Anyone tried Silverline expert sash cramps?

[ivan]

Paying for cramps seems somehow less satisfactory than other tools! However I've had mixed results from bargain purchases. Silverline F cramps are (or mine were) quite good and excellent value at about 3.50 each in a Toolsation sale; I bought 20. Several of the Ax Bessey clones had twisted bars and had to go back. Anyone know what the Silverline 'Expert Sash Cramp' is like - that's the one with a plain bar, not the T-bar

 

[neilyweely]

I have the silverline sash clamps, the blue T-bar ones, and they are excellent. TBH I have a lot of silverline hardware and it is all good, but I would not use power tools by them.

For sash clamps the question is can they be that bad?

Give 'em a go

Neil

 

[Streepips]

I bought a pair of four foot plain bar cast head cramps from a local shop, only around a fiver each and they are very good. no "creep on clamping, deep jaws and rigid bars that do not twist or bend under pressure. Only found out later they were Silverline. I doubt I would have bought them if I had known the brand beforehand. Mainly because I am wary of the cheaper brands.
Some time later the shop owner asked if I would look at a 17th Cent oak hall cupboard of his, and so I went round one evening and spent an hour or so inspecting and commenting on the cupboard.
I was not asking for a fee for this but as I was leaving he pointed to a parcel and said "those are for you " It was another pair of 4`Silverline sash cramps but these were the T bar with cast heads and look excellent ! Have to use them yet, but am pretty sure they will do the business.
I also have an old pair of Woden sash cramps that are great quality but my favourites are a pair of Canadian pipe cramps circa 1950.

 

[iajon69]

They are really good - excellent value for money and if you are not happy with them then they have a pretty good returns policy

I haven't tried the new pro range of power tools, but most of their power tools used to be fairly rubbish - I think the new pro range have a 3 year guarantee so they can't be too bad!

 

[neilricketts]

Hi, just to let you know, beware purchasing silverline power tools even there pro ones. I have a silverline pro belt sander which gets very hot very quickly and the first time i had to change the belt the release lever broke. They changed it at toolstation no problem. The sales man in toolstation is someone i know and he told me that he is sick and tired of the amount of returns they have on silverline stuff especially power tools. He reckons about over 60% of the power tools sold are returned because they either have faults straight away or develop faults within the first 3 months of being sold. So my advice would be try them by all means has i have had some good stuff from silverline especially router bits but also be prepared to return it.

Cheers Neil

 

[ivan]

I've got one of their orange 4" Makita-copy belt sanders, and a 7" polisher, both about 2 yrs old and going fine, pleasantly surprised!

Carmps could be very poorly cast, all sand, distortion, and blow holes, but sounds as if they're acceptable, thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Streepips]

cramps COULD be very poorly cast, but in the case of the Silverline ones I have, ( two different types) they are not, and are as good as any other I have seen on the market and are in fact better than most.

 

[neilyweely]

Thankyou, as I said, silverline stuff is ok, but stick to stuff that you can SEE is not going to go wrong ie; sash clamps. If it has a motor then I would avoid it.

Re router bits, I too have some silverline bits, the dovetail bearing guided bits, which fit the usual size jigs, and work just fine. However they have a very thin bit of tungsten on them, so I don't expect them to last. But for 3 or 4 quid?

HTH

Neil

 

[Streepips]

I agree:
mechanical tools such as cramps, clamps, vices, prybars, hammers and so on are reasonably quantifiable by eye and the "feel" of them,
Edged cutters are always in the budget bracket and should not be expected to go beyond that one job it was bought for, or as a contingency for cutter you use a lot of and need an emergency one of.
There is a place in the market for this stuff. Its up to us the sort the whet from the chaff.....
Lets face it if you need a 25MM SDS masonary bit for one job that will probably never be repeated, and SDS drills are not part of your usual toolkit, what do you buy? Macrist? Write a letter to the SDS Advisory Board? call Festool for advice? or buy a Silverline.... Simple. Cost effective. Available. and after all that you will probaly be amazed at how well it worked and keep it in your toolbox, just in case..............
As Neilyweely said, common sense tells you whats a bargain and whats not, and there is good value for the discerning buyer.
As for the electrical offerings , they are poor. even though they always put a spare pair of brushes in, a tape measure, a spirit level, goggles, etc in some, it cannot make up for the lack of fitness for purpose. If these tools were human, they would be anarchistic sociopathic vandals with suicidal tendencies and a lacklustre libido..........and unavailable for work.


To recap:

There is nowt wrong with the cramps.
There is no good reason to buy the electrical offerings.
The edged tools are good for one off or infrequent light use but not a long term investment with any regrind costs etc outweighing in most cases the initial cost, but a decent entry level offering.

