Lidl One Handed Clamps

[mikej460]

Has anyone any experience of these? I'm interested in the 900mm version quoted as having 1200N (122kg) clamping force Parkside One handed Clamp - at Lidl UK which is more than the Axminster version at 100kg and over half the price Axminster Trade Clamps One Handed Clamp

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

I don't think these are the same as the ones they regularly sell, these are more expensive and look much stronger.
I have plenty of their regular ones, and whilst they are not Irwins, I find them perfectly adequate for the majority of clamping needs. I've only ever had one fail, in that you can keep squeeing the trigger once it is in contact with the wood but the pressure doesn't increase. That was after a lot of use, and probably caused by me over-tightening it.
For the money, I think they are great value and I will certainly be buying some of these improved ones without hesitation.

 

[alan895]

A 150mm and a 915mm bundled together seems a bit of an odd combination of sizes, but anyway I'm tempted to say buy cheap buy twice although this might be clouded by my intolerance for these types of clamps. I've thrown too many of them away in the past that I just cant be bothered with them.

I was going to write this in the parallel clamps thread but I don't really get taken in by the whole "maximum clamping force" sales patter, I just think that if I need anything remotely close to what a clamp can supposedly exert then I really ought to review how I make my joints.

 

[John Hall]

There’s only one way to find out, go in and try one….With Parkside stuff you get what you pay for….not a lot..
You’d be better looking on EBay for some good used ones…
I like the F type clamps with a sliding screw handle..

 

[Doug71]

I picked up a couple of second hand 4' long Irwin one handed clamps a few years ago and didn't get on with them.

I guess it depends what you do and how you work but I find anything over about 2' I prefer a proper sash/parallel cramp, I rarely use the one handed style for anything other than clamping stuff to the bench.

 

[Sideways]

Those look frankly nasty - to me that skeleton build looks weaker not stronger than the usual ones.
Like most folk I have several LIDL clamps. They're so cheap that you can't really pass them up but their design (like these) is back to front and I don't like that.
Look at the shape of the handle. The moving trigger is the straight one so the bar sticks forward when you hold them.
Now this is good if you're using them to clamp something down to the edge of your workbench or workmate (because the bars stick downwards when you hold the clamp naturally) but it's the opposite orientation to the Gorilla / Irwin clamps which I prefer.
Also, you have to press the release trigger with your finger, not your thumb (for me thumb is stronger and easier).

600mm clamp is quite a handy size. It might be worth just getting a pair of better ones, like the Irwin or Jorgensen orange ones.

 

[mikej460]

Those look frankly nasty - to me that skeleton build looks weaker not stronger than the usual ones.
Like most folk I have several LIDL clamps. They're so cheap that you can't really pass them up but their design (like these) is back to front and I don't like that.
Look at the shape of the handle. The moving trigger is the straight one so the bar sticks forward when you hold them.
Now this is good if you're using them to clamp something down to the edge of your workbench or workmate (because the bars stick downwards when you hold the clamp naturally) but it's the opposite orientation to the Gorilla / Irwin clamps which I prefer.
Also, you have to press the release trigger with your finger, not your thumb (for me thumb is stronger and easier).

600mm clamp is quite a handy size. It might be worth just getting a pair of better ones, like the Irwin or Jorgensen orange ones.

I agree that they are useful for clamping down and I use them regularly to clamp work to the bench or when dry joining pieces that don't need stronger clamps. I have a number of the Lidl Powerforce clamps and they have proved to be very useful as long as you don't expect too much clamping force from them. They have the thumb release button which I agree is very useful. I'll pop over to Lidl tomorrow and take a look at the new ones.

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

So i took one (or 8 actually) for the team and popped into Lidl and initially bought a pair of the 150mm clamps and 2 of the 900mm ones, total cost £29.97.
They are chalk and cheese when compared with the usual ones Lidl usually sell, here is a photo of one of the old style with one of these that I had used for the day:

The pads are a lot bigger, the whole thing is much heavier and the bar is thicker. The release is now within the trigger.
The experience of using it was better, and at that price my belief is that they are too good to miss out on. I went back and bought the same again, so now have 4 of each size.
They are NOT Irwin or bessy or any other make that would be £30+ each, they are ridiculous value for money and up to most (if not all) clamping jobs you might have to do.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I went to have a look at these as I need some more longer clamps for a work bench build. They surprised me so came out with a set of 8 to add to my existing stock of clamps (longer ones are all Bessey). As the previous poster has said, they are very different from their previous efforts / my Rutlands one handed 300mm in this class. I just need to get some more 600mm now.

 

[mikej460]

I went to Lidl in Rugby and they had none on display and was told they must all have been sold, which I didn't really believe as there was no empty space for them, so decided to go to Northampton which is a bigger store. That decision involved a 6 mile trip down the M1. The car beeped a warning of an accident ahead but with no way of leaving the motorway I ended up stuck for an hour! I got to Lidl only to find the same problem, loads of other tool stuff but no clamps. I was just on the verge of a major Basil Fawlty meltdown when I decided to again ask an assistant - he looked them up on his computer and said 'follow me sir' and they they were opposite the deodorant and toothpaste . After testing them I bought 2 long and 2 short and as others have said they are so much more powerful than the original Parkside clamps I'm going to buy another 2 of each.