Edge Clamps Reviews

I use a small 5-1/2" saw for my panel cutting and I purchased a 4' version a few years back and found it works great for cutting strait line. I have not used it for a clamp, but when building cabinet it has come in very useful, I would suggest also getting the Attachment guide for mounting the saw on. A good craftsman could build one, but the plastic one works great and has a good snug fit.

Made in USA makes a difference. This is not junk. It is a beautifully built piece of equipment that is very nice to work with. I think that says it all.

I needed to make 3/4 in dado cuts with my router along 8 feet of plywood. My 2 part straight edge deflected under this strain. This one part unit with the router base was a joy to work with. Each dado as straight as could be with no struggling at all. The router base unit needed some work, but the straight edge was great.

I ordered the 4-ft and 8-ft Tru-Grips to use as plywood cutting guides. I almost didn't order the 24" variety, thinking I wouldn't use it very much. But, I decided it might come in handy, so I ordered it.

My initial hesitation was well founded--I don't often reach for the 24" guide when I'm cutting plywood, as the 48" variety can handle smaller boards, and it's usually already out.

But I found an unexpected use for the 24" clamp: it is an excellent cutting guide for my Bandsaw. I have a 14" Ridgid, but I suspect if would work on any bandsaw table 24" and smaller. Clamps on and off in seconds, and has a grip that won't waver. I have no need for a fancy (expensive) fence system--this clamp works great.

I should also say that I love all my Tru-Grip clamps. I don't know how I would ever cut a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood without my 8-ft clamp.

Great job Tru-Grip!

This it a good straight edge, although it is hard to clamp down all the way to prevent a little movement. I called the company, and they sent me an extension to the handle which makes it easier to clamp down. They were quick with their response.

These clamps are great. I got this one, the 24 inch clamp and tool guide, and I also purchased the 48 inch (total 50 some inches) Pro guide with T Slots. I first saw the 24 inch clamp and tool on Norm Abrams New Yankee workshop, and he used them for a router edge guide. Then I saw him make a quick mortising jig, out of two of them for the router. These Griset clamps are a dream. They meet the criteria of being easy, quick, and accurate to set up and use. The list of possible uses is enourmous.
For example, I needed to trim the ends of some MDF. I used one of these clamps, with a square, grabbed the rear attaching brace, snugged it up to the rear of the piece, and then gave the front lever a push, and it easily clamped firmly to the piece. I took out my Bosch Jig Saw, and the guide was so accurate, that it enabled me to make a smooth cut. Finally I used a long board, with some medium grit, gave it a light sanding, and it was indistinguishable from the factory cut.
I find these to be so accurate, and easy to use, I could see a contractor using the 4 foot and 8 foot models to cut 4x8 sheets of plywood on the job.
I plan on buying more of these. I want to get another of the clamp and tool guide, so I can mate two of these up, for different operations, and I defintely want a pair of the back to back clamps for a quick way to secure pieces of sanding, and even gluing up.
It sounds expensive, for clamp and edge guides, when you think of buying several of them. Once you buy one or two, and start to use them, you will definitely be back for more.

I originally purchased the 4ft. Tru-Grip Pro to build a router table carcass and top. Once I mastered the efficient use of the tool, I found making deadon accurate square cuts quick and painless. I do not have the bases, but I don't really need them. I just use the edge of the tool for a fence, check square and offset for the operation and either saw off edges or route dados and rabbet cuts. It's a bit more of a pain to set up than my table saw, but the accuracy is spot on and for large pieces and panel crosscuts, this absolutely provides maximum utility for the cost.

