I would guess that most woodworkers are familiar with Irwin's line of Quick-Grip clamps. But you may not know that Irwin also offers a complete line of accessories to complement these clamps that make them extremely versatile. Here is the lowdown on some of these accessories and why you should consider adding them to your collection.
Quick Grip Clamp Stands
Probably one of my favorite accessories are the Irwin clamp stands. These stands work with both medium-duty and heavy-duty Quick-Grip clamps. What I love about these clamp stands is that they elevate the clamp so the bar is parallel to the worksurface and still provides access to the pistol grip to tighten the clamp. This also means that it's easy to access the bottom of the workpiece to clean up glue squeeze-out or just make sure everything is lined up correctly.
Quick Grip Hold Down Accessory
If you have a workbench with a thin top that doesn't grip the shank of a holdfast or you're just not a fan of traditional holdfasts in general, Irwin has a hold-down jig that mounts to the underside of a workbench or table. It converts a medium-duty or heavy-duty Quick-Grip clamp into a handy hold-down clamp.
Simply remove the front jaw of the Quick-Grip clamp, slide the bar into the hold-down jig, and then slide the locking pin into place. The hold-down jig allows the clamp to rotate a full 360 degrees. Plus, you can use any length of Quick-Grip clamp. These hold-down jigs are great for workbenches with 3/4" tops.
Quick Grip Oversized Pads
If you need a little more clamping pressure over a wider area, be sure to pick up a few sets of wide-jaw pads. These pads work on both medium- and heavy-duty Quick-Grip clamps. These pads are almost twice as large as the standard pads on a medium-duty Quick-Grip clamp.
Quick Grip Corner Pads
If you always struggle to clamp up 90° corners and keep them square, Irwin has a set of corner clamp pads that fit both the medium- and heavy-duty Quick-Grip clamps. These corner clamp pads replace the stock pads and convert a Quick-Grip clamp into a handy 90° corner clamp that can get into spaces that many other corner clamps struggle to reach.
Quick Grip Edge Clamps
Installing edge banding? Then you might want to consider picking up a few edge clamps. These only work with the Irwin medium-duty Quick-Grip clamps. They come in handy for some difficult clamping situations. I find edge clamps very helpful when gluing hardwood edge-banding to plywood tabletops or cabinet boxes. They can also be used to clamp pieces to the face of a project, such as trim on the front of a furniture piece. More than one edge clamp can be added to the bar of any medium-duty Quick-Grip clamp, making them a very versatile accessory.
Quick Grip Couplers
Finally, take a look at the Irwin clamp couplers. These give you the ability to turn two shorter camps into one long clamp. Using the coupler provides even more clamping capacity because it adds an additional five inches of length. In other words, when you connect two 6" clamps together you end up with a clamp with a total capacity of over 17".
Having these accessories in your shop allows you to be more productive and helps give you a greater return on the investment you've made in your Quick-Grip clamps.
