Coolerfixer
Member
I need to get clecos on order. Is there agreement on a "best" cleco?
Thanks, Mike.
Thanks, Mike.
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Is there a consensus on the best clecos?
- Thread starter Coolerfixer
- Start date
[email protected]
Well Known Member
No difference I can tell
There is no difference that I can tell, at least from the clecos sold at the major RV tool vendors.
There is no difference that I can tell, at least from the clecos sold at the major RV tool vendors.
Concensus? I didn't even know there was a difference...
Difference? Of course there is--I have them in four colors! I think the copper ones look best.
Bob
Sid Lambert
Well Known Member
It's going to be a long build if you start off worrying about clecos.
Coolerfixer
Member
Geez, everyone's a comedian!
I knew the moment I pressed submit, this thread would turn out like this. I remembered reading about the wedgelock clecos, but couldn't remember the name. So, no consensus. I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked! I do have a few clecos that I purchased with the tool box, but not nearly enough, obviously. Thanks again for you guys' help.
Mike
I knew the moment I pressed submit, this thread would turn out like this. I remembered reading about the wedgelock clecos, but couldn't remember the name. So, no consensus. I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked!
I do have a few clecos that I purchased with the tool box, but not nearly enough, obviously. Thanks again for you guys' help.Mike
Flying Scotsman
Well Known Member
There IS a difference...
When I started my build, I inherited hundreds of cleco from my buddy's -8. No problems whatsoever.
Got to the wings, and wanted a few more, so borrowed a couple hundred from another source...I'd say probably 20-30% of them wouldn't stay in a drilled, dimpled #40 hole. Sometimes they'd fly out, other times they wouldn't even stay in to begin with.
I have no idea what brand they are (I could look)...I just know which ones not to use (and if they get mixed up, the ones that don't work are a cleaner, shinier silver, probably because that source was mostly quickbuild, so less use).
It was actually a pain in the butt until I figured out what was going on...
When I started my build, I inherited hundreds of cleco from my buddy's -8. No problems whatsoever.
Got to the wings, and wanted a few more, so borrowed a couple hundred from another source...I'd say probably 20-30% of them wouldn't stay in a drilled, dimpled #40 hole. Sometimes they'd fly out, other times they wouldn't even stay in to begin with.
I have no idea what brand they are (I could look)...I just know which ones not to use (and if they get mixed up, the ones that don't work are a cleaner, shinier silver, probably because that source was mostly quickbuild, so less use).
It was actually a pain in the butt until I figured out what was going on...
There are indeed bad clecos?
I bought a batch from Brown Tool and they would not stay in a dimpled hole, I don?t know what brand they were. People said that I was drilling the holes wrong, deburring too much, or dimpling wrong. I finally sent them back and they sent me a new batch marked KWICK-LOK USA. The KWICK-LOK clecos are much larger and very difficult to get into a punched hole before it has been drilled.
I purchased some clecos from Avery marked WEDGELOCK. The WEDGELOCK clecos are MUCH MUCH better. They fit punched holes and they are large enough for dimpled holes.
Don?t listen to the guys that are teasing you about your cleco question. They were just lucky and got good clecos the first time. I can tell you first hand how frustrating it can be if you have clecos that don?t work correctly.
I think there are at least three different manufacturers of clecos and I will only buy WEDGELOCK clecos from now on. If I were you I would call up your vendor and make sure they have WEDGELICK clecos.
Just my 2?,
I bought a batch from Brown Tool and they would not stay in a dimpled hole, I don?t know what brand they were. People said that I was drilling the holes wrong, deburring too much, or dimpling wrong. I finally sent them back and they sent me a new batch marked KWICK-LOK USA. The KWICK-LOK clecos are much larger and very difficult to get into a punched hole before it has been drilled.
I purchased some clecos from Avery marked WEDGELOCK. The WEDGELOCK clecos are MUCH MUCH better. They fit punched holes and they are large enough for dimpled holes.
Don?t listen to the guys that are teasing you about your cleco question. They were just lucky and got good clecos the first time. I can tell you first hand how frustrating it can be if you have clecos that don?t work correctly.
I think there are at least three different manufacturers of clecos and I will only buy WEDGELOCK clecos from now on. If I were you I would call up your vendor and make sure they have WEDGELICK clecos.
Just my 2?,
Clecos
OK, I will chime in here. First, let me say that there are only three companies that make what are commonly called clecos in the USA (it also appears that there are some import clecos from Taiwan & China being sold by a couple of tool suppliers.)
Those three American companies are:
Zephyr - maker of the 'Kwik-Lok'
Monogram - maker of the 'Wedgelock'
California Associated Products - maker of the 'Clekoloc'
My company, Brown Aviation Tool sells clecos made by Zephyr and CAP. All of the clecos that we sell are made in the USA and are of the highest quality - in a year, we sell well over one million spring clecos to customers ranging from a guy doing a small repair on his Piper in his hangar to the largest airlines and militaries in the world and every type and size of customer in between.
