Beware cheap tools....

[bruceb58]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

Sounds like clamping to me. He wasn't running the boat with it. You should be able to hand tighten as hard as you can without snapping them, as long as you don't add an extension for more leverage.

You can also try to clamp two girders together with it. It still isn't the correct tool for the job and that is my point.

This is what I said in my first post:

Not sure you can blame a tool for breaking, no matter what the quality, when you are using it for a purpose it was never intended.

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

Eh, if you've had it for years and are just now breaking it, it sounds like it was worth the 2 bucks or so it cost you.

 

[Stachi]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

You can also try to clamp two girders together with it. It still isn't the correct tool for the job and that is my point.

This is what I said in my first post:

inform us all Bruce , what is the correct clamp for that job ????

 

[Haffiman]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

The key word in this is:
Cast Iron!!!
No casting is designed for that kind of stress loads, and even looking at the clamp it is obvious it is a casting material.
All decent clamps are forged and not cast material.
That goes for most tools intended for stress loads and is often the reason for the price difference!

 

[CN Spots]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

That's a U clamp. Never use a U clamp to do a C clamp's job.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

Hopefully their nuclear weapons are made of the same metal......

 

[Mark42]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

Using it to hold the motor onto the transom doesn't sound like clamping to me. Their purpose in life is to hold two pieces of metal or wood together temporarily while you work on them. Holding an outboard motor onto a transom isn't in their job description.

The motor was being held by a hoist. The clamps were just adjusting the angle of the "hang" not a heavy duty job. I could press the motor against the angle of the transom with one hand while applying and tightening the clamp with the other. So it was not taking a heavy load by any stretch of your imagination.

Just let it go....

 

[levittownnick]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

"This one I had for a few years" is key point here.

20 years ago, China was still emerging from Communist darkenss, trying to join the real world, by mfg, in stone-age factories, cheap, poorly deisgned products, with minimal engineering and little or no quality control. That c-clamp may have been made from "mystery metal" mfg in what is the equivilent, of somebody's barn.

It a whole different game now. China's factories and steel mills are some of the most advanced in the world.

Instead of "make us some pliers and they should look like this..", if Irwin want pliers made there, they surely have design and quality assurance requirements, that the mfg vendor must meet and usually they will meet the requirements, daily.

It not the old China any more.

It certainly not, they sweetened the toothpaste with antifreeze, and how about some of the knock-off Rx GFCIs etc?

 

[levittownnick]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

That's a U clamp. Never use a U clamp to do a C clamp's job.

No thats a no my clamp.

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

hate to say this. i'm a union worker , but i've snapped a craftsmen rachet. of course i had a 3 ft. cheater and pushed it with my foot. we all learn our lessons.

Amen Brother.
Every tool I use on the job says "made in U.S.A." someplace on it. I haven't bought any in a long time.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

How do we get away from this....our cars,Harley motorcycles,all refrigerator compressors,computers,medicines. Just about everything we buy has some Chinese in it. The real problem is not the quality because the Chinese have some of the best quality standards in the world. Rather,there is a demand for low cost junk in the U.S. and the Chinese are more than eager to fulfill this market.

 

[gibletts]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

duct tape can fix that

 

[99yam40]

Re: Beware cheap tools....

When mounting the outboard on my boat, I had used two C clamps to hold the motor tight to the transom while marking for the bolt holes. Suddenly SNAP! and one C clamp comes flying off.

This one I had for a few years, used it mostly for gluing up wood. Tighten it up for a serious job and it broke. Yes, it does say "taiwan" on the side.

First time I ever broke a C clamp like that. It pays to buy good tools.

A little welding job and you will have a good wood clamp again