The Tru Grip Pro FTR series is a first class product. The thing that is very important is that they grip well (you can adjust it) and they are very true and accurate when using the Stop, or Router Guide, or Saw guide. No wobble, no play, just tight, smooth, snag free accuracy.
When you consider the tools they replace, they are also a bargain. With a 4 foot and an 8 foot model, you can cut 4 x 8 sheets of plywood, without having to shell out twenty times the money for a panel cutter. If I was cutting plywood sheets all day long, of course the panel cutter has some setup advantages. For example you don't have to bother to use a square when cutting with a panel cutter. But for portability, and accurate use, the Tru Grip system can't be beat.
The pro series is a lot wider than their regular guide clamps, that is to allow for the mitre T slots on both sides. That way the accessories can ride along those tracks. Their regular guide clamps are great for doing dadoes with a router for example. Use two of them, and you have an instant routing guide.
The circular saw accessory is very accurate. You just drill holes in the plate, which is phenolic plastic, and mount your saw. Then you drop your saw down through the plate, giving you an extremely tight fit, which prevents tear out, when cutting through finish work. So you wind up dedicating a circular saw to it.
The stop piece is great for all sorts of uses, like when routing blind dadoes, or for making repeated cuts at a certain depth.
Having the 4' and the 8 foot model is convenient. Using an 8' for everything is not advised. The long overhang left by an 8' on a short piece of work is not easy to deal with.
I use the 8' when trimming door edges. How else can you run an 80 inch door through a machine in order to get an adjusted edge?
The router plate is already machined out with a circle in the middle that is oversize, so as to keep the bit at a maximum clearance for plunging. Once again, you drill it yourself to accomodate your specific router.
The router , saw, and stop accessories are premade to fit into the specific configuration on the edge of the guide, as well as the T slot, creating a very snug fit, with no play, yet not binding.
The days of finding a left over edge of a plywood sheet, then figuring out how to clamp it down, in order to cut larger sheets are over. This system is lightweight, made out of thick aluminum, which makes it substantial, yet a breeze to carry around.

The equipment it replaces, and the accurracy it creates in your work, make it well worth the price. Highly recommended.

Really helps cross cutting operations in a small shop, and when combined with one of the bases also available helps deliver repeatable, accurate results. What more do you need?

Buy this one, quickly, while you still can get a gen-yoo-wine, made-by-Brits-in-Sheffield vise for a Taiwanese price. The Record 52-1/2 is a far better device than expected for a little over a hundred bucks. It has tremendous capacity, is heckforstrong, and is fast-acting without mystical half-turn gymnastics. It has a nice, long-lasting blue paint finish, and decent metal finishes as well. You can tighten it up with a whomping mallet mash if you care to, and it will take it and smile back at you. The quick-release lever is a pure gem in operation.

This champion of a vise deserves a big, heavy bench to support it in the fashion in which it would like to become accustomed. Be aware that mounting procedures will affect your long-term enjoyment greatly. If your bench is edged, mounting Big Blue behind the edging gives you a seamless inside face; this is superior to recessing it into the bench side. You also should fabricate an outside jaw pad of hardwood. Magnetic pads are available for this vise, but they look crummy on a nice bench, can't be made from scraps and won't last as long as maple ones. A useful, plain-English installation guide is included.

Waxing the screw and guides is recommended. Don't use oil, grease or WD40, all of which will accumulate crud rapidly.

Drawbacks are few: you won't get the full jaw width after facing the jaws (you don't need it anyway); it weighs about an Imperial ton (only a disadvantage if your bench is lightish); and it will torque its works a bit if you rachet down hard with a piece of stock held vertically in one side. This last peccadillo is curable by the expedient of shimming the opposite side with a board of equal thickness. Final drawback is the dog, which is good hard steel -- just the thing to punch divots in your workpieces. Make a new one out of hardwood (takes 15 minutes or so if you're slow like me), and your troubles are over. Alternatively, you can use cauls between the dog and your workpieces.

The ONLY reason I'll never buy another Record 52-1/2 is that a guy really only needs one -- and I'll never wear this one out. Nice to see well-made gear out there.

As with the majority of equipment manufactured by Record, you will find attention to detail and excellent quality. The 52-1/2 does not disappoint. The thread design on the clamp is very beefy and will withstand as much pressure as you can muster without the possibility of striping out. This is something you want find on the Taiwanese copycats. The ratio of handle turn to clamp movement is excellent allowing for incremental adjustment of clamping pressure without the fear of "over doing it". The adjustable top "dog" is great when used in conjunction with bench "dogs" resulting in even great clamping width capacities. The quick release feature is very helpful in quickly adjusting the jaw width without having to crank your arm off.

As mentioned in an earlier review, careful attention should be paid to adequately mount the vice. I anchored the vise in a 2" x 4" laminated workbench by rabbiting the rear vice clamp into the bottom of the workbench and then secured it with �" x 2 �" lag bolts. I also attached a 12" long 2" x 4" to the front vice clamp. This gives me a wood-on-wood clamping surface to protect the surface of my projects.

This should be the first (and it will probably be the last) vise you consider or purchase.

