10 Best Corner Clamps [2019]
Also called right angle or 90° clamps, corner clamps are ideal for holding woodwork or other items together at a 90° angle so that you can drill through or join them together using glue or screws.
Unlike using hammers, pliers and other similar tools, corner clamps are much more versatile and result in high-quality work because of their high precision in making right-angled joints.
However, these tools are available in different designs and sizes, which means you may have a difficult time picking one, especially if you don’t know what to look for. For that reason, this article covers 10 of the best corner clamps in detail for easy selection.
10 Best Corner Clamps – Reviews
IMAGE | PRODUCT | FEATURES | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. MLCS 9001 (Wide Jaw Opening Corner Clamp) | ||
 | 2. Wolfcraft 3415405 (Double Handle Corner Clamp) | ||
 | 3. Horusdy 97346 (Corner Clamp with an Anti-Skid Handle) | ||
 | 4. Housolution 90° Corner Clamp (Swing Jaw Design Corner Clamp) | ||
 | 5. Tacklife HAC3A (Corner Clamp with a Heat-Treated Body) | ||
 | 6. Odelenwa 90° Corner Clamp (Corner Clamp with a Frosty Surface) | ||
 | 7. Pony 9180A (Corner Vise with Two Table Clamps) | ||
 | 8. Horusdy T97347 (Corner Clamp with a Quick-Release Mechanism) | ||
 | 9. Sand Mine 90° Corner Clamp (Corner Clamp with a Rust-Proof Spindle) | ||
 | 10. Pro-Grade 59162 (Affordable Corner Clamp) |
PRODUCT |
|---|
1. MLCS 9001 – Wide Jaw Opening Corner Clamp
- Jaw Opening: 70mm/ 2.75 inches
- Jaw Width: N/A
- Jaw Depth: N/A
- Body Material: Aluminum
With a 2.75-inch or 70mm jaw opening, MLCS’ 9001 has quite a wide jaw opening. This setup actually consists of clamps on both sides of the 90° corner and a movable jaw in the middle.
These bite into the object that you are working on firmly while a sliding T handle allows you to turn the fastening screw easily for high clamping pressure.
You also get two swivel points that enable the jaw to swing more towards one side so that you can work with two wooden blocks or metal pieces having different widths.
Other features include 2 oblong holes for easy mounting on a workbench and a sturdy aluminum body that is very durable. However, the built-in handle is not padded for comfortable use and the jaws don’t have V grooves for holding round objects.
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2. Wolfcraft 3415405 – Double Handle Corner Clamp
- Jaw Opening: 64mm/ 2.5 inches
- Jaw Width: 76mm/ 3 inches
- Jaw Depth: N/A
- Body Material: Aluminum
Instead of having swivel joints for sliding the clamp head, Wolfcraft’s 3415405 has a double handle design, in which two separate clamps let you align the pieces in a right angle.
That said, these jaws have a 2.5-inch maximum opening and a wide 3-inch face that contains V grooves for gripping round materials with ease.
Other features include a durable cast aluminum construction, comfortable ergonomic handles, a quick-release mechanism for easy adjustments and multiple oblong holes for easy positioning and mounting.
On the downside, this piece is very costly to buy.
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3. Horusdy 97346 – Corner Clamp with an Anti-Skid Handle
- Jaw Opening: 68mm/ 2.7 inches
- Jaw Width: 95mm/ 3.7 inches
- Jaw Depth: 35mm/ 1.4 inches
- Body Material: Aluminum
Horusdy’s 97346 is equipped with a soft anti-skid rubber handle for comfortable use, and this is hooked up to an electroplating rust-proof rotating spindle screw, which pushes or retracts the jaws when in use.
Since this piece has a single handle design, it has two swivel points that allow the head to float. This enables you to adjust the jaw’s alignments so as to hold two wood blocks having different widths.
Other features include a sturdy aluminum alloy die-cast construction with an abrasion-resistant steel turning nut and oblong holes for easy mounting.
However, you get no V grooves for gripping dowels around the jaws.
