<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Terry,     The URL you sent has the clamp listed at  $26.99. My thoughts are that the K body clamp has a built in plastic pad surface and it's wider  to grab a larger surface area to prevent slipping. You wrote that it only cost $7 but the savings was $7 not the cost. The reach is greater on your clamp than the "k" body but the iron jaw could easily dig in the underside of the rim. I have 2) 12" clamps of the style you offer and like them a lot. They are very strong. I just thought that the extra pad protection was worth the effort of ordering the "K" bodies. I paid roughly the same for the same length clamp. Greg Farrell wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>I am hoping someone might have some input regarding suitability of some clamps I have found at a hardware store for clamping a new soundboard to the rim during gluing. A clamp that appears nearly identical can be viewed at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00002245H/ref%3Dnosim/toolstoolstoo">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00002245H/ref%3Dnosim/toolstoolstoo</a>- 20/103-5531792-1187059 Greg - these are the clamps I was referring to. The clamp I am considering has a reach of 4-3/4" from the inside of the bar to the center of the screw adjuster thingee (I believe it is referred to as a 5-inch clamp). The bar is 24" long, 1-1/8" wide, and 1/4" thick. I put a 36" version of this clamp on a 32' wide table at the hardware store and torqued down on the screw adjuster thingee and was only able to bow the bar perhaps a quarter-inch - maybe 3/8". So I would think that one of these clamps only opened to 14 inches or so, like you would typically have on a piano soundboard installation, you would find very little bow indeed (is that not the worry with a too-light-duty clamp?). What makes or breaks a clamp for installing a soundboard? Enough reach? Strong enough bar? What else? These clamps are significantly heavier duty that the orange bar clamps that you common see at Home Depot type places. Not a whole lot more heavy duty, but a significant step up. Still a far cry from a $60 hand made German clamp. But I suspect they will do just fine. Any opinions? So maybe I should buy one. And do what with it? How can I reasonably evaluate it without just buying 40 of them and putting in a soundboard? Any ideas? Any thoughts Greg? I think this clamp is A-OK. It only costs $7. I would sure like to find out that it is A-OK, but I also don't want to find out the hard way that it is just a tad weak on performance in this application. Thanks for any input. Terry Farrell</blockquote> -- Greg Newell <A HREF="mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net">mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net</A>  </html>