Customer Reviews

All in One Clamp A-50 50-Inch Grip Clamp Guide w/T-track

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Great clamp, but do not use it with a router. This is a great clamp for doing quick and dirty cuts, but do not expect your cut to be perfectly straight as it can flex if you apply pressure against it. It is perfectly fine for most circular saw cuts as long as you don't press to firmly against it, but a router adds way to much pressure and you won't end up with a straight cut. Get the wider model if you need it for routing or extremely straight circular saw cuts.

I received my 50" All in One Clamp on Friday and have been using it all weekend and am just loving it. I've used it as a guide for my circular saw WITHOUT the Saw Plate attachment and it worked perfectly. It didn't move or slip at all which resulted in a perfectly straight line. I have also used it to cut a groove in a piece of MDF with my Porter Cable router (without the Router Plate attachment) and again worked perfectly!

And it is not at all difficult to use, it's basically like using a bar clamp. Just slide the clamp to the edge of your board/work piece and press the locking mechanism down, THATS IT! To release it just pull up on the mechanism. I didn't even have to look at the instructions to figure out how it works.

Now I will say you do need to mark, measure, and line the All in One clamp just like any other straight edge out there because you can never rely on ANYTHING being perfectly straight. If you do, well you're just setting yourself up for an uneven cut.

I will definitely be buying more of these in different sizes, as well as the optional attachments because this has so far saved me hours of setting up a straight edge and clamps to hold the straight edge in place. A definite must have!

this is probably the best clamping system I have owned, I have always used Tru-grip clamps and suffered some side play issues, then I decided to give these a shot. They have a unique way of locking down the sliding clamp so as to eliminate side play, these things so not move and clamp absolutely straight, simple and easy to use - don't hesitate to purchase!

This clamp is great for crosscutting large panels with a circular saw. Measure, clamp and cut. Gives a perfect, straight edge with no side movement. Its perfect for reducing the size of 4'x8' panels to manageable size. I wouldn't use any other method. Inexpensive, rugged (so far) and easy to use. I would highly recommend and buy again.

I am starting to put together a small 1-car garage shop and have been reluctant to fit a table saw into that space. For the cost, this seemed like a good way to see if I could get away without a table saw. I had high hopes of being able to make near finish cuts with this accessory when paired with decent circular saw installed with a Forrest WWII blade. The jury is still out.

As a previous reviewer had noted, this length (50") actually will flex almost 1/16 inch in the middle when just trying to keep the saw firm against the guide during a cut. A board clamped against the guide in the middle of a cut span on the opposite side of the cut solved that problem. Still, I would recommend going with the wider ultra guides at this and longer lengths.

I haven't yet figured out a system to get consistent results similar to that a locked fence on a table saw would yield. Another thing, as evenly and carefully as I tried to make cuts, I still end up with blade marks. Out of every 10 cuts, only 2 or 3 have been near perfect. The rest bothered me enough that I had to clean up with a router. I checked for blade alignment and everything seemed perfect and I measure and check each cut prior to cutting. Maybe my circular saw just isn't stout enough. I will try the saw plate to see if that helps but for now, I am spending extra time working to get one piece perfect and then using that as a template for a router with a bearing guided straight bit to clean up and make exact copies.

Overall, I do like this accessory. It does what it's advertised to do at a reasonable price. Also as a clamp for glue ups, it's very handy (I have each of the shorter lengths as well). However, I have had to lower my expectations for what I can do. I don't think it'll replace a table saw. I have looked at other options (e.g. Festool) but for their price points, I'd rather figure out how to fit a table saw into my small shop.

This guide is great to cross cut plywood with your circular saw. A couple other reviews mention difficulty cutting smaller stock & 1/16th inch movement when cutting. I don't think that it was intended to replace a table saw or use with small stock, but if you want to cut plywood much, much straighter than you could with a chaulk line free hand, than you will be very satisfied with this tool.

I purchased this a few weeks ago (from Amazon) with the wide jaws because of the recommendations here. I agree buy the jaw set, in fact I think they should just be sold as one unit. I am very pleased and did not have any problems using the tool. It sure beats using a board and clamps.
The distance from the edge of my saw's baseplate to the blade is not a nice even number. I made a little story stick (which I tend to misplace between projects) for this as I never remember the setting and would have to re-measure. I know there are many ways to do this but I like to do as few adjustments and measurements as possible. I did not buy the saw guide but was curious if it would eliminate or simplify the alignment step.
I attended a woodworking show this past weekend and the gentleman from Emerson had a booth and was demonstrating the different clamps. I stopped by to see if they had the saw guide. However after watching a few minutes I realized I did not need one, at least to ensure alignment. All you have to do is attach a piece of hardwood to the wide jaws that is wider than the distance to your saws blade and then cut off the excess. You now have an alignment tool calibrated to your saw. I like to think if I used it a few more times I would have thought of that but I give credit where credit is due. But watching the demo gave me many more ideas of how these clamps can save time and increase accuracy in my work. You can make other jigs and attach them to the clamp using inexpensive T-bolts that will fit in the tracks on top. I was so impressed that I bought a few more at the show.
I also learned that Emerson is a small company and I like supporting these types of businesses. And yes when you do deal with a small business sometimes you do run into problems with less than excellent response times. As the owner of one myself (I am the CEO and the guy who takes out the trash) I know all customers are important but you can't always respond the way everyone would like every time. I hope customers understand this and realize that if we don't have these small startup companies we will be missing out on a lot of new an innovating things. I also hope the reviewer who gave the poor rating has resolved the difference and will give them another chance.

This is a good clamp for wide pieces. The 2 position clamping mechanism works well and it is easy to get on the mark. There was no noticeable movement in the jaws once clamped. There is a bit of flex in the clamp when used on wide pieces (like a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood), so use a light touch when routing, etc.

This is great for ripping 4'x8' sheets of plywood. Ignore any of the recommended accessories except for the wide jaws. The saw and router guides are really cheap and you really don't need them anyway.

After I figured out how to get it to clamp down properly, I have zero complaints about this product. The instructions on the box are kind of like the "rabbit and turtle" instructions on a lawnmower: Not very descriptive, and they fail to mention the "click lock" mechanism on the rear jaw.

Once you perform the click lock, this thing does NOT move from the position you put it in.

I have the 50" model, and I am going to purchase a shorter one for smaller work.

I did encounter their customer service when I could not immediately get it to clamp down on my workpiece, and I have no complaints about the experience. They were not rude, discourteous or arrogant as has been suggested in other reviews.

Lacking the funds and space to own a panel saw, this, combined with a good blade on your circular saw, is the next best thing!