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Author Topic: alternative clamping elements anyone  (Read 3926 times)

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Offline gruz

  • Posts: 83
    • Grusby Woodworks
alternative clamping elements anyone
« on: October 28, 2021, 12:51 PM »
Has anyone used the DrillPro clamping elements?  the are obviously a festool knockoff, and supposedly fit the mft table holes.  At about 1/4 - 1/3 the cost, wondering if you get what you pay for, or if they are decent, or even interchangeable with the festool version.
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Offline Chainring

  • Posts: 250
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2021, 02:30 PM »
I believe Hooked on Wood on YouTube did a review of them.
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Offline Packard

  • Posts: 2160
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2021, 02:49 PM »
I have a home built MFT equivalent.  I just use wood dowels in the holes and a pair of wood wedges to clamp stuff. It works fine.  I don’t need them often, so I could not justify the investment.

I also have several Harbor Freight clamps.  I ground off the cross rivets that lock the clamping mechanism onto the bar.  I can then take the clamp apart and feed the shaft through the holes and reassemble to clamp.  Slow, but works fine and very cheap.
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Offline mattgam

  • Posts: 64
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2021, 01:10 AM »
The powertek ones are a great alternative
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Offline krudawg

  • Posts: 233
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2022, 09:50 AM »
I bought two of them 5 or 6 months ago.  They work well and I have not had any issues with them.  I've purchased a few Drillpro items from banggood and so far have been quite pleased.  The thing is; "Hooked on Wood" on YouTube test a lot of the items and will tell you up front if the item is any good.  The items that Dennis, who does the  "Hooked on Wood" China Tools, says are good are usually pretty good.
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Offline fraz

  • Posts: 37
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2022, 11:19 PM »
I have the Festool clamping elements and they work great.  However I find myself using these more and more.







They are a copy of the UJK clamping ducks and I made them and my walnut dogs with Shaper Origin.

https://tsoproducts.com/accessories/ujk-cam-wedge-clamping-set/

I made the wedges and fences from some 1/2" maple scrap I had left over:
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Offline Steve1

  • Posts: 267
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2022, 07:27 AM »
I like those Clamping Ducks.
I am going to make up a set.
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Offline afish

  • Posts: 1503
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2022, 07:39 AM »
Once you go pneumatic you will never go back..
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Offline Packard

  • Posts: 2160
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2022, 08:58 AM »
I took a couple of round scrap discs from drilling with a hole saw and mounted them off center on dowels.  It becomes a cam and you can adjust it.  I did not add any handles, so I could not add much force to it, but it worked fine for holding pieces in place for when I installed some pocket hole screws.
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Offline Steve1

  • Posts: 267
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2022, 12:25 PM »
Here we go.
But being Canadian clamps, these are Snowmen rather than Ducks [smile].  (Although I didn't bother putting the facial features - perhaps later)
« Last Edit: May 10, 2022, 12:30 PM by Steve1 »
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Offline Bob D.

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  • Posts: 3014
    • My Cordless Workshop
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2022, 01:24 PM »
I just printed a pair of these adjustable stops to use with Festool Clamping Elements or with Kreg In-Line Clamps.

They are strong and the workpiece does not lift with you tighten the clamps. They also have enough adjustment to reach over 96mm. I plan to use them on the CNC table as I don't like having anything steel out there where the bit could contact it if something goes wrong.
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Offline Richard/RMW

  • Posts: 2563
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2022, 01:31 PM »
@Bob D. those would be handy to have no matter the style of clamp, replaces the need for wedges.

RMW
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Offline Crazyraceguy

  • Posts: 2608
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #12 on: May 10, 2022, 08:37 PM »
I have a bunch of those, but mine look more like ping-pong paddles. They're just a circle with a straight handle.
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Offline afish

  • Posts: 1503
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #13 on: May 10, 2022, 09:57 PM »
I posted this awhile back but some may have not seen it.  This was a doweling station I made. Its about to go bye bye now that I am switching over to stop dados for cabinets.

The horizontal clamps have 2 plastic dogs on 96mm centers that will plug into the mft top anywhere and in any direction.  the clamps have somewhere around 100mm throw so no special wedges or spacers are needed.  I cant remember how much the clamps are but they are cheap. I want to say around 20 bucks each and the valve is about 16 and connects to a standard air compressor, so its pretty cheap to set up. You can clamp/unclamp 1 to unlimited number of clamps in about a second by simply flipping a lever.
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Offline mattgam

  • Posts: 64
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #14 on: May 10, 2022, 11:53 PM »
@Bob D. is the STL for that clamp you use available? I'd love to print that
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Offline Bob D.

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  • Posts: 3014
    • My Cordless Workshop
Re: alternative clamping elements anyone
« Reply #15 on: May 11, 2022, 05:51 AM »
It's been on Thingiverse for about 2 years it appears.
I've never seen the design anywhere else.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4253016

There are five pieces that make up the complete clamp. I've only printed the two for the block that you see in the photos are printed in silver PLA. The block or fixed piece is composed of two pieces. One is the dog which is inserted in the dog hole of the table top, the other is the block with the sawtooth slot that engages the dog and provides about 100mm of adjustment. I would modify the model for the dog piece and shorten the length of the dog. Currently it is 25mm and protrudes below the bottom of the MFT. So not really useful and if you wanted to use a knob to lock the dog down then it could not be clamped tight to the table. Shortening this will reduce print time by about 10 minutes and save about 15% on filament over the original design without the loss of any functionality.

I plan to shorten the dog to 17mm and increase the size of the hole to accommodate an M8 thread for any future copies I make.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2022, 08:37 PM by Bob D. »
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