The beauty behind these Milescraft FenceClamps is that they can be used in all sorts of scenarios where traditional clamps are too big, bulky, or awkwardly sized. They do require some work to use, but you can drill a 3/8″ hole in a block of wood, right?
These are intended to be used to secure sacrificial fences to table saw fences, but can be used for many other tasks where other clamps prove less than ideal.
This image should give you a good sense of how the clamps work. You drill a 3/8″ hole in a block of wood, and this allows it to be pulled tight to a table saw fence, router table fence, or other such rigid fixture.
There are also right angle clamping blocks that can be used with these FenceClamps.
The clamps have a 1/2″-5-3/4″ opening range. Milescraft doesn’t specify, but clamps like these are usually recommended for use with wood that’s at least 3/4″ thick, although thicker might be better.
If the clamps look familiar, you have probably seen Rockler’s similarly-designed clamps before. There are a few differences – the Rockler clamps have bare metal faces and these Milescraft clamps have a little pad, and the knobs are a little different. The Milescraft clamps are also a little less expensive than Rockler’s.
I own a pair of Rockler’s fence clamps, and have used them as intended – with fence stop blocks – but also to clamp certain fixtures to a workbench. They work pretty well in such capacity, although I wouldn’t trust the clamps in high-strength applications.
If I had to make the purchasing decision over again, I’d likely go with these Milescraft clamps, not so much for the slightly lower pricing, but the greater ease of placing smaller orders with Amazon. Both brands’ clamps seem to be very highly regarded.
Price: $11-12 for (2) clamps
Buy Now via Amazon
Compare via Rockler
Now for the tough question – what’s your take on uni-tasker clamps like these?
When I bought my pair of clamps, I did so thinking I’d use them as low-profile fence clamps, but I also had a couple of other applications in mind to test them out with. Even with these clamps in my box, I usually still use small bar clamps or trigger clamps to hold stop blocks and spacers to machine fences.
I wouldn’t describe these clamps as a must-have accessories, but they are definitely convenient and versatile.