This is a good, strong vise that is easy to tighten and loosen. The lever swivels very smoothly and is large enough to give you a good grip. The overall design is excellent. The way the mounting holes are positioned, you can mount the vise on the edge of your workbench so it has a fairly low profile. This means that the vise is very unobtrusive, staying out of the way, yet providing access when you need it. The inside of the mouth is smooth. However, I taped some padding on it to make sure it doesn't damage wood. If you're a woodworker, this is the best kind of vise to get.

I use a small 5-1/2" saw for my panel cutting and I purchased a 4' version a few years back and found it works great for cutting strait line. I have not used it for a clamp, but when building cabinet it has come in very useful, I would suggest also getting the Attachment guide for mounting the saw on. A good craftsman could build one, but the plastic one works great and has a good snug fit.

Hello,

I own the 8' and 4' guides along with the baseplates for a circular saw and router. These are GREAT products and for us weekend warriors the perfect setup for ripping/crosscutting plywood and other large pieces of wood. I found that I needed the 2' model as well.

Placed the order on 1/28/05 and saw on the page that it usually ships in 1-2 weeks. It is now 2 months later and I still have not received the item. About every week or so I get an email from amazon with an "updated" shipping date due to an undisclosed delay. Sooooo if you order this 2' guide, again based on the 8' and 4' model I'm sure it's fantastic, prepare to wait. It ain't gonna be no "usually ships in 1-2 weeks", more like usually ships in 2-3 months.....

I'll write another review when I finally receive this item, if I ever do.

i recently bought both the 2' and 4' clamp guides along with the router base and stop block. Building cabinets have never been easier. i use it for dado's, and edge work sets up in seconds is extremely accurate. Saves me time on set ups,with its ease of use. the router base installs easily,and is a joy to use.clamping action is impressive,i now use the straight edge for numerous functions in the shop.would recomend this tool to anyone who has ever had a edge slip and ruin a cut. those days are gone..

I can not begin to describe how well this clamping tool guide works. It is easily adjustable to clamp on any width work piece within 50" or less. The 50" length is great for cross ripping sheet goods (4' wide). The guide has three levels of clamping force but the first level is enough to secure the guide so that it will not move during ripping.

This guide absolutely does not bow to the side as you rip. You can press the base plate of your circular saw tight against the side of this guide and rip away. For the first time I can rip a full 8' sheet of plywood and the cut is consistent width the full length. This is virtually impossible to do with cheaper guides like the thin-gauge, two-piece one from Johnson.

This guide has two t-slot tracks as well so you can design jigs and stops to attach to the guide. I purchased the optional 9"x12" HDPE saw plate for circular saws that runs in the T-track of the guide but I haven't used it yet. I don't know if I will ever have the need to. If the guide doesn't bow sideways, and believe me, this one doesn't, you can get a straight cut without the need of linking your circular saw to the guide with the optional plate.

The guide has slots that allow you to insert optional ruled scales (SAE or metric). However, I have purchased these and they are no good. The measuring scale is made of thin plastic laminated on paper and is off by 1/8" within 48". See my review for the "All in One Clamp I-50 50" Scale (English)" product. This applies to all the E. Emerson all in one measurement scales that I have purchased. However, the extra wide surface between the T-slots on the Ultra Wide clamp leaves plenty of room to add a quality adhesive backed measurement tape such as those sold for table saw rip fence rails. I plan to purchase one of those to enhance my Ultra Wide.

This clamping tool guide is well worth the price and I'm glad I finally made myself try it. Do yourself a favor, through that cheap two-piece tool guide away, or that not quite straight piece of scrap lumber and buy one of these. You'll be glad you did when you start getting really straight cuts from your circular saw.

I also have the 99.5" Ultra Wide, the 50" standard width and the 36" standard width. See my reviews for those too.

I found this plate easy to mount as there is a built-in lip to clamp or hold your saw plate against during installation. My installation was fast and true (the squarer the installation the closer your cut width will be to the width of your blade).

I went out and got an inexpensive but fairly strong (13 amp) circ saw and put a good blade on it so I could keep it permanently mounted thus freeing my good circ saw to do fast free hand cuts when needed. The accuracy of the clamp/guides and plate result in cleaner cuts than my table saw and for most jobs it is so much easier to move the saw over the work than the work over the saw. You could use the guides without the saw plate, but the plate gives you a cut with less splinters and no flaws from the occasional lack of concentration or overextending your reach.

When using the saw plate you exert no pressure trying to push the saw against the guide so you don't have to worry about guide flex or clamp slippage. This makes the much cheaper standard width guides every bit as functional as the ultra wide guides.

