Spring Clamp Woes

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Hello there,

I bet most of you have one or more of these spring clamps (see attachment).
The problem is, the ends (pads) at the tips of the clamps (circled) pop off.
This happens a lot with all my spring clamps.

Anybody find a solution to this, or some fix, or some replacement tip idea?


SpringClampPics-2.jpg
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,071
I have used finishing nails as pins for cases where they wouldn’t behave.

Select a finishing nail of a good size ot be a pin for the pad.

Drill a press fit sized hole though the jaws and pad.
Pull the pad and drill a clearance sized hole where the press fit hole is (widen it)

Trim the nail to be just long enough to clear the jaw (I use about ⅛“ as my excess, and leave the head on, so the head is on one side and the excess out the other.) I also like to drink the headless end nice and flat, with a chamfer around it.

Replace the pad, drive the nail in. Usually, they stay quite well without help but if you have any problem, a blob of epoxy over the head will fix one that wants to stray.

The whole thing takes a coupe of minutes once you have done it a couple of times.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
I also have many of that type clamp, in many different sizes and some have the pad missing. But they work just fine without the pad. Don't believe me? Look at the same type of spring clamp made of metal, they don't even have the movable pad, and work fine.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,714
I recently had to repair one with exactly the same problem.
Just drill through it and put in a pin or screws.
I put two screws in on both sides.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
I have used finishing nails as pins for cases where they wouldn’t behave.

Select a finishing nail of a good size ot be a pin for the pad.

Drill a press fit sized hole though the jaws and pad.
Pull the pad and drill a clearance sized hole where the press fit hole is (widen it)

Trim the nail to be just long enough to clear the jaw (I use about ⅛“ as my excess, and leave the head on, so the head is on one side and the excess out the other.) I also like to drink the headless end nice and flat, with a chamfer around it.

Replace the pad, drive the nail in. Usually, they stay quite well without help but if you have any problem, a blob of epoxy over the head will fix one that wants to stray.

The whole thing takes a coupe of minutes once you have done it a couple of times.
Hi,

Sounds interesting but not sure i understand completely.
The problem seems to come from the fact that the little 'pad' that has to rotate a little has a pivot part that is open on the opposite side, so it can pull right off the pin. So it seems like no battery what you use for the pin the little pad will still pull off. Now if the part that is open on one side was not open but a complete loop, it would not be able to be pulled off unless it was completely broken.

DId i understand you right or did i miss something?
I could post detailed pic of the issue if needed.
Basically the pad part has a section shaped like a "C" not an "O" os there is an open part of the part that goes around the pin. That open part allows the pad to pull off sometimes without too much force too.
I thought about epoxy too but as you pointed out it may prevent hte pad from turning, and also i dont think epoxy sticks to nylon very well so it would have to be a rather large blob which not sure if that would work either.
I thought about using Dyneema thread to wrap around the pad and pin, but that would be hard to do with a lot of champs and i might do 50 clamps, so it has to be somewhat easy to install also.

So far i have a lot of these clamps already with missing pads that are lost for good so i'd like to prevent this from happening to the new ones i got.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,071
Hi,

Sounds interesting but not sure i understand completely.
The problem seems to come from the fact that the little 'pad' that has to rotate a little has a pivot part that is open on the opposite side, so it can pull right off the pin. So it seems like no battery what you use for the pin the little pad will still pull off. Now if the part that is open on one side was not open but a complete loop, it would not be able to be pulled off unless it was completely broken.

DId i understand you right or did i miss something?
I could post detailed pic of the issue if needed.
Basically the pad part has a section shaped like a "C" not an "O" os there is an open part of the part that goes around the pin. That open part allows the pad to pull off sometimes without too much force too.
I thought about epoxy too but as you pointed out it may prevent hte pad from turning, and also i dont think epoxy sticks to nylon very well so it would have to be a rather large blob which not sure if that would work either.
I thought about using Dyneema thread to wrap around the pad and pin, but that would be hard to do with a lot of champs and i might do 50 clamps, so it has to be somewhat easy to install also.

So far i have a lot of these clamps already with missing pads that are lost for good so i'd like to prevent this from happening to the new ones i got.
I do understand what you are saying. Those are a different design to the ones I have repaired where the connecting part was solid. with dimples in pads to snap into corresponding pips on the clamp arms.

I'll have to look and see if aI have an of the sort you are describing.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
I do understand what you are saying. Those are a different design to the ones I have repaired where the connecting part was solid. with dimples in pads to snap into corresponding pips on the clamp arms.

I'll have to look and see if aI have an of the sort you are describing.
Ok thanks and here is a quick drawing of the pad the way it is now (Left) and how i would have liked it (right).
You can see the slot on the far left, that is where the pin pushes through with a small amount of force.
Some of them are high quality too but suffer the same way.

SpringClampPads-1.png
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
I still stand by my comment. The newer cheaper plastic clamps have not been around any where near the time that the original metal ones have been. And the metal ones have no rotating end piece. This is the type I reference to -

1643814458345.png
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
I still stand by my comment. The newer cheaper plastic clamps have not been around any where near the time that the original metal ones have been. And the metal ones have no rotating end piece. This is the type I reference to -

View attachment 259435
Oh yes, but i happen to like the nylon ones better.
I have also read that the ends on those metal ones come off too. I have some somewhere but dont use them anymore.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
Oh yes, but i happen to like the nylon ones better.
I have also read that the ends on those metal ones come off too. I have some somewhere but dont use them anymore.
have you even tried using one of yours without the tip? They still grip the work.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
have you even tried using one of yours without the tip? They still grip the work.
Oh yes you are right, they work very nearly the same without the rubber tip.
I also have used the nylon type after one or both pads fell off. Still work to some degree but i suspect not as well as the metal ones without their tips.

I just happen to like the nylon ones better, in fact, a lot more. Not exactly sure why maybe because they have a better look and feel. I had big metal ones and small metal ones, didnt like either. Maybe it is partly because they do not hold flat to the surfaces being glued for example, while the working nylon ones do.
I dont think either type is perfect though. I use a lot of C clamps too of varying sizes from small to large, and some of those slip type where the jaws slip down closed and then you tighten by turning the handle.
Also have several of the large 'pump' type where you keep pumping the handle and it closes more and more. I only like the large size though because the small ones dont hold very well and they also break. Got rid of all my small ones.

One think i wondered about the nylon type though is why most of them are made in the color of black.
I see some colored ones on the web but they are small. I would think they would make them in different colors too. I painted two of my new ones half white, just to see how long the paint would hold up without priming the plastic first.
 
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