Irwin 224134 Quick-Grip 3/4-Inch Pipe Clamp

• Jorgensen 50 Pony 3/4-Inch Pipe Clamp Fixture
• Adjustable Clamp 7456 Cushion Clamp Pads (4-Pack)
• Kreg K3MS K3 Master Pocket Hole Jig System
• Freud LU87R010 10-Inch 24 Tooth FTG Thin Kerf Ripping Saw Blade with 5/8-Inch Arbor and PermaShield Coating
• Grizzly H7694 Master Forstner Bit 31 Pc. Set

I like my pony clamps much, much, much, much, much better. Now I hate that shade of blue. The only thing I used to like about them is the pretty blue color. I've wrestled with these clamps for over a year now. The problem lies in the whole threadless head assembly. Honestly, they worked OK for the first 6 months but they just don't work anymore. since these clamps don't use threads, the head is not securely attached and much of the clamping pressure is wasted as the moving part of the jaws bind against the pipe.

I purchased ¾" Irwin pipe clamps 3 years ago and I was very happy with them, recently I purchased an additional clamp to reinforce my clamping capacity. I have many Irwin tools in my shop and I was very satisfied so far but this one was the last Irwin clamp I will ever buy. On first sight I saw that the design was slightly changed, the new one looks slightly slimmer compared to the picture and from the clamps I already had, but more seriously the new clamp performed very poorly. The sliding part is jammed all the time over the pipe during tightening action and you have to use your free hand to continuously releasing it in order to complete the job.

Irwin shows the clamps sitting in slots cut into a table perpendicular to the bar in place of this but a non-woodworker must have come up with the idea because the part needs to be moved - can't if it's sitting in a slot. The Irwin 3/4" pipe clamps fit on both threaded and unthreaded pipe, and they are a LOT easier to crank. My experience is with Jorgensen 3/4" pipe clamps but when I saw the 4 for 3 pricing and free shipping I ordered 8 sets of these 3/4" Irwin clamps. Jorgensen requires threaded pipe on the head end. Of course the slot could be the entire length of the bar but then you'd have a table basically just for these clamps. Jorgensen sells an aluminum base to hold the bar that doesn't work on the Irwin clamps because the back of the clamp part is higher than the Jorgensen base.

This item arrived on time and was just what I was looking for so far no problems and I don't expect any. Great price. They work very well for clamping and seem to be holding just fine.

The pipe clamps work great. They are the best i have in my shop