The 6 Best Band Clamps

Editor's Notes

July 18, 2019:

Band clamps can save a user time on many tasks as an alternative to setting up an assortment of bar clamps. At some tasks, it is very difficult to achieve the same quality without them. The Rockler 58432 and the Jorgensen T24143 are high-quality clamps that can exert more than enough squeeze. They both have frames that ride flat on a workpiece which allows for an even distribution of force because the strap rides out nearly parallel to the surface.

For the purposes of this list, I did not include hose clamps or banding tools even though, arguably, both are band clamps. Hose clamps will generally come as either spring-type or screw-type. Spring-type clamps are self-tightening and therefore, strictly speaking, do not fit the properties associated with band clamps because they do not have bands, and they have no adjustable tightening mechanism. Screw-type clamps do have a strap, and they function on roughly the same principles that non-hose clamps utilize. However, they are more adequately categorized as 'components' and not 'tools' because they are meant to permanently hold and seal hoses and act as a part of a machine.

Banding tools also work on almost the exact principles that other band clamps use. However, they are excluded from this list because it would be misleading to categorize them as band clamps given that they end up doing none of the clamping. They are used to tighten steel bands that are then fixed with metal buckles. So what does the holding is a steel band - the banding tool itself does not hold loads.

Band clamps can exert dangerous pressure on objects. As such, common sense and safety precautions should be observed while using them.