Are these JET bar clamps any good?

[Dan Friedrichs]

I have a lead on 10 of these Jet bar clamps for $7.50/ea. They're 36" ones. Worth it?

(I imagine that's a good price, but if these are so-so quality, I'd rather save up for some parallel clamps)

[Myk Rian]

The bar bends when you tighten them. I have 4 and use them for light clamping.
Not very often.

[Prashun Patel]

I agree with Myk. I bought 2 x 36" when they were on sale at Rockler for like $10 each. They bend.

The 6"-12" ones are pretty good.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Given that they might only be good for light-duty use, what would you pay for them? $5/ea?

[Jim Rimmer]

I got some of the Rockler sale ones, too. One of them slips on the bar and won't clamp. They aren't much for clamping. I would ask him how much he would pay me to haul them off.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Given that they might only be good for light-duty use, what would you pay for them? $5/ea?

$5 for a decent f-style clamp is not a bad deal. I don't have experience with the Jets but have some Columbia's that I got as Big Lots for a song. The 6" ones are OK but the 18" flex too much to earn their wallspace. I may cut the down or find some other use for them like the holddowns I made from these $5 HF clamps.

[Salem Ganzhorn]

I think these are my least favorite bar clamps. I actually will usually grab a HF first (lighter, don't bend quite so much and the pad never rotates).

I own other Jet clamps like the larger F-style they were blowing out from WoodCraft and I also have some Jet parallel clamps. Both are nice. So obviously Jet can make a good clamp but their skinny F-stlye clamps is not one of them.

Salem

[Chris Kennedy]

I can't speak specifically to the JETs, but in my limited experience, any 36" clamp with that size bar tends to flex. It needs to be beefier at that length.

Chris

[dennis thompson]

I have 4 of them. One broke fairly quickly, the others are nothing to write home about. I hardly ever use them, they're my last choice of all the clamps I have,I would not buy them again
Dennis

[Prashun Patel]

I'd pay $5 for 12" or 6" el-cheapo bar clamps, but once you get into the 24" and higher range, you're taking a gamble. I speak from experience on this...

Those Jet's bend, which makes them ineffective.

[Alex Leslie]

My 36" Jorgensons bend with high pressure, so I don't think this is unusual for any F clamp. I have the Jet parallel clamps in sizes from 24" to 54" and have been very happy with them. They have a unique release lever to keep them open, rather than slamming down like the Bessys and an inch scale laser eteched on the bar to make setups easier. If you need heavy pressure and long spans, go with the parallel clamps.

[Charlie McGuire]

I have some 12's and 24's of those. As others have said, the longer they are, the more they want to bend. I use the 12's a lot, and the 24's once in a while. The 36's would have too much bend for me, so I wouldn't buy them at any price.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Thanks for all the replies - I got excited about these (how often do you see used clamps for sale?), but I'll pass on these ones.