Customer Reviews

Jet 70411 Parallel Clamp Cabinet Door Set

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

These clamps are rock solid, and heavy. They seem drop proof so far, as the red seems a mix of plastic and rubber. Clamping pressure is easy on the hands as they designed a wide diam. size hex grip, much easier to twist then classic round grips. The dog system and framing blocks are very well made. They are the ultimate "one size fits all" clamping system. The dogs go into the the bottom of the clamps, as well as a movable dog insert on the back of the clamp, to allow perfect positioning on any dog hole pattern. Very well thought out, high build quality...I plan to buy lots more...

update 9/13/06

AFter using these clamps for some time a few more thoughts. I have recently been testing the clamping pressure of all my make clamps, and by far, the jet clamps are the best of all the parallel clamps I own... I have most of them. The big handle with hex grip allows sufficient and fast clamping pressure vs. most other parallel clamps with thin, round, grips.

Update: Further testing with a pressure gauge has indicated many of my Jets are under performing in the pressure category. Wood Magazone did a very good article in the ~Aug 07 issue...if you are in the market for lots of parallel clamps, i suggest reading the test results in this article. The Stanley's actually out performed all the clamps. More pressure = less clamps needed on a glue-up.

The only downside to these Jets are... they have not discounted the price :-) and they are quite heavy vs. any of the other clamps. So if you don't need a lot of clamping pressure, the other less expensive clamps are easier to use if you constantly moving the clamps around the shop... yep, they are that heavy :-) If your pretty strong, it probably wouldn't bother ya much. But with that extra weight, you get the biggest jaws made and the easiest clamps to apply pressure, which often allows you to use less clamps....

I received this set of clamps several days ago and have been extremely happy with it! I have several Bessey K-body clamps that I use in my shop but I think these Jet clamps are better!

Basic design is very similar to the Bessey K-body, with parallel jaws and providing 1,000 lbs of clamping power. But the Jet clamps have bettered what Bessey have made.

Plus points of Jet clamps:
Deeper throat depth, 4-1/4" compared to 3-3/8"
Wider jaws, 1-13/16" compared to 1-7/16"
Longer clamp head 6-15/16" compared to 5-1/8"
Adjustable rail stop that slides up and down bar
Length marking along the length of the clamp


The deeper throat and wider jaws allows for more spread out clamping pressure on the parts being clamped. Wider jaws also stabilizes the clamp laterally even more. Also, the sliding rail stop has a slightly wider footprint than the Bessey, giving a very stable clamp. This feature comes in great when you have many clamps that you need to align on a long clamp.

One feature that I also love is the slide guide trigger. It locks the jaw in place which I find very useful because I often forget to tighten the Bessey jaw before hanging it back on the rack. When I take the bessey clamp off the rack, the jaw has slid down the bar and hammered my fingers many times! The Jet holds the jaw in place. One down side is that I have to pull the trigger to adjust the jaw open or close. This may be a little troublesome when you are clamping and want to close the jaw onto the wood. You have ti pull the trigger to close the jaw. It doesn't slide close on it's own like the bessey.

I don't know which is better, but the jet also has a solid composite grip made of composite material with half of it rubberized. It grips extremely well, even when your hands are messy with glue. Glue cleans up easily.

Overall, I love this clamp! Although these clamps are made in China, Don't be fooled because they are very very well made! Solid clamps that will last a lifetime! I think I will have to price my work higher to buy more of these clamps!

These clamps are the best, even better then Bessey. I have over 50 of the different Jet parallel clamps and use them side by side with the Bessey every day. After they are tight the Bessey are really difficult to loosen, these jet with the big handle are so much easier on the hands! These DO get discounted! I have purchased them for 1/2 price at a different site many times and just purchase 16 of the 50" clamps for 23.00 each! The combo set I purchased for 89.00! Even here on Amazon I purchased the 98" for 44.00 so keep your eyes open Amazon changes the prices everyday! Check the other woodworking stores, amazon better start offering the same deals or they will lose a ton of sales. Jet clamps rock, but Bessey has a new clamp in the works and I am sure it will rival these or even be better. 129.00 including shipping and NO tax is a great price Amazon I will take more!

