What Are J Clamps and Why Are They Better Than C Clamps? - Kevin Caron

Описание: #MetalFabricationTips #MetalClamps #KevinCaronArt

From http://www.kevincaron.com - Artist Kevin Caron explains what J clamps are, why he uses them instead of C clamps, and a cool little modification to make them even handier ....

People have asked Kevin Caron about the clamps he has spread out across his workbench. Theu are called J clamps because they look kind of like a J. That's as opposed to a C clamp, which has a fixed arm on the top and a screw that goes up and down.

Why use a J clamp instead of a C clamp? The answer is simple: with a C clamp, if you want to hold 2 pieces of metal plate together, you've got to run the screw all the way to the bottom before it ever actually does anything. With a J clamp, the upper section moves. Then you only need, say, a quarter turn to tighten it, and you're ready to go to work. J clamps are a lot more adjustable.

J clamps also have much deeper throats. Kevin Caron shows a J clamp and a C clamp side by side so you can see how much deeper the J clamp's throat is. And they're just faster and easier to use. They just work better!

There are a couple of other differences between types of J clamps. Kevin Caron shows a J clamp from a German company that makes really high end clamps. They captured the foot on the screw by crimping the edge over around the ball that's on the end of the screw. So it can swivel, it can move a little bit, but you can't replace it. If you're welding right next to it and get it too hot or hit it with a grinder or whatever and it gets damaged, you're out of luck. You have to go buy a new clamp.

A different manufacturer attaches the foot with a nut you can change. You can buy the feet separately so you always have a good foot on the end.

Kevin Caron then took it 1 more step. He welded a little piece of angle iron onto one of the feet. Now he can clamp a piece of metal on its edge. It just makes the clamp more versatile. You can just buy the feet and swap them back and forth depending on what you're working on.

Of course, they come in all different kinds of sizes - Kevin Caron shows some of them.

He hopes that answers a few questions about clamps. "They just come in so darn handy!" he says. Speaking of handy, please hit that "subscribe" to know when the newest videos come out.

Before you go to http://www.kevincaron.com to see Kevin Caron's amazing sculpture, stick around another moment to see him give magical directions to his cameraperson ....

Artist Kevin Caron has been sculpting full time since 2006. See - and hear - his amazing metal and large format 3D-printed sculptures, which are found in public and private places coast-to-coast and online at http://www.kevincaron.com.

"Inspired sculpture for public & private places."

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