Suffering with mild cramps!

MathsManiac

No, this is not meant to be in the health forum!

Just sharing my thoughts on the 450mm cramps that appear in LIDL every now and then. I bought a few, as they seemed good value, and other stuff I've got there has been grand.

I'm quite disappointed with these, however. The tightening mechanism (lever/ratchet) is such that I couldn't really get them anywhere near tight enough for the job at hand.

So, as I say, they're way too "mild"!

jack of all

I'd rarely buy woodwork/ craft stuff from LIDL to be quite honest. Best set of cramps I ever bought were some Sandvik "F type" cramps (long ones, 600mm or so) that I purchased from a local hardware store when they were on sale, with 20% off. You pays your money and you makes your choice etc.....

P&L

Yeah, they're really quite poor. I nearly ruined my kitchen chairs I was restoring recently, could get near enough pressure on them and they kept slipping. Normally Lidl / Aldi stuff is 'alright' quality for hobby stuff, but I've been stung now and won't be taking any chances with them again.

ttm

I agree some of the LIDL cramps are rubish. I did buy 4 of the 9.99euro 2ft long rachet cramps a year back and they have been excellent for the money but under pressure the will still stop and not go any thighter. The recent sets of G cramps have been next to useless OK to hold something while you are cutting but not cramps as I'd know them. If I really want to wind something up so as to keep it or force it in place I always go back to some old Record cramps I have.

jack of all

I bought some "Record" type G clamps in B&Q for very small money and they were excellent in terms of quality (cast iron, acme rolled thread and copper plated screw) and value, well worth a look.

Fingalian

Yep, not the best, difficult to get them to exert much pressure. The black and blue abs plastic g clamps they sell are not much use either:they deflect under load.You can make a good clamp for doing chair legs and the like using a 'spanish windlass' ...bit of rope and a lever . Works good , I've used them over spans of 3'-4' to pull stuff together.

jack of all

Fingalian wrote: »

You can make a good clamp for doing chair legs and the like using a 'spanish windlass' ...bit of rope and a lever . Works good , I've used them over spans of 3'-4' to pull stuff together.

It's a great trick, I've used this to clamp up wide timber gate frames and it worked a treat.

ttm

Fingalian wrote: »

Yep, not the best, difficult to get them to exert much pressure. The black and blue abs plastic g clamps they sell are not much use either:they deflect under load.You can make a good clamp for doing chair legs and the like using a 'spanish windlass' ...bit of rope and a lever . Works good , I've used them over spans of 3'-4' to pull stuff together.

Good point, but while we are knocking LIDL's clamps how about a +1 for the sets of rachet straps, the ones like small versions of the straps they use to hold the loads down on lorries. You can use them in place of and in conjunction with the 'spanish windlass' and being made of one inch flat tape they don't do much (if any) surface damage to the wood.

aerosol

I use ratchet straps all the time,a huge shortage of clamps in my shop!

I also use floor laying ratchet straps,the lip on them is ideal for certain situations.