How to make Harbor Freight Clamps better! 

I always pick up a clamp every time I walk into Harbor Freight- and this is great! The fact you acknowledged Mr. Paul Sellers (yes, I call him Mr. and Sir bcuz he’s my woodworking sensei) shows mad respect! New follower!

I loved the upgrades. I used the double sided carpet tape, and 1/4 thick rubber to make my pads. Thanks for the video!😊

I have a few of those clamps. I'll be doing some work on them in the morning. A bit of paste wax works wonders for making it easy to remove the glue. Thank You.

Good job dude. Now I know what to do with mine so I can start using them again. Thanks.

There's nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane!

I have the same bar clamps. You can run a strip of clear packing tape over it and the sliding clamp will still hit the indentations. That keeps the glue off of them also, and no maintenance at all.

spot on..............😀😀😀😇😇😇😇

Thx man!

Thanks, don't why I didn't think of this before. You win cat daddy.

Love your attitude.

I just found your channel. Great video. One suggestion I have is to use a dry spray lube on the clamps so that the saw dust doesn't build up. Thanks, Ralph.

I have lots of these HB aluminum bar clamps and will be enhancing them real soon. Thanks for the tip.

The acorn nut is off looking for the 10mm, nice video I will be modifying my clamps this weekend

liked your video. I will be modifying mine . I use packaging tape on my clamps so the glue doesn't stick.

Like your video, and good idea. A suggestion on your pads, when you mark them before cutting them, use the clamp to hold the wood in place and then drawing the outline will be much easier.

Just discovered your channel. I'm originally from central Michigan, enjoy your casual style and humor. I better hurry to HF before they sell out of those clamps. Another good material for the clamp faces is a sheet of rubberized cork. It's tough and thin so doesn't reduce size, also easy to replace if needed. For those looking for more stregth, oak would be a good choice; I think the iron would crack before you flexed the bar.

I usually just run a strip of painters, tape along the bar and it actually works, which is bad any kind of clamp and that’ll just pull right off and the glue will go with it. Good video.

A paint stick cut down makes great pads on clamps also

Really good upgrades! Keep'em coming.

Fill it with expansion foam, I did that to mine and it worked great.

I dig it, thanks!

That's awesome. I don't have a harbor freight or anything for that matter near me, but next time I make a trip, I'll definitely be picking up a handful of these to modify. Way cheaper than the rockler panel clamps I ordered on amazon. Don't get me wrong, the panel clamps are amazing, but if I can get 6 for the price of 1, I'm in all day long. I'll just have to add some clamping cauls to my clamp ups and i have plenty of smaller clamps laying around.

As an option I think those pipe clamp jaws offer about the same clamping and only require 30 seconds to thread them onto a piece of 1/2” pipe.

Good video! I use non slip felt pads I picked up on Amazon a few years ago for my pipe and other clamps. You can get a variety pack with all sizes and they come in really handy, just peel off the backing stick it on and done.

Thx! I got a lot out of this!! And you saved us $$!

.I modified mine with self adhesive cork from the dollar store

Good job. Thanks for the idea and instructions and thanks for the video.

if you have a table saw could you use that to trim up the board for width?

Rub the bar with beeswax. Glue won’t stick and the won’t contaminate the project. A 1 ounce bar of wax will last for years.

You should have ran it down your table saw for the indents the clamp face locks into. Would make a little more solid and it wouldn’t take much time.

was hoping for a better solution for the too far apart spaced notches in the bar. thats my only gripe with these cheap clamps

Why not use a router or dado to make a channel in your board that goes inside the clamp to allow for those indentations? Great mods!

This ignores the biggest problem with these clamps. The blue iron is garbage, and the fixed end will break under pressure.

I use wax on the clamps and then the glue Doesn’t stick.

Hey Matao, great video! Is that a Pentel 0.9mm pencil? I've had mine for 30 yrs. from my old draftsman days, it's still my favorite pencil.

👍

less talking and more showing life is too short

Leave it to a good ole Michigan boy like us and we'll figure it out .

The new Jorgenson clamps are garbage. The HF f clamps are a lot cheaper and better.

Wax

Should be titled how to ruin a clamp in a few complicated steps.