TEKTON 6 Inch Ratchet Bar Clamp / 9 Inch Spreader | 39180

In my opinion as an avid DIY homeowner, this is a great clamp and a good value for the price. Anyone reading this review probably understands that you can never have too many tools. Clamps are one of those tools that I just never seem to have enough of. Sooner or later, I will be working on a project where I don't have enough clamps to do the job properly. This is not a heavy-duty clamp, but it is as solidly constructed as you would expect for this price. It will provide many years of service in my shop. The clamp performs exactly as it should - it slides easily, clamps easily with one hand, and provides sufficient clamping force for most of my DIY project needs. Often I do not need a heavy-duty clamp or even want one. This clamp is lightweight and easy to use, and it is a great addition to my tool collection. My primary concern before purchasing this product was that it might turn out to be flimsy garbage. Now that I have used it for several weeks, I can tell you that it is a solid product. If you are looking for an affordable, easy to use, light to medium-duty clamp to add to your collection, this Tekton clamp will fit the bill. UPDATE 1/29/15: I still stand by everything in my original review, however I have two additions to make. First, I noticed that the price on this clamp varies quite considerably, and my recommendation only applies if the price is < ~$15. Above that, this Tekton clamp quickly loses its value proposition. Second, for those who are looking for a more heavy-duty clamp, take a look at the Jorgensen HD line. They are built like tanks and priced VERY reasonably. Overall I consider them to be a much better value, however sometimes you actually want a lighter clamp or you want the quick "pump and release" clamp style vs. the slower screw style.

Other people have complained about this clamp... near as I could tell, they either didn't read the description, or the description has been updated. It was exactly what I was expecting... a bar clamp with a 6" opening and 1.5" depth. If you don't know how big that is, get out a ruler. You will not be building a tree house or a dining room table with this clamp. If you want to build bird houses or pen holders, it might be perfect. I got it to hold electrical contacts on to the end of cell phone and camera lithium ion batteries. I might get some use out of it for leather work. EDIT As mentioned above, I've mostly been using this clamp to hold wires onto oddly-shaped batteries for charging. With a good lithium-ion charger, I'm able to charge and test all sorts of proprietary batteries (cell phone, camera, etc.)... but only if I can get the leads to stay in contact with the terminals! What I'm saying is that it got pretty light use (don't want to crush Li-Ion batteries!). Well, something has happened over the 8 months since I bought it... a few weeks ago, I reversed the head to use it as a spreader (so I could apply pressure for 24hrs to a VHB adhesive installation in my car), and it wouldn't hold with a force of more than about 2-3lbs. I ended up taking it apart and examining it... for some reason, one of the internal bars was just plain slipping. I figured I was out of luck, and was getting ready to change my review when I noticed that a company representative was offering assistance to Amazon customers who had negative experiences. I used the posted email address, explained my trouble, and within a couple hours, a representative had already contacted me, and asked for a shipping address so they could send me a replacement. Mind you, this is 8 months since purchase... well past the return period. But they list a lifetime replacement guarantee, and they really lived up to it. The next day, I received tracking information for a FedEx shipment, and in another day or two, the replacement clamp showed up at my door. It's working perfectly, and the replacement didn't cost me a dime.

This worked well for my purposes, which was to spread the base of my new Aeromach motorcycle highway bar enough to mount it on my Indian motorcycle. The highway bar is basically 1.5" metal tube kind of shaped like an arrowhead or a spade. The base of bar has to be spread apart enough to land on the mounts near the floorboards so it can be bolted down at each end, which required that the base be spread apart almost 2" from its resting position. It was impossible to spread it enough by hand, even with a friend helping out. I found this tool on Amazon and it did the trick. I was briefly concerned that it would not work, as there is not a huge amount of torque available on the handle that drags the spreader across the bar, but with a firm effort on the last squeeze, it was enough - the bar was spread enough and slid easily over the mounts. There's little metal plugs on the ends of the bar that apparently are meant to serve as stoppers but serve no purpose but to get in your way - one of them fell out, and I knocked the other one out. Then remove and reverse the end clamp (the one without the handle) to turn it into a spreader, and off you go. Overall - good tool. Definitely multi-purpose. I'm satisfied. Only thing I'd criticize is the alleged pounds rating of the spreader vs the actual torque available on the handle, but any discount price tool pushed to alleged manufacturer specs will probably break in the end, so just know that this thing has limits and you're good to go.

I ordered the TEKTON 6 inch mini clamp to use as a spreader to shove a short section of vinyl plank flooring back under a door trim strip. The clamp did not come with instructions, but it was pretty intuitive figure out how the take off the end stop, slide the clamp handle down to the stop end, and reattach the stop pad to the opposite end. I was worried that because of the price the clamp and ratchet mechanism might be flimsy, but it is really sturdy. After screwing an angle plate into the floor and spraying the seams with silicone, the mini spreader moved the floor plank the 1/4" necessary to fit back under the door trim plate. Very pleased with this tool!

Excelente calidad del producto, Sargento TEKTON Mini de 6 Pulgadas, llego en perfecto estado. incluye Sargento para carpintería de pequeño tamaño, construida con materiales de muy buena calidad al tacto, hecho a base de acero y plástico rígido que se sienten, se ven sólidos y de buen acabado, las mandíbulas no lastiman la madera mientras la sujetan y su fuerza de presión es excelente, son ideales para trabajos de carpintería minuciosos o detallados e incluso para usos un poco mas rudos, para trabajos en los que se requiera un torque excesivo o trabajos de soldadura tal vez no sean lo ideal debido a que algunos componentes son de plástico. Para lo que yo lo necesito es perfecto y en cuanto a relacion costo-beneficio es excelente, es totalmente nuevo y esta en perfectas condiciones. 100% recomendable, el empaquetado fue bueno como es costumbre en Amazon y llego en 2 días.

Achei muito frágil e pequeno!

فتيل او كليب صغير الحجم جودة جيدة ومناسبة للاعمال الخفيفة

This clamp is great. I wish I knew about it years ago. I do most of my projects on my own so before sheeting my shed with plywood I purchased two of these. I would set the plywood in place and use the clamps to quickly and securely fasten the plywood to the stud and it would hold in place until I was able to put in some screws. The release was a bit sticky at first but after a couple uses on/off they were fine and released much easier. Highly recommend this item. Excellent quality.

I use the clamps as spreaders to brace and straighten deck boards before fixing them in place. Bracing over a 55cm gap caused the bar to bow before the board had straightened. A heavier duty bar would be better on long clamps. Fair value for money. Product mechanics are of reasonable quality.