Has anyone used this clamp

[Joe Vee]

Hello,

I was thinking about ordering a clamp like this for picture frames. Is it really "Self Squaring". I have the corner blocks for my bessy clamps, but felt this would be easier to square up frames. Thanks

Joe






http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/17477-md.jpg

[J. Z. Guest]

Yes Joe, it is fantastic. The corner pieces have 90° molded right into them, so as you clamp, they just swivel such that it ends up square.

In my opinion, nothing is better for frames than this style of clamp. If you only need one square corner, there are other options, but if you need four square corners there are precious few.

Now if all your corners aren't cut square, this won't fix it, but that is another story. ;)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/Woodworking/Complete1.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/Woodworking/corner.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/Woodworking/splinedjoint.jpg

This is a frame I built for my wife for her old family pictures. (She's the baby in them.)

Here's the frame clamp in action:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/frame1.jpg

[Jules Dominguez]

I have one and it works well. I thought at first that it might be too flimsy, but it's easy to use and does a good job of pulling the corners together. It will accommodate fairly large frames.

[Brian Kent]

I made a couple of these from oak and have made a couple dozen frames. The design works very well.

[Joe Chritz]

I have a couple that are shop built using the same principal. They work pretty well. You still have to bump it into square usually but it holds it well until the glue dries once in position.

Pretty low in cost too.

Joe

[Rick Lizek]

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/orderstatus/html/smarthtml/pages/merlclmp.html
Can't beat the Merle...!!!!!!!!
Much more versatile in the long run, no comparison!

[Vernon Taylor]

fwiw hf sells a similar clamp.

[Dave Lehnert]

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/orderstatus/html/smarthtml/pages/merlclmp.html
Can't beat the Merle...!!!!!!!!
Much more versatile in the long run, no comparison!

I own a Merle and have a problem with the metal band breaking where you clamp the band in place. Never did replace the band.