I installed mine backwards from the installation instructions. I put the blade way from the guide so that when I am making a trim cut the weight of the saw is over the supported work and the scrap part can just fall away. This has worked flawlessly for me so far, and to great advantage in most instances over the "correct" installation. It does make it so the minimum width material I can cut with the guide and the plate is approximately 6" whereas if the saw were mounted the other way the minimum would be about 2-1/2". I get around those rare instances by just grabbing my other saw and using it with the guide without the saw plate, though narrow work like ripping a 2x# lengthwise is usually better done on the table saw anyway. I am not recommending this backwards installation for others, just pointing it out as an option to consider.

The saw I mounted to this plate came with a laser guide, a function I did not think I would use but it turns out to be really slick. I draw my mark lines exactly where I want to cut, instead of with a guide to blade offset. I put the clamp/guide in approximately the position it should be with the saw mounted in the track. I turn on the laser, line it up to my pencil mark, flip the clamp lock and off to the races with a smooth quick exact cut. I can do this as quickly and accurately as I can with my miter saw on 90 degree cuts. Quicker actually than wrestling 12 foot 2x6's onto the miter saw and it is so much more portable. My 12" guide clamp unexpectedly gets the most frequent work due to this partnership with the laser guide, whereas I originally thought ripping sheets with the 54 and 99 inch clamps was going to be the bulk of the benefit I got from this system.

I can not begin to describe how well this clamping tool guide works. It is easily adjustable to clamp on any width work piece but, obviously, this one was made to rip 8' sheet material. The guide has three levels of clamping force but the first level is enough to secure the guide so that it will not move during ripping.

This guide absolutely does not bow to the side as you rip. You can press the base plate of your circular saw tight against the side of this guide and rip away. For the first time I can rip a full 8' sheet of plywood and the cut is consistent width the full length. This is virtually impossible to do with cheaper guides like the thin-gauge, two-piece one from Johnson.

This guide has two t-slot tracks as well so you can design jigs and stops to attach to the guide. I purchased the optional 9"x12" HDPE saw plate for circular saws that runs in the T-track of the guide but I haven't used it yet. I don't know if I will ever have the need to. If the guide doesn't bow sideways, and believe me, this one doesn't, you can get a straight cut without the need of linking your circular saw to the guide with the optional plate.

The guide has slots that allow you to insert optional ruled scales (SAE or metric). However, I have purchased these and they are no good. The measuring scale is made of thin plastic laminated on paper and is off by 1/8" within 48". See my review for the "All in One Clamp I-99 99-Inch Scale (English)" product. This applies to all the E. Emerson all in one measurement scales that I have purchased. However, the extra wide surface between the T-slots on the Ultra Wide clamp leaves plenty of room to add a quality adhesive backed measurement tape such as those sold for table saw rip fence rails. I plan to purchase one of those to enhance my Ultra Wide.

This clamping tool guide is well worth the price and I'm glad I finally made myself try it. Do yourself a favor, through that cheap two-piece tool guide away, or that not quite straight piece of scrap lumber and buy one of these. You'll be glad you did when you start getting really straight cuts from your circular saw.

I also have the 54" Ultra Wide, the 50" standard width and the 36" standard width. See my reviews for those too.

So this edge clamp adaptor looks like something put together as an afterthought. Don't be fooled and don't think that the other cheap knockoffs are the same. I've tried both. The bessey locks tightly and squarely to a tradesman clamp, turning it into a superior edge clamp with lots of holding power. This was a revelation to me the first time I put some oak edging on a new cabinet. Other brands I tried looked the same but did not fit tightly and took a lot more fiddling to make them work - losing a lot of time and convenience. These are also very handy for use with k-body clamps for some of those odd clamping situations you may run across.

I was so impressed that I went out and bought another half dozen.

Ever glue up a large panel, hoping all the clamps and cauls around the outer edge would provide even clamping pressure in the center of the panel? Tired of tying to use spreaders that dont fit?

This clamp hooks into standard Bessey K Body or Trademen bars, and provides good solid clamping pressure to panel edges or Centers. The dual-clamp is far more balanced than it's single ended sister clamp. Can also be used as a spreader attachment.

Having 3-4 of these now, I use them with almost every large-format glue up.

They may work on other bars, but I only like Bessey and have sold off all others I've tried. Buy clamps once - Buy Bessey.