In this episode we look at some legit welding clamps 0:00:00 Intro and look at typical welding clamps 0:03:56 Introduction to the Piher clamps 0:07:40 Jaw comparison 0:10:35 Build construction and conclusion
I got a set of those maximus clamps from fireball for Christmas. Super beefy. Bought a full stick of 1x2 tube. Now I have a pair of 2', 4', and 6' clamps for those really big jobs. It's a handy feature to be able to weld the tube to something like your welding table temporarily to hold stuff down.
Those are slick, I have never seen them. I will definitely have to check those out. Pretty trick idea to use tube or solid bar stock for the shaft, you could basically make a clamp for your specific size for reasonable money.
I'm pretty sure Piher sells the moving Jaw separately too as an accessory, the bar is a flat bar, for the F size it's a 35x8mm bar, the R uses a 40x10mm bar the XXL uses 60x12mm bar. I haven't tried it but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Thanks. I just threw my c-clamps away. They're great if you've got three arms! BTW, I'm a novice welder but took lessons at a local welding supply store. A lesson I learned the hard way that can ruin one's life (or someone else's life): thinking we're good enough to weld something like a trailer or trailer hitch. If there's a harmonic vibration from any source, say, out-of-balance or alignment tire/wheel, the best weld can come apart very quickly causing stuff to fall off in the roadway. No bueno. Again, thanks for the videos. I'm (re)learning and enjoy.
That’s definitely something I probably don’t talk about enough, static vs dynamic loads. Even a bad weld can support a ton of weight statically. Ask a bad weld to handle a dynamic load that changes and it will fail. Trailers are definitely a dynamic load, the welds are exposed to vibration, stress from any direction, and loads due to payload. That’s a lot of potentials for failure and it definitely pays to have skill to make solid repairs on such things.
I always love finding another Greg that makes mistakes. Great content -- I just got one of those "I can't believe it's a welder" welders from Amazon to fix some easy stuff on the property. Your videos have been super helpful, so thank you!
Glad they have been helpful for you 😀. It’s all about doing the best you can with what you have. As long as you focus on being smooth, consistent, and try not to let the frustration get to you, you’ll be fixing stuff in no time with that welder 😀
I have had four of the 12” Piher clamps for several years. They are my go-to clamp for anything in their size range. Try clamping two pieces of tubing together at right angles - very tough to pull apart. Another clamp to look at is the Maximus clamp by Fireball Tool. I use them for clamping larger assemblies.
I am definitely going to grab some of those fireball tool clamps. Glad to hear you have had good luck with the piher clamps, I sure wish I found them sooner. They have really made some jobs far easier for me already. I think I will pickup some of their table clamps for machined holes 😀
Nice clamp the Piher, not badly priced either. I use Bessey "F" clamps and have quite a few so will get a couple Pifer to try. A very interesting comparison young man, top job!
Thanks 😀. I think you will like them no doubt. I have a mix of Bessey and knock off ones. They get the job done but after doing a bunch of jobs with the pihers I will be using them more I think. They are confidence inspiring to say the least.
I've got 2 Piher Maxipress clamps, and a Carver (rack) Clamp. I bought the Piher clamps as I could get 2 for the price of 1 Carver. They are very good clamps but it was 2 weeks ago that I found a flaw... For some reason the clamp wasn't sitting square on the job at first I thought it was the little steel wedge. I looked down the clamp and the shaft had bent over time, this had happened on both clamps. (Bear in mind I have had them for 8 years so they've seen some abuse) I ended up heating it up with the torch, quick whack & all straight again. Just something to keep an eye on. The Carver clamps are really popular over here in UK and are virtually indestructible but they are very expensive.
Those Piher clamps are so good. Here in Scotland they can be hard to get hold of. Weld splatter doesn't stick to the black steel bar as much as as to the shiny forged clamps
Nice to hear 😀. I wish people could hands on try them, they are nice. My work set will be getting some hard use in the next few weeks, I am sure they will take it 😀.
Piher clamps are awesome, ive used them for a while. Made in Spain too. Internally it has a double acting screw, which gives you much much higher clamping pressure. It kinda acts like a multiplier. As well as speed.
Nice to hear you like them 😀. I am not the person to buy random stuff that people show off (aka snap on truck syndrome lol) but the clamps are beefy and I had to buy some. I have used my work set for a few weeks and i am impressed, definitely worth it.
Yea same, I've had my first set for about 5 years now and they're still solid as a rock for clamping. You can just get so much more clamping force with them, they've come in handy in so many ways over the years. Solid product worth the extra few Euro's imo.
I have a couple of these type of clamps and I’ve used them just once. They are less than useless with a good fixture table with five sides. I can’t even think of how I would use them. I must have a good 25 welding clamps for the fixture table. They all have swivels. The swivels are good when surfaces aren’t parallel as often happens. There are so many different types of clamps because there are so many different clamping needs. What I like about my Siegmund clamps is that you can lock the clamp arm to any height with a finger screw you can tighten more with a hex wrench. You can also slide the arm in and out from the post to make it easier to sit on your work. They’re great when making several parts of the same type as you just loosen the clamp by a turn, or so, and swing the arm out of the way, then just swing it back when the new part is in place. Other companies have copied that. These look interesting so I think I’ll pick up a pair to try them out. I’ve seen them around but never thought about buying any.
