Cam Clamps

Great! No horizontal creep. Lock easily and tightly with the notched bars.

Great Cam Clamps...I wish the price was a little cheaper, but it's pretty comparable to any others I see out there

I recently built an acoustic guitar and usually "weight" the braces, but couldn't get that radius in it, so decided to try cam clamps. I got 2 of the big ones. They work great, very simple to operate. One clamps a little better than the other, but they both do a good job of squeezing glue all over the place, which is good. I am on a budget, so when it came time to put on the bridge, I made 3 small cam clamps from pine and some flat steel I found in a file cabinet. I made the levers out of bridge plate stock I had left. Total: $6 for 3 of them. I'd give 5 stars for the product, but 2 stars for the price. Why not make this stuff affordable for the struggling luthiers out there who prioritize tone and playability over profit in today's guitar market.

Cam Clamps allow you to set just the right amount of pressure for each situation. I am ordering more!

Excellent product. Top quality tool, as everything is I've purchased from Stew Mac.
The best service by far.
Thanks Stew Mac

I was very impressed with my recently purchased cam clamps. They are well made, easy to use, and will hopefully last a long time. I think I may have to invest in a few more of these clamps in the near future. Worth the five star rating.

You can't have too many of these! Versatile little clamp, easy to use one handed and fantastic clamping pressure. 101 uses around the workshop not just for luthery. At this price it's just not worth spending time building your own.

These clamps where exactly what i expected. I bought a set of 4 of these clamps (8 1/2" throat) and successfully installed the bracing for the back of my guitar. The pressure given by these clamps was perfect, which is what they are for...

I will surely order some more of these clamps. Again, these turned out to be perfect for the job! A great investment!

I read some lukewarm reviews but decided to purchase anyway. Perhaps not as strong as other clamps, but it allowed me to attempt my very first repair of a Martin Takamine lawsuit guitar: buckling, bridge lift and loose brace. I removed the bridge with a Japanese saw, lined the bottom with aluminum foil, steamed the top over the stove, clamped the top between hardwood for a few days, which flattened out the top nicely. I then re-glued the brace with three adjustable brace clamps--which wasn't easy getting my arm in the hole-- and then re-glued the bridge with the cam clamps. Strung it up a few days later, and it plays quite fine. And the cutting off of the bridge with the saw did not leave to many signs of being "en-hillbillied." Though, next time I know to steam the bridge, work more slowly.
--Luthier Van Dross

Okay, so here are a few reasons I am disappointed with this product:

1) The sliding wooden brace slides too easily on the metal shaft and it is difficult to get positive pressure (without the sliding brace slipping) while clamping.

2) Some corners/edges are smoothed (rounded) but the corner edge inside each wooden brace is pretty sharp 90 degrees, and hence easier to damage guitar wood and finish if using inside the sound hole.

3) The levers are tight and difficult to tighten one-handed without risking losing the positioning on the metal shaft hence losing the clamping strength.

4) The bottom (or top) corner of the stationary brace (the one that doesn't slide on the metal shaft) could be cut on an angle to make it easier to insert into sound holes without getting hung up on or bumping the bottom struts. This is especially important for guitars with small sound holes (classicals and small-body acoustics) and thin body guitars.

I have used hand-made clamps of the same type that are night-and-day different from these clamps.

I didn't make my own clamps yet because I don't have my machines yet, but once I get my machines I'll probably make some myself, even though it will take a bit of time.

I'd return the clamps but 1) cost of shipping to return makes it not worth it, and 2) I need them, even though they don't work great. (I'll probably recondition the ones I bought.)