Jet 70424 JET-24 24-Inch Parallel Clamp

List Price: $52.00 Discount Price: $29.00

Features:

• Sturdy and powerful 24-inch, 1,000-pound clamp ideal for both clamping and spreading
• Non-marring composite resin jaw faces
• Moveable rail stand/end stop
• Turns easy without binding
• Reversible clamping, converts clamp to a spreader

Accessories:
Exploring Woodworking: Fundamentals of Technology	Fine Woodworking

Customer Reviews:

Best Parallel Clamps "BAR NONE" [Posted on 2006-12-15]
I bought my first pair of 40" Jet Parallel Clamps nearly a year ago, and at the time I thought the price was too high. I had been using old bar clamps like my Father used, and thought I'd try something new. After several successful projects where completed I decided to replace all my bar clamps with Parallels. I picked up a pair of the Bessey K-Body Clamps, which work okay but do not site upright and level quiet as well as the Jets. Then Woodcraft came along with their version of the Bessey K body, cheaper, and not as well made as either the Jet or Bessey, but I tried out a set of them anyways, much to my disappointment. So this weekend I found a sale on the Jet Clamping Kit, and jumped on it, for eighty nine bucks, the price was right. I wish now that I had spent the money on the Jets in the first place, and I've learned my lesson the hard way...as usual.

The best, and I've tried nearly all of them. [Posted on 2006-12-28]
I've worked with Bessey and Jorgensen parallel clamps, and I've looked closely at the Gross Stabil clamps. For me, the Jet parallel clamps eclipse everything else. They're all solid clamps, and they'll all do the job for which they're intended, but the Jet clamps have some nice advantages.

The chief advantage is the head lock. To release or lock the heads on the other clamps, you pivot the handle. Sometimes, when you're working with a tough glue-up and gravity is against you, it can be awkward to pivot the handle and turn it to tighten the screw. And when you arrange most parallel clamps vertically, the head almost always slides down, which can be a nuisance or even a nuckle-basher. Those sliding heads are heavy! In any case, when gravity has its way, the head will be at the bottom of the bar, which isn't necessarily where you want it.

On the Jet clamps, the head locks in place unless you squeeze a trigger. This means you can pre-set the gap, a task that is made easier by the inch markings on the bar. Then, you position the clamp, the head stays where you put it.

Minor advantages of the Jet clamps are the dogs that screw into the stationary jaw and a bracket that clamps to the bar. You can insert these dogs into the 3/4" holes found in most workbenches, thus preventing the clamps from moving or falling over while you're preparing your glue-up.

Don't be too deterred by the cost. You can use parallel clamps for nearly all your clamping jobs. They're heavy, but they'll do almost anything a bar or pipe-clamp can do. For awhile, I've been buying one clamp a month. (I use Amazon Prime, which I wouldn't live without, but all these clamps qualify for free ground shipping, so there's no penalty in spreading things out.)

Jet Bar Clamps [Posted on 2006-12-30]
I now have 8 Jet Bar Clamps. I have used Bessey clamps and pipe clamps, but I find the Jets to be the best. The positive stop actions, the smooth clamping screws, and the graduated bars are all improvements over other clamps I've used.
I just finished making an entertainment center, all of solid wood, and the clamps were invaluable for gluing up panels and clamping panels together.

Well thought out [Posted on 2007-02-18]
The clamps work well - as expected. Got them at Amazon for $29.95 and free freight but Amazon's price seems to be a lot higher now. Try going to Amazon through a shopping site and maybe you can get them for $29.95. I'm not sure, but it seems to me prices vary depending on how you get here. I bought eight clamps and Amazon shipped them by UPS one at a time! Eight separate packages that arrived over three days. What a waste!

Well designed tool. [Posted on 2007-08-05]
I bought two of these clamps (30") and found them so useful that I bought two more (24 and 40") even though I'm just an amateur basement woodworker. The design is well thought out. The jaws are 1.5" thick so they work well with 2x4's. The jaws are also easy to move, easy to grip, and are powerful and parallel. Their construction is solid and spilled glue doesn't stick to it. The squared edges make it easy to set on a surface. I'm even using them just to hold objects that I'm working on. It may be hard to spend $40 to replace a $5 pipe clamp, but the first time I used them I was glad I did. After all, I do woodworking for the joy of it.

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