Universal Clamp

[Lou Masses]

Don't know where you live, but Micro Mark has a clearance center in New Jersey where you can often find them for $5 (seconds).

In reality, it is worth the $27. I have 5 of them. I usually use them without the pins. Simply stick the pins from your figure's legs down the center vise and hold it that way. Nice thing is that you can unscrew the handle if necessary and it can then sit in a crockot, oven, under a light, whatever. It's a truly usefull tool.

 

[John Long]

You might check with Rio-Grande or possibly another jewelry tool distributor. It may save you a couple of bucks.

 

[Mongo Mel]

Hi J.L.
I use these all the time too. I just love them. But there are different manufacturers and different qualities available. You never know what you'll get til it comes. I have 2 great ones and one good one, all from a local hobby shop but they're out of business now. And I have 2 poor ones that I got from Rio Grande.
But I did a search for you and this is the best price I found:

peg clamp
To look further, search for "peg clamps". That got the best results for me.

And here's a link to a picture of how I use mine for holding large busts:
link
The base is made from a piece of wood I bought at a local lumber supply store. I think it's a post cap. I just bored a hole thru it and added a bolt, nut and washers.
This way it stands up without any problems. And I also drilled a small hole between the 2 halfs to better hold the brass rod I usually use as a support.
I hope this helps.
Craig

 

[Mongo Mel]

What's a contenti clamp?

 

[Mongo Mel]

Ok, I understand now .
I haven't bought from the Contenti site before so I can't speak to the quality of the clamp they sell. It looks like one of the better ones in the picture but so did the picture in the Rio Grande catalog and those are the worst ones I have.

But I think I should explain my opinion. The threaded screw that opens and closes the jaws is the problem part. The threads have too much clearance in them and take a good 3/4 of a turn before the jaws start to travel. And the end of the screw is threaded for a small screw that captures the moving jaw. On one of the clamps, these threads stripped and made the clamp useless. I did fix it by bonding the small screw into the large one with the strongest 2 part epoxy I have and it works ok now.

Craig