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Cons:
4. Housolution 90° Corner Clamp – Swing Jaw Design Corner Clamp
- Jaw Opening: 68mm/ 2.68 inches
- Jaw Width: 95mm/ 3.74 inches
- Jaw Depth: 35mm/ 1.4 inches
- Body Material: Aluminum
This right-angle clamp also features a swing jaw or floating head design, which allows you to clamp two wood blocks having different thicknesses at a 90° angle.
That said, this unit has a maximum jaw opening of 2.68 inches with a jaw depth of 1.4 inches, and a comfortable rubberized handle is fitted in so as to easily make the opening adjustments.
More features include a solid die-cast aluminum construction that weighs only 815 grams (1.8 pounds) and availability in multiple color options such as gray, black, red, orange, etc.
There is also a T-shaped handle option as well as a double handle design to choose from. However, this piece does not have a quick-release mechanism for easy adjustments and also lacks V grooves for gripping round objects.
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5. Tacklife HAC3A – Corner Clamp with a Heat-Treated Body
- Jaw Opening: 70mm/ 2.75 inches
- Jaw Width: 60mm/ 2.36 inches
- Jaw Depth: 35mm/ 1.4 inches
- Body Material: Aluminum
Tacklife’s HAC3A is built with durability in mind because it bears a heat-treated aluminum alloy frame and steel nut, making it very sturdy. Additionally, it has a carbon steel threaded rod, which adds on to the durability of the whole piece.
An ergonomic rubberized handle is installed, which makes it comfortable to use, and you get a large jaw opening that goes up to 2.75 inches.
The unit also features a swing jaw design that allows you to clamp 2 wooden blocks or other pieces that have different widths.
More features include a 1.4-inch jaw depth, a lightweight design that only weighs 730 grams and oblong holes for easy installation. On the downside, you get no V grooves on the jaws and no quick-release mechanism for easy adjustment.
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6. Odelenwa 90° Corner Clamp – Corner Clamp with a Frosty Surface
- Jaw Opening: 68mm/ 2.7 inches
- Jaw Width: 95mm/ 3.7 inches
- Jaw Depth: 35mm/ 1.4 inches
- Body Material: Aluminum
This corner clamp from Odelenwa is characterized by a black frosted surface treatment, which protects the inner die-cast aluminum alloy frame from corrosion while also giving a stronger texture.
Aside from that, the unit has a swing jaw design with a maximum jaw opening range of 2.7 inches and a sturdy electroplating rotating spindle screw for making the adjustments.
You also get an ergonomic anti-skid rubber handle while a sturdy and durable abrasion-resistant metal nut provides a firm anchor point for the spindle screw to push or retract the jaws.
However, there are no V grooves for clamping dowels and a quick release mechanism is not included for quick adjustment.
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7. Pony 9180A – Corner Vise with Two Table Clamps
- Jaw Opening: 64mm/ 2.5 inches
- Jaw Width: N/A
- Jaw Depth: 28mm/ 1.13 inches
- Body Material: Zinc
As opposed to installation using mounting holes on the unit’s frame, Pony’s 9180A comes with two table clamps for quick and easy mounting to your worktable. However, this means that you can only mount it along the edge of your surface.
Once installed though, the unit accurately holds butt joints, T joints, and miters, and it features a large, ergonomic rubber handle for comfortable use plus swivel points that make jaws swing so that you can clamp materials having different thicknesses.
More features include a 2.5-inch jaw opening, a 1.13-inch jaw depth, and sturdy die-cast zinc alloy construction. However, there’s no quick-release mechanism for easy adjustment.
Pros:
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8. Horusdy T97347 – Corner Clamp with a Quick-Release Mechanism
- Jaw Opening: 65mm/ 2.6 inches
- Jaw Width: 70mm/ 2.75 inches
- Jaw Depth: N/A
- Body Material: Aluminum
Horusdy’s T97347 features a double handle design for independent thickness adjustment of each section, and each of these is equipped with a quick-release mechanism for easy adjustment of the jaw opening.
That said, each of the handles has a soft anti-skid rubber handle that is very comfortable to use while a strong and durable aluminum alloy frame holds all the components firmly in place.
Other features include oblong holes for easy mounting on your workbench and a durable electroplating rotating spindle screw that is rustproof.
