Case of the Disappearing Clamp pads

Are they HF clamps? I like the price but the pads were migratory in nature.

Under something (workbench, assembly table) that requires you to get on your knees to look.

-- It's not a mistake it's a design opportunity

Only about half of my f clamps have pads anymore.

I think they are hanging out at the single-sock night club.

Edit: Along with most of my shop pencils…

-- "Hard work is not defined by the difficulty of the task as much as a person's desire to perform it.", DS251

They sure like to go AWOL fairly quickly. Seems like the material stretches, the pads become loose and they fall off and bounce, slide, get inadvertently kicked into irretrievable places. If one can’t find them again, lesser quality pads are available from places like Horror Fright and the like. Suggestion: Secure the pads onto the clamp with E6000 or similar adhesive. Let it cure for 24 hours, and they aren’t coming off again. OK, well at least not in most of our lifetimes…..

-- Barry, in Maryland

You can get replacements from Bessy as well as HF as mentioned. Not sure if they are made to any particular standard for cross-brand use.

On the plus side, there is the adage that anything dropped while working will roll to the exact center underneath the largest fixed object in you workshop. Now you’ll know where to look as well as fine the exact center of that 500 pound workbench that hasn’t been moved or cleaned under in the last decade. 8^)

It is always a pleasant moment when you find one of those, like years later, and then dont put it back on one of your clamps, just kinda lays on the bench for awhile until it isnt there anymore. Dog ate it?????

-- WWBBJ: It is better to be interesting and wrong, than boring and right.

If you love your clamp pads you will set them free. If they come back it was meant to be

I have 3 now that have pads missing. They must grow legs or something.. I’ve had them fall off right in front of me when reaching for them and that’s no problem. But when they’re there when you put them away and gone next time you reach for them remains a mystery. Maybe sawdust disintegrates them.

-- Dave, Downers Grove, Il. -------- When you run out of ideas, start building your dreams.

Sorry, I’ll bring them back.

-- Nathan, TX -- Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.

-- Live to tell the stories, they sound better that way.

...
And please don t tell me there s a troll living in my shop.
- Robert

Are you afraid of trolls? If you can get over that, they might help your search for the pads.

-- Mike (near Boston) ... Laziness is the mother of invention, necessity is the mother of exhaustion - me

Lost more than few myself. Now I apply a dab of caulk to the pad and slide it back on and close the clamp to dry. Not perfect but it works and easy to redo.

-- Bob, FL Keys

If you love your clamp pads you will set them free. If they come back it was meant to be

- SMP

This made me laugh!

I use Fast Cap Speed Tape (a double coated tape) to fasten all of mine, I’ haven’t lost one since I started using it. This stuff will stick to UHMW, so it has a pretty good grip on stuff. I put a small piece under the plastic cap, and tighten the clamp onto itself for a short while….done. If you’re wondering about the UHMW, I stuck a small piece to a block of white oak in 2014 as a test (I dated it). I still have it, and the UHMW is still stuck securely to it.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

I use Fast Cap Speed Tape (a double coated tape) to fasten all of mine, I haven t lost one since I started using it. This stuff will stick to UHMW, so it has a pretty good grip on stuff. I put a small piece under the plastic cap, and tighten the clamp onto itself for a short while….done. If you re wondering about the UHMW, I stuck a small piece to a block of white oak in 2014 as a test (I dated it). I still have it, and the UHMW is still stuck securely to it.

- Fred Hargis

There’s always a guy with a smart answer for everything!!

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!