Review: New Harbor Freight rachet bar clamp

[Jon Whitney]

You can never have enough clamps, right? So when you get a coupon for a free one, you just go in and get it. Harbor Freight seems to be selling (and sometimes giving away) a couple of new lines of bar clamps. I picked up the one below (2nd from left) for nothing. I've had a few others of their bar clamps, both the simple screw type and the squeeze ratchet type (not to mention many of the spring clamps), with at best mixed success. The squeeze ratchet type, as this one is, have been particularly disappointing in the past, as the "trigger" seems to break off inside just as soon as you need to apply more than very gentle pressure. But these new ones looked to be a redesign. The tell tale sign is that all the pieces that were orange plastic on the older style are now gray plastic - including the "trigger" ratchet lever.

It's too early to tell how long this clamp will really last - but it looks promising. I've given the lever some good hard squeezes and it hasn't broken yet. The jaw pads on the older ones fell off quite often, these new ones haven't - though they are removable.

The fixed jaw can be removed and installed on the other end of the bar to change the clamp to a spreader. This feature was also present on the old style, but the new style features a winged screw for attaching the jaw, which makes it a tool-free operation.

My impression, after having shopped at Harbor Freight for the last 10 years or so, is that their quality is slowly but surely coming up to snuff. I've been pretty happy with some of the inexpensive power tools I've bought there, including a $80 10-inch sliding compound miter saw (including a carbide blade) which I used last summer to construct a 850 square foot deck in my back yard.

It looks like they also have a new line of screw-type bar clamps that have clutches. I haven't tried one yet, but they certainly look nice and I hope will be better than the very basic non-clutch bar clamps they used to sell.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Hi Jon,
It does seem the quality has improved on some HF items. The F body Jorgenson clones are better made than they used to be , but still not the quality of Jorgenson's. Sometimes you need a lot of clamps rather than a lot of clamping pressure so "cheap and many" carries the day.
The power tools seem to be of uneven quality, sometimes you get a good one and sometimes a complete failure. I bought a couple of oscillating saws (Fein clones) on sale, and for the price I am happy with them. I recently used a Fein and it was a much better tool, but a bit pricey for occasional use.

[Bob Hammond]

Jon, I've had a few of the handles on the HF snap off, so I haven't been impressed at all. One version is particularly bad. They're ok for light clamping and posistioning but not much more than that.

The power tools are hit & miss. The air nailers are cheap but effective, but the sprayguns are junk. I bought the 1x30" sander which was good for the money ($29). HF is a good place to buy casters for equipment dollies, and the best place to buy nitrile gloves.

[Jon Whitney]

Bob, you are right that handles snapping off has been a major problem. I think that problem has been solved with this new line of clamps. I've used it a few more times, and squeezed it has hard as I comfortably could with one hand, and there has been no sign of the trigger handle breaking. Of course it cannot exert the type of pressure that a screw clamp could, but it is adequate for many jobs around the shop - the latest was to clamp a neck heel to a banjo pot temporarily to check fit and alignment.

[Clay Schaeffer]

The reason the triggers break on the older clamps (big and small) is they pivot on plastic points. I drill them out and run a screw or bolt though them to repair the clamp. For light duty work they are O.K. and when bought on sale are not a bad deal.

[Mike Wilson]

Bob Hammond - I've had good luck finding casters at Kitts Industrial Tools near Grand River and 8 Mile.