However, this piece has a relatively narrow 2.6-inch jaw opening, which limits the size of material that you can fit in.
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9. Sand Mine 90° Corner Clamp – Corner Clamp with a Rust-Proof Spindle
- Jaw Opening: 70mm/ 2.75 inches
- Jaw Width: 95mm/ 3.7 inches
- Jaw Depth: 35mm/ 1.4 inches
- Body Material: Aluminum
This right-angled corner clamp is fitted with an electroplating spindle screw that is rustproof for durability purposes, as well as an abrasion-resistant steel turning nut and a strong aluminum frame to hold all the pieces together.
For the actual turning, a sliding T handle is installed so as to help you apply high clamping pressure, but this part is not soft or rubberized for comfortable and anti-slip use.
You also get a swing jaw mechanism for clamping blocks with different thicknesses and oblong holes for easy installation on your workbench.
However, the jaws don’t have V grooves for clamping down round objects.
Pros:
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10. Pro-Grade 59162 – Affordable Corner Clamp
- Jaw Opening: 76mm/ 3 inches
- Jaw Width: N/A
- Jaw Depth: N/A
- Body Material: Aluminum
If you are on a tight budget, Pro-Grade’s 59162 is an affordable corner clamp that you should consider. Despite this, the piece has a sturdy aluminum frame and a wide jaw opening that can open up to 3 inches.
With its double handle design, this clamp is fitted with two durable black oxide steel spindles while strong hot drop-forged chrome vanadium flare nuts allow these spindles to screw through as you fasten or retract the jaws.
Other features include sliding T handles for high clamping pressure application and precision machined box ends for secure fitting.
On the downside, the sliding T handles are not padded for comfortable use and no mounting holes are included in the frame for easy installation.
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How to Buy the Best Corner Clamp
1. Jaw Capacity
One of the most important things to check before buying a corner clamp is its jaw capacity/opening. Given in millimeter or inches, this value shows the maximum width of this opening, which then determines the maximum thickness of the object that you can fit in.
That said, the wider the jaw opening, the better. This is because you will not be limited to only work with small wood blocks or metal pieces. Ideally, 2.7 inches and above is good enough.
2. Material
Most of these right-angle clamps are made using aluminum but you may get certain variations that have zinc or other metal frames.
While all of these are strong enough to hold the entire working mechanisms on the clamp, aluminum has the advantage of being lightweight, which makes aluminum-made clamps easy to transport from one workstation to another.
Other things to look for include heat-treated frames, which are designed to be very sturdy, and surface coatings that prevent corrosion for long-lasting use.
3. Handle
There are two main types of handles to choose from for these clamps. A sliding T handle basically has a T design, and this lets you easily apply high torque so that the jaws can apply high clamping pressure for a good grip.
However, such handles lack soft padding for comfortable use.
On the other hand, soft rubber handles are very comfortable to use but they lack a T design for applying high clamping pressure.
Generally, rubber handles are better because even though they are not T shaped, this does not necessarily mean that you can’t tightly squeeze them so as to apply high torque and push the jaws firmly into the object being clamped.
4. Construction
In considering the construction of the clamp, there are two main designs that are available.
A swing jaw design is very compact and fits easily in tight spaces, but its swivel points introduce a lot of moving parts. This affects the overall strength and integrity of the clamp as a whole.
On the other hand, a double jaw design might be a bit large in size buts its rigid structure makes it stronger and more durable.
Both though are capable of clamping objects with different thicknesses and therefore, selection should be based on personal preference.
5. Weight
Lastly, for easy transportation between different workstations, a lightweight corner clamp is better because it will be easy to carry as you move to a different project in a different location.
However, ensure that this lightweight construction does not affect the strength and durability of the entire frame structure.
Conclusion
In summary, corner clamps are highly recommended because of their highly accurate 90° angles, which means you will be able to create perfect welds or wood joints for high-quality work.
However, you need to consider the jaw capacity as the main determining factor, with others such as handle, design, weight, etc. following suit.
All these are explained in detail above and after reading through, you will find it much easier to pick the best corner clamp that suits your needs.