread on the festool board a while back after being frustrated with clamping miters. Got a lot of interesting responses:


http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1373.0

The Clam Clamps were very well thought of. They do, however, leave a small hole - no problem for moulding, but probably not kosher for furniture.

[Gary Herrmann]

I seem to remember seeing a pretty nice miter clamp setup from Gross Stabil - I guess that would be Bessey now. It looked like you would lay two mitered boards on the base of this thing and then use the clamps for the glue up. It was a much larger unit than the Bessy miter clamps I've seen. Maybe it was discontinued, because I haven't seen one in awhile.

[Jeff Wright]

I started a thread on the festool board a while back after being frustrated with clamping miters. Got a lot of interesting responses:


http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1373.0

The Clam Clamps were very well thought of. They do, however, leave a small hole - no problem for moulding, but probably not kosher for furniture.

Jesse, have you ever used the festool domino to assemble door and window casings (and maybe using the clam clamps) instead of using biscuits?

[jud dinsmore]

i've got 10 clam clamps and about the same number of hartford miter clamps and have mixed feelings about them. i've only use them for interior trim jobs on the houses i've built. if you're considering anything less than 3 1/2" trim these clamps won't work. they are very powerful and will put too much pressure on the joint, opening it up at the toe. the hartfords put less pressure and would work better for smaller trim. the biggest benefit for me is that they allow me to preassemble my casings and speed up the job. if i wasn't going to do more than a couple of houses worth of trim the benefits won't outweight the costs. the speed in production is a bigger benefitting factor than the quality of the joint (although, the quality of the joint is typically perfect, or within a 32nd of perfect).


good luck,

jud

[richard poitras]

Thanks for all the input, some very interesting insight on these clamps and others, Jud it’s good to know that they don’t work well with smaller casing most of the houses I have done has been with smaller casing ….

[Jesse Cloud]

Jesse, have you ever used the festool domino to assemble door and window casings (and maybe using the clam clamps) instead of using biscuits?
Hey Jeff,
Haven't used the domino specifically for door and window casings, but it would be a snap. The tighter fit would give you better alignment. Another advantage is that when you dry fit a domino workpiece, it holds together, unlike biscuits. That would let you dry fit it, take it to the door or window to verify fit and then glue up, if desired.

[frank shic]

i've got a pair and they worked great for holding the miters on door casing while i drove the pocket screws in from the top but jesse's right: they leave VERY VISIBLE holes on the sides which wouldn't look good on fine furniture.

[Steve Jenkins]

i have 4 of the clam clamps and think that they are great. i used them on all my window and door trim using a biscuit in the joint. About 1-2 minutes in the clamp then set them aside carefully. I even used them on my stain grade front door trim. The holes left in the edges were filled easily with a crayon . If you think about it you never really see the edges of the trim so even if the holes aren't filled perfectly they won't be noticeable. I do agreee about not using them on furniture.