All in One Clamp U-99 99-Inch Ultra Wide Grip Clamp with Double T-Track
by E. Emerson Tool Co
|
List Price: Our Price: $102.07 You Save: $30.92 (23%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of All in One Clamp U-99 99-Inch Ultra Wide Grip Clamp with Double T-Track
Customer Review: Not for long term use
Summary: 2 Stars
As an experienced cabinet builder I was hoping to find a nice, fast, strait edge for "on the job" type of cuts using a circular saw. This item is great the first couple of times but after prolonged use, (in my case one week) the bar underneath starts to get little grooves marked on it and then you can't slide the clamps easily. I have this one as well as the shorter one for 48" and they both do the same thing. How it works is there is a bar that runs the length of the guide underneath and it has a carriage that rides on this bar with three steel plates that are at an angle to the bar. When you push in the plastic clip at the back it "preloads" these metal plates and they get at more of an angle to the bar. When you fold down the lever at the end this pulls the bar through the angled metal plates and they catch and clamp on the bar. The bar appears to be made out of chrome plated steel and after very few uses you start to get grooves on the bar and even when you pull the plastic "slide" at the end of the bar to release the clips and have the lever all the way up you still can't slide the carriage back and forth easily as it catches in all these grooves. This adds way to much time to the setup. Also my carriage broke within two weeks of having it. The job I was at I had to cut in the garage and the temp was about 40 degrees, I don't know if this contributed to the plastic breaking or not but I don't feel this is a quality product by any stretch of the imagination.
The bottom line,
If you are a homeowner and will use it very little and have all the time in the world this will be fine for you.
If you plan to use it more that a few times or expect it to be a fast setup forget it.
It does make a nice strait cut and does not bow, now I just clamp it with my clamps and don't use the built in one.
Also the clamps that come with it are too small, not to clamp well, but to get a good initial alignment. Go for the bigger clamps.
Customer Review: Sturdy and Straight
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used this for two years now to cut down large stock to size and it has worked well.
Pros:
1. Lateral strength - the width makes this straight edge very stable over distance- important when cutting large stock down to size. I have a very small shop that won't fit large extension and outfeed tables for my circular saw that would allow me to handle large sheet stock in this way.
2. Clamping mechanism - the ability to actuate the clamp only on one end for an 8 foot piece of plywood is really nice. It clamps easily and holds fast, allowing no deflection over the course of the cut.
3. Straight - It is possible to approach the quality of a table saw cut with a circular saw when done carefully.
4. T-tracks on either side increase the utility and the ability to use accessories, like router and circular saw guides. Note that I have not made use of these and cannot comment on their practical application.
Other thoughts:
1. One other reviewer recently pointed out that each clamping event leaves tiny indents in the surface of the clamping rod. Mine does this also and I can see that while it may not affect clamping ability, it may well affect the smoothness of the sliding jaw over time. Hasn't become an issue with mine, but you may want to consider this if you anticipate frequent, daily use.
2. The built-in ruler on the sides are of marginal utility. They are not precisely on the edge and are plastic-covered paper, making them prone to shrinkage and movement. (mine got wet on a job during a rainy day and curled up) I would trust mine if I only needed accuracy to within an eighth of an inch or so.
I still give this product five stars based on its utility- ability to guide straight 8 foot cuts- and value.
Customer Review: great clamp guide
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the 99" U-series clamp guide so I could rip down 4x8 plywood for garage cabinetry. I also bought the 'wide jaw' accessory. These are metal pieces that attach to the face of the clamping jaws - you can then attach a 1" x 1" scrap of wood to each clamp. The storypole gets cut on your 1st pass & then shows your saw offset (usually 5" or 1.5"). Line up the storypole, double-check your measurements and cut.
The guide helped give me very straight cuts through 3/4" plywood. I was making several cuts and wanted to maintain parallel / square cuts. I had no issues with the clamp bowing due to my pressing the saw against the guide - impressive.
Clamping force
The guide has 2 clamp settings and can clamp very hard onto your board. 1 sheet of plywood was bowed away from the guide. No surprise - the clamp made the bowing worse when I clamped down. I had a helper walk behind me and press the guide down with 1 hand. If I were alone, I would have flipped the plywood over.
Wide jaw acessory
I don't advise using the wide jaws without wood attached as they are a bit slippery. The standard jaw grips well. I used the wide jaw with storypole on my first setup and never took it off - it was a great help in speeding up setup.
Board width / working space
The clamp is about 4" wide, and my circular saw offset is 1.5" on one side and 5" on the other. That means your board needs to be wide enough to account for this space. The smallest board I ripped was 12" wide. I need to rip some 1x8 poplar... which I'll be doing on my uncle's table saw.
Overall - this is a great tool.
Customer Review: Works Well, But...
Summary: 4 Stars
The aluminum had some slight dings from shipping. Not serious, but I needed to scrape them smooth.
The adjustable clamp is oddly not intuitive and did not seem to work the first time I tried the product. But I flipped the rail over and it was obvious how to set or release the clamp. Once I had it snugged against the far end of a sheet of 4 by 8 birch ply, the locking (fixed) end clamp did the job.
Works and works well and the 99" length makes the last bit of a cut easier to keep straight.
I also bought the option saw base-- can't use it. It is too small for many of the newer pro-style saws, has the holes in useless places and the worst instructions I've seen in quite awhile. They show the saw installed for use with motor side away from the part the rides the rail: that is as if the saw guide was to be used to the right of the cut. The very tiny photo shows the plate installed so that the guide rail is to the left of the cut. In either case the right side of my saw base would be almost at the edge of the plastic base, leaving no room for screws. The instructions tell you that if you have to custom drill holes that they should be counter sunk on the bottom of the saw base, but the ones that are pre-drilled are counter sunk on the top side. Who knows.
Anyway the reviewers who complain about the clamps probably did not take the extra time to figure out how to "lock" the adjustable clamp before tightening the fixed clamp. Good product --but no instructions are by definition not good instructions.
Customer Review: Delivery of U-99 Clamp
Summary: 4 Stars
Issue #1 - the packaging was very flimsy. The cardboard box looks as if it was cut and re-taped in the middle. The box on the clamp end was ripped open and the clamp was sticking out of the box when I received it from FedEx. The clamp itself was undamaged.
Issue #2 - No instructions are included in the package. Should there have been instructions? The Web site description of clamping is sufficient.
Issue #3 - The Web site shows a different picture of the clamp breakdown than what is shown on the box. The box shows G End Cap. The Web site shows F End Cap. The box shows F ¼" T-Track. I do NOT see such a part on/with the clamp I received nor on the Web site. What is this? Am I missing this part?
Issue #4 - No where on the box or the Web site does it show some kind of "limiter" that sits on the rod of the clamp I have. In the position that it was at when I received the clamp, I was unable to close the clamp to less than 57" inches. I finally noticed the screw on the piece and realized that I can move this part. What is the purpose of this part and why isn't it described anywhere?
The Web site I refer to is the E. Emerson site at www.eemersontool.com
The product did arrive in good condition, the clamping mechanism is sturdy, and the product seems to be of excellent quality. I look forward to cutting a 4x8 sheet piece of oak plywood with this guide.