Excellent set, seems like Jet has taken the best from the Bessey
and Jorgensen clamps and made a clamp that is the best that I have laid my hands on. You can feel the quality...

After 1 year of use and at least half a dozen projects I have to revisit this review.
I first rated these clamps 3 stars mostly because of the problem with sliding the head. I guessed that over time and use, the clamps would work easier. I was half right. I can slide them closed a bit easier. However, getting the clamps open seems to be just as bad if not worse. I have to hold the lever open and slam the end of the clamp on the bench or floor to open them up. They are heavy clamps and hold with even and tight pressure, but the opening problems are not worth the frustration.

These are solid clamps. Nice large handles makes it easy to tighten up.
However, while they are solid, these are heavy clamps. Keep that in mind if you are planning to use them off the bench.
The biggest problem I have had with them is sliding the head up or down the bar. They seem to be binding up all the time. Frustrating to say the least.
I would not buy again.

I also have the Irwin parallel clamps and both clamps are great. The Jet clamps have a lot of nifty features that I really like. The quick release works really well and that's one of my favorite features. I don't think any of the other parallel clamps have that. The handles are big and much more comfortable than the Irwins. And one feature that I thought I wouldn't use are the measurements but I actually use it a lot because I like to lay out the clamps before hand and then glue up the pieces. The Irwins feel beefier and the clamping surface is bigger but the Jet clamps are much easier to use and I would prefer it over the Irwins.

Every other reviewer is correct, these parallel clamps are the best, so I wont repeat the comments about the clamp itself. I want to comment on the kit. It is an excellent value. 2-40" clamps and 2-24" clamps. 4 clamp holders which hold the clamps square to each other so you can clamp assemblies like frame and panel doors and cabinet sides, and 8 bench dog pins for the bottom of the clamps, so you can hold these clamps to your bench. This kit is an excellent way to start your collection of parallel clamps. Parallel clamps are a must for certain applications and the Jet Parallel Clamp Kit is the best value going. In my opinion, Jet needs to offer the kit with several other lengths of clamps.

These clamps are great. They dont flex under high loads, and they have a great measuring system built right into them. I would highly recomend them. However some of the clamps will become troublesome over time. They just dont slide very well. I've called Jet a few times and had new ones sent out free of charge a couple times. Great Customer Service by Jet.

In a woodshop, clamps are an essential item. Although they are very useful, and absolutely necessary, it is difficult to spend a lot of money on them. My first clamps were cheap from Harbor Freight, because I wanted to save my money for 'real' tools. After using the Jet clamps, I will never buy another brand of parallel clamp. I have used Bessey, and those new Irwin parallel clamps from Home Depot, and various others. Jet made their bars bigger and stronger, they do not flex at all, and the clamping faces are both thicker and longer than any competing brand. The quick release feature is key for me. It is so much easier to work with.

To summarize: Jet Clamps are the best parallel clamps on the market as far as I can tell. If you are serioius about woodworking like I am, it is definitely worth spending a little extra on better clamps that will be with you for all eternity.

The set of two 40" and two 24" bar clamps plus assorted accessories is designed for heavy duty -- to glue up raised panel doors or cabinet frames or whole cabinets. The accessories that come with the full set of four clamps let you align them at 90 degree angles for glueing up cabinet doors and cabinet frames, and you can buy additional individual clamps in several lengths.

If you don't build furniture, you probably won't have much use for these clamps but if you do, they're perfect. The clamp jaws are faced with non-marring plastic. The jaws are wide enough and long enough to hold large pieces securely. The steel I-bars on which the jaws ride are wide enough to resist flexing and the whole rig feels like a heavy duty truck. The mechanism for releasing and quickly moving the jaws is a bit clunky but it's very useful for quick set-up.

The set is too heavy to use on smaller assemblies, but for bigger jobs it's vastly superior to the kind of bar clamps you can buy at Home Depot.