Woodworking 101: Work well, annoying to adjust

Freitag, 29. Juni 2012

Work well, annoying to adjust

I used two of these for my cross cut sled I just made. At 5.99 each, they looked like a good value. I was unable to find many reviews on line, so I figured I would give them a shot.

The good
They can be clamped down pretty tight to hold the piece in place
They are inexpensive (~6.00)
Everything turns well on the bolt. No stripping

The Bad
I don’t like the design. These have two locking mechanisms. There is a knurled knob at the bottom that locks the bolt to the track. After locked to the track, you slide the clamp on and screw down the knob. It’s very diffucult to get at the little knurled knob without completely unscrewing the top knob and removing the clamp. Also the small knurled knob is 100% plastic – even the threads. I don’t think this was designed to be moved around much.

I should have got these:

I have a few of the bolts/knobs from woodpeckers and they are awesome. Woodcraft only had one of these in stock and I wanted a matching set. There is only one clamping mechanism on the woodpeckers – no need to clamp to the track and the work piece. This makes adjustments A LOT easier.

All in al, the Kreg Trak Clamps work. They hold the piece in place. With something that will inherently be moved often and not just swung out of the way like a track clamp, these require a lot of effort. I will be replacing these on the cross cut sled and finding another use for them where they won’t have to be moved around much. (drill press maybe?)