In summary:

I think we should cover Einhell and Marksman, Nu-tool and Blackspur brands as well while we are at it, the good value/ poor value, reference table.
Its easy to sing loud praise of a £600 quid electric screwdriver/ drill with a high value brand name, but hard to let people know of the pleasant surprise from a one off buy that was not only fit for purpose but low cost as well.

 

[busy builder]

Personally, I would not buy anything made by Silverline. I use tools for a living so only buy quality stuff, even cheap stuff should be reasonable quality...which Silverline aint.

As the saying goes buy cheap, buy twice.

 

[Streepips]

I think, in fact know, that your assumption is wrong.....please read the above for an explanation of why this is so. IE: The thread from the first post up to present.
I reiterate: There is nothing wrong with silverline clamps/cramps.....
If you can prove otherwise then please do so and justify your generalisation.
I too earn my living through practical skills, mainly woodworking and I have done so for 20 years and I am quite aware of when a tool is not up to the job.
I can quite understand you saying that you would not buy anything Silverline, I have said the same thing myself in the past, but would be interested to know exactly which sash cramps you would consider buying instead, and why they can be proved superior.
The idea here is to share knowledge and tips, and if someone finds a bargain, no matter what the brand then it is brought to attention of other members/readers.
At the same time if someone has a negative issue with a product or service then it is hoped this knowledge can be passed on as a forewarning to others here, giving detail and description of the problem/s encountered..
Just to say "I would never buy brand X" is about as much use as saying how you like your tea and expecting everyone else to take it the same as you.
and if you never buy a particular brand then how are you in a position to disqualify any one of its products?

 

[neilyweely]

I have used those sash clamps 30 or 40 times now, for all sorts of jobs - mainly kitchens. And they work just as well as the bessey clamps I have.
And this is my day job.

There are areas where you cannot cut corners, right. But 30 or 40 quid for a clamp? Hello????

Neil

 

[filsgreen]

I have to disagree Neil. I have just bought four Bessey clamps and the difference between them and the basic Axminster clamps I own is amazing. The Bessey clamps are far more sturdy and they do not flex.

I personally do not own any Silverline products, but I have seen them at car boot sales and markets. As people have commented they do have their place, but if you can afford better quality that must be the way to go. As they say you only get what you pay for.

Phil

 

[busy builder]

I think, in fact know, that your assumption is wrong.....please read the above for an explanation of why this is so. IE: The thread from the first post up to present.
I reiterate: There is nothing wrong with silverline clamps/cramps.....
If you can prove otherwise then please do so and justify your generalisation.
I too earn my living through practical skills, mainly woodworking and I have done so for 20 years and I am quite aware of when a tool is not up to the job.
I can quite understand you saying that you would not buy anything Silverline, I have said the same thing myself in the past, but would be interested to know exactly which sash cramps you would consider buying instead, and why they can be proved superior.
The idea here is to share knowledge and tips, and if someone finds a bargain, no matter what the brand then it is brought to attention of other members/readers.
At the same time if someone has a negative issue with a product or service then it is hoped this knowledge can be passed on as a forewarning to others here, giving detail and description of the problem/s encountered..
Just to say "I would never buy brand X" is about as much use as saying how you like your tea and expecting everyone else to take it the same as you.
and if you never buy a particular brand then how are you in a position to disqualify any one of its products?

Okay I sort of agree, but there is DIY stuff and TRADE stuff, just like the Axminster catalogue states alonside machinery descriptions.
I have tried Silverline blades in my Dewalt & Makita Mitre saws and they were rubbish compared to say CMT or the OEM.

 

[OPJ]

I bought some of the Silverline cramps a few months ago and have been impressed so far - certainly worth paying a bit extra over the cheap, aluminium Record/Irwin ones. The acme thread on one of mine is a little "sticky" but they don't flex like some of the others I've used (and, they're generally cheaper than the good quality Records, new and old). :wink:

 

[Another Dave]

Interestingly we have bought quite a bit of Silverline hand tools and stuff, (nothing that could be described as 'business critical' :wink: ) and found most to good value for the money, even an electric planer bought for cleaning up salvaged timber instead of our 'good' Bosch ones. It's been great.

As an aside, Silverline (owned by the family who started Screwfix) are now the UK distributors for Triton gear: http://www.adfonline.eu/pressreleas...pean+Distributor+for+Triton+Woodworking+Tools

 

[ivan]

That's interesting! Srewfix may be bigger, but the prices haven't 'arf gorn up since it was sold off. Guess I'll try a batch of the cramps, then.

I got some early Blackspur ali sash cramps at a local (non chain) diy place for between 5 and 7 quid, proved excellent, like the "real" US originals, so I cleared their stock out. Next batch were 33% thinner, as are the Axminster ali lightweights - not for me, I'm afraid. I have a small number of Besseys, very sturdy, but a bit pricy for a job suited to a sash cramp.