Pony/Jorgensen Back in the Saddle Again

These band clamps have see better days, but let me tell you - they've helped over 3000 people make their boxes in the classes I teach. That's outstanding, and no doubt we've gotten our use out of them. 

But...  these clamps are starting to show their age. 

They used to be packaged like this - with four metal corners, and a cheesy little wrench that promptly ended up in the circular waste file... i.e. the trash can. 

These clamps are tired - the springs are wearing out, 

and the nylon straps are frayed and worn down. But they still do a hell of a job when gluing a box, making our corners match up perfectly. 

Seriously, thousands of people have used these, and the Pony/Jorgensen brand is far superior to anything else that's on the market. 

It was getting to the point where I was desperate, and considered buying some of the clamps shown below. But...whoever designed these bad boys (below) ought to go back to design school and rethink them. It's impossible to tighten them well, and they're awkward and bulky. OK, that's just my opinion, but whenever someone shows up with one of these at the shop, they quickly complain about it, too.

They're awful.

I started to panic just a bit when my clamps were showing their wear; they were hard to find, and mostly off the market, as Pony/Jorgensen was going through some issues. You can read about it here. 

There's no doubt that the Pony brand took a hit, and that they disappeared from the market. 

But at this year's Hardware show, I connected with some reps from the company, and explained how my school as in dire need of replacement clamps. We had a long discussion about the state of clamps in the country, and I lamented that one of the more popular brands had turned out to be a huge disappointment to me. They had sent me dozens of clamps to test, and almost every one was a failure. (I'll save that for a future post!)

So all the way back in May at the Hardware show, the Pony people took my information, and cheerfully told me they'd hook me up, when production resumed. 

Imagine my surprise to get this box delivered to the shop. I hadn't a clue what it was.

The paperwork didn't tell me a thing...

But when I opened it, it felt like Christmas in October!  

Just as promised - a few dozen clamps, replacing our old tired ones. I'd told the fellows at Pony that I would test these out and give them a fair review, so here are a few first impressions. 

The clamps come rolled up, and the loose end has to be threaded through the body, to create the loop. The clamp also comes with plastic corners, which keep your wooden corners crisp, so no dented corners on softer woods. 

One of the newest features is an integrated wrench on the clamp. No more fumbling for a socket or crescent wrench to tighten the clamp. And even better - the wrench has a toggle on it, so you can loosen the clamp, too. 

Brilliant. 

The coil of strapping had to be unrolled, and the end threaded back through the clamp. 

Since the ends were roughly trimmed square, threading the end through the clamp was a little tricky. 

Since I had so many to thread, I clipped the end into a slightly narrower shape, which facilitated the work. It wasn't pretty, as the strap is beefy and hard to snip.

 But once the end was just a tad narrower, slipping it under the the lever was easy. 

My first use of these was a solid test - a recent commission had me gluing up a cube, where all the corners were mitered, so that no end grain could show. It had to be perfect, with crisp corners, so this was an excellent way to test these clamps.

 I almost never use the corners, but in this case... I definitely needed them.

The clamps worked flawlessly, and the box came out perfect. 

So what did I think about the clamps?... there were definitely some pros and cons. 

PROS

• I appreciate the integrated wrench very much. It simplifies things, and it is TERRIFIC that it is reversible. Who ever added that to the design wins "tool designer of the year" award from me.

• The strapping is beefier than the previous design, and again - with so many people using these clamps at my shop, I'm happy to see that they're going to hold up better than the last ones.  

CONS

• They're over-packaged. I had to unpackaged 24 of these clamps, and it took quite a while, with a great deal of plastic and waste. I think they'd be better shipped in a simple plastic bag with a cardboard label stapled at the top. Our trash sites have enough plastic waste in them.

• The spring that holds the lever in place seems weak. Many of my older clamps suffered from weak springs, too, and we had to toss a few out, over the years, when they wouldn't hold their tension. Right now, the springs work fine, but in a few years, I suspect a few of these will fail, too. 

• I'm not sure they need to include the corners with the clamps. Sure, I used them for the project I mentioned above, but I can count on one hand how many times I've used them in 20 years. Maybe sell the corners separately, and save some money? I suspect no one uses them, but that's just a guess.

Finally... my biggest suggestion...

• Sell these already looped and ready to use. Having to loop the end into 24 clamps took much longer than I thought it would. If the average woodworker is only buying a few of these, it might not matter, but to me - it was a pain to have to thread each clamp. 

Thanks to the great people of Pony/Jorgensen for hooking us up with such a fine product! The students and I appreciate it!

Finally - I didn't realize this, but there is quite an interesting story about this company's founder. It's fascinating, and worth a read... click here.