Those Bassy clamp clones I have a bunch of them and like you pointed out that little Tommy bar that they give you to tighten it with comes very short when it comes to extreme clamping pressure that it can give so my alleviation to this problem was I found a set of nuts that would fit on that tightening bolts and I positioned it in such a way that the bar still slides and plug welded a nut to the end of that shaft so that I could use an adjustable or a socket wrench to tighten it most of the time I use a breaker bar with the socket I got the idea from looking at boiler clamps because they are only turned with a wrench
@@makingmistakeswithgreg it makes it handy for those situations where you have tightened the clamp by hand but you're just Out Of Reach for tightening it anymore and actually getting any more hand leverage out of it you just need just a few more squeaks out of it that's what did it for however this new clamp that you showed I went looking at them and you weren't kidding for the price of one of those I could get four more of the knockoff bessey clamps but I am going to purchase one in the near future so I can compare it for myself against one of those clamps I already have and I think I already know what's going to happen I'm going to end up with a bunch of them
Always room for more clamps. Sometimes just the number of them can make a difference. The older 'F' style Harbor Freight had copper coated threads to keep the slag away and they worked well. They also used to have a heavy duty long reach bar clamp for a very good price. Pretty heavy duty (much much more than the 'F' clamp) and the long reach makes them useful. My favorite is the 'bridge' style C clamp. Extremely heavy duty and extremely expensive but if you need shear clamping power, wow. Pipe clamps used to be really cheap at HF and I got several of each 1/2" and 3/4 both long jaw and regular. Then there are also the ones that have a stand on the back of the sliding jaws so you can even them up on a table. Can't have too many and can't have enough variety. For woodworking projects years ago I got the aluminum 'bar' clamps, couldn't be flimsier but they were cheap at HF. Making wooden drawers and boxes eats up clamps and these actually worked to hold parts together and put light clamping pressure on them. That was all I needed so they were worth having. They aren't the glory tools around the shop but they do a yeoman's work day in and day out.
I love those bridge style c clamps, I am too cheap to buy one 😅. They could clamp the Grand Canyon together 😅. Definately can never have too many clamps.
Pretty slick design and seems a lot more stout than the traditional f clamp. I primarily only use an f clamp when I’m in a stain trying to get something somewhat in place then I’ll do my final clamping and adjusting with a different style clamp. I’m a big fan of bridge clamps and whopper jaws ( vice grip c grips)
Really neat piston design. I've fought with the swivel pad moving my holding piece. I have some clamps that seems to borrow from. One part being that horn... what is it for? Thought it was style.
The horn on the top of the clamp? The only thought I have is that when you pick it up it indexes on your hand right at that point. That way you can hold the top while spinning the handle a little bit easier. Beyond that it’s hard to say lol.
No problem 😀. The next size down from the R would be a real solid option for general use, it’s roughly the same size as the harbor freight in the video. It’s also a fair bit cheaper. I would definitely get one of them to have around, it’s far more useful for clamping random stuff than most clamps 😀
We just need some grip clamps meant for welding. I use them, but since they're made of plastic and rubber, they're not too happy if you're welding close to them. They all seem to work on the same side load and bind philosophy.
I might have a question/situation for your toolbox: I have to weld 1/8" tubing to the inside of 1/4" angle. I plan to stick it but the large gap has always been a problem for me. Any suggestions?
So you’re talking 1/8th wall tubing that’s say 1 in diameter, or just straight 1/8th diameter tube on 1/4in thick angle iron? Or are you talking 1/8th tube dia on small 1/4in angle iron? I am sure I can come up with tips. As far as gaps, they are tough with stick. My number one go to with welding gaps with stick is 6010/6011 because they make it easier. My second go to is to do whatever I can to close a gap (run beads to fill one side of the gap and then join the two pieces when the gap is reasonable).
1/8" wall tubing 1" diameter inside 1/4" thick 1.5" angle. I mostly use 6011 on dc. The build up before joining the two sounds like a good idea. Thanks!
Ok, that’s what I call the worst case scenario. Anytime you have a weird round profile welded to a flat you end up with issues of slag being difficult to remove. It can also be a pita to get both to join together. I would definitely use 6011, it will be smoother and less penetrating than 6010, and won’t have slag issues like 6013/7018. If you can put a small bead on the angle to slightly tighten the gap/round to flat profile it will save you. Your travel speed may need to be slower because you will need to fill quite a bit. I find mig and flux core wire work far better for what you’re looking at doing, but stick is doable. Do some test welds to dial it in, but you’re on the right path with 6011 😀.
If you were to heat the body directly you will likely cook the grease out of it. They are grease able via a fitting. From a damage perspective I wouldn’t be too worried about it to be honest. As far as I can tell the piston assembly has no seals or anything that would melt. The plastic handle wouldn’t like being torched to much though lol.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg It looks like a good clamp, probably could tack with it. It probably wouldn’t take the heat if you clamp a 1/8” small piece of plate say 10” long and 4” wide to the side of a table and heat it to bend a 90. You would have to clamp so close to where you’re heating, but you can with the bessey clamp.
