Rockler Bandy Clamps are a Simple Solution for Edge Banding

Rockler’s been busy lately, developing some new products. Stuart recently covered the Auto-Locking T-Track Clamps and the T-Track Work Stops, but the product that has me scratching my head wondering why didn’t I think of it first? is the new Bandy Clamp (54258).

There are many ways to hold edge banding in place while you’re gluing it to a panel: blue tape, pin nails, specialty clamps, wedging against the back of quick or F-clamps, and the list goes on. What Rockler did was take some higher quality spring clamps, and connected the clamping pads with a big and high tension rubber band.

Now, all you need to do is open the spring clamp and slide the jaws over the edge being banded. When you release the handles, the clamp will go to work and the edge banding will be held in place by the rubber band.

The Rockler Bandy Clamp jaws open wide, up to 2″, and are 1-5/8″ deep. This allows them to clamp down on some pretty beefy edging. Since the rubber band is what is holding the edging in place, it won’t damage soft or decorative edging like some other types of edging clamps might.

If you are worried that these clamps will sit on the shelf because you don’t do edge banding that often, fear not – the Bandy Clamps can be used for other things, such as cord and hose management, and really just about any other task where you’d use an ordinary spring clamp.

You can pick up a pair of Bandy Clamps at Rockler for $20. On the website, there’s a special offer where you can buy 3 pairs for $50, which breaks down to nearly $17 per pair.

Buy Now (via Rockler)

For some more in-depth information about the Bandy Clamps, check out this review by the New Woodworker. I don’t know what the New Woodworker’s affiliations are, but just to warn you Rockler links to this video from the Bandy Clamp page. Still, they do a great job of showing how these work.

First Thoughts

I visited Rockler to take a look at their new products and to grab the woodturning sanding pack that was on sale. While I was there I played with the Bandy Clamps for a while. My first impression was that they are some pretty nice spring clamps. The over-molding feels pretty good in your hand and distributes the pressure against more of your hand than cheaper spring clamps. 

When I first read about these clamps, one of my concerns was that the jaws wouldn’t grip the surface enough to apply any kind of pressure against the edge banding. After trying them out, I found that the jaws didn’t slip when the rubber band was pretty much fully extended, even when attached to Rockler’s smooth and slick laminate shelves. The larger jaws pivot, so they stay parallel when adjusted, and they also have a soft pad of similar consistency to no-slide furniture pads.