The Pistol-Grip Smooth/Continuous/Clickless Ratchet-Action Bar-Clamps

Ratchet clamps

This hasn't been edited much from when it was a for-sale page to the DIY page it's supposed to be now. Filling in the gaps:

• Basically, you buy two sets of Quick-Grip clamps and get the moving pieces both riding on the same bar. To do that, you have to file off a nub on each bar. (In the finished product, use whichever bar came out looking better.) It may be that you have to take some care to keep the bars tighly end-to-end as you ratchet the moving piece from one bar onto the other so that it is never empty of bar.

• The length of bar is fairly crappy for this application. Something longer would be nicer. But that wouldn't be so cute.

$30

Available absolutely nowhere else! Cyber-y high-tech hardware with a bit of a ray-gun look. A pair of heavy-duty precision black plastic clamps mounted on a black metal bar (the bars always end up a little scraped looking, sorry). Removable soft(ish) yellow plastic pads that, amusingly enough, are subtly embossed with "TPE." Nature's danger colors...

The ratchet action is just amazing. These are really precision-tunable-- extreme overkill!-- it's not the sort of thing where each squeeze advances it a single whole click. There's no clicking at all-- it's a completely smooth, continuous adjustment. You can ease on the squeeze to just where you want it. In fact, squeezing, you get a fair amount of force-feedback. And the metal tab right in front of the trigger is a quick-release. You can make macro adjustments in the tightening direction just by sliding, and in the loosening direction by sliding holding the release-tab.

Just because of the configuration (length of the bar), these want a pair of clampables that can be brought to 6" separation.

The bar is a fine handle/leash for hooking a few fingers through, though it's not so ergonomic that you'd enjoy picking up a heavy parcel with it.

OH, I should mention that these can be applied to the tips with one or two hands, though to get the best deep grip, three hands are ideal (e.g. perhaps Clampee stretches the area a little vertically flat with two hands for Clamper, who's pistol-gripping with one hand).

The clamps themselves are incredibly comfortable. The YOWIE comes when they try to support any small amount of weight in maintaining that 6" separation. You may even find them more comfortable (but less grippy) without the pads because the plastic underneath is more rounded-- or you could file down the pads a little. I'll leave that to you.

If you like, you can expose the mechanism innards.