None of the clecos that we sell are ?bad?? as they do EXACTLY what they are advertised and intended to do. A 3/32? cleco is designed to clamp a 3/32? hole ? what it is not designed to do is clamp a hole that has been overly enlarged or flared in the dimpling & deburring process. We have sold hundreds of thousands of clecos to RV builders who have had zero problems ? we have also heard from a handful of RV builders who complain that their clecos do not ?hold? their dimpled holes. I would submit that the issue is not with the cleco.
There is a great and easy way to test the diameter effectiveness of a spring cleco ? grab a flat numbered or fractional drill gage ( http://www.browntool.com/Default.as...ield=ProductName,ProductNumber&productid=1784 ) that you know has perfectly drilled holes in the appropriate diameters. Then grab a pair of cleco pliers and the spring cleco you are concerned about - I just went out to the warehouse and grabbed a handful of our K-3/32 spring clecos, and after testing I see that the cleco will easily enter and clamp the following size holes:
#42 (.0935) thru #32 (.1160)
And testing a K-1/8 cleco, I see that it will easily enter and clamp the following size holes:
#31 (.1181) thru #26 (.1470)
So, as you can see, our clecos do precisely what they are advertised to do and that is clamp properly drilled holes. Some people might not like a particular brand of cleco for whatever reason, but please do not call them ?bad? or ?defective? because it is simply not so.
With all of that being said, we did have a batch of the CAP clecos about 6 or 7 years ago that had improperly formed tangs. That batch of clecos did cause a few headaches for us and some of our customers - but the issue has long been fixed. Both of the manufacturers who make our clecos now batch test their products in a test fixture before shipping.
Thanks!
Michael Brown
Brown Aviation Tool Supply Co.
Oklahoma City, OK 73129
www.browntool.com
OK, I will chime in here. First, let me say that there are only three companies that make what are commonly called clecos in the USA (it also appears that there are some import clecos from Taiwan & China being sold by a couple of tool suppliers.)
Those three American companies are:
Zephyr - maker of the 'Kwik-Lok'
Monogram - maker of the 'Wedgelock'
California Associated Products - maker of the 'Clekoloc'
My company, Brown Aviation Tool sells clecos made by Zephyr and CAP. All of the clecos that we sell are made in the USA and are of the highest quality - in a year, we sell well over one million spring clecos to customers ranging from a guy doing a small repair on his Piper in his hangar to the largest airlines and militaries in the world and every type and size of customer in between.
None of the clecos that we sell are ?bad?? as they do EXACTLY what they are advertised and intended to do. A 3/32? cleco is designed to clamp a 3/32? hole ? what it is not designed to do is clamp a hole that has been overly enlarged or flared in the dimpling & deburring process. We have sold hundreds of thousands of clecos to RV builders who have had zero problems ? we have also heard from a handful of RV builders who complain that their clecos do not ?hold? their dimpled holes. I would submit that the issue is not with the cleco.
There is a great and easy way to test the diameter effectiveness of a spring cleco ? grab a flat numbered or fractional drill gage ( http://www.browntool.com/Default.as...ield=ProductName,ProductNumber&productid=1784 ) that you know has perfectly drilled holes in the appropriate diameters. Then grab a pair of cleco pliers and the spring cleco you are concerned about - I just went out to the warehouse and grabbed a handful of our K-3/32 spring clecos, and after testing I see that the cleco will easily enter and clamp the following size holes:
#42 (.0935) thru #32 (.1160)
And testing a K-1/8 cleco, I see that it will easily enter and clamp the following size holes:
#31 (.1181) thru #26 (.1470)
So, as you can see, our clecos do precisely what they are advertised to do and that is clamp properly drilled holes. Some people might not like a particular brand of cleco for whatever reason, but please do not call them ?bad? or ?defective? because it is simply not so.
With all of that being said, we did have a batch of the CAP clecos about 6 or 7 years ago that had improperly formed tangs. That batch of clecos did cause a few headaches for us and some of our customers - but the issue has long been fixed. Both of the manufacturers who make our clecos now batch test their products in a test fixture before shipping.
Thanks!
Michael Brown
Brown Aviation Tool Supply Co.
Oklahoma City, OK 73129
www.browntool.com
Michael White
Well Known Member
I knew the moment I pressed submit, this thread would turn out like this. I remembered reading about the wedgelock clecos, but couldn't remember the name. So, no consensus. I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked!
Mike
That's what you get when you ask 15,000 guys who can't even agree on something as simple as primer to weigh in on clecos....
what about dimpling
the post about not holding in a dimpled hole is true for me also. three brand of clecos never fly out of the hole when dimpled but the ten stubbys i got a month ago are no good in a dimpled hole. they will not hold. i plan on getting ten more but from a different manufacturer.
the post about not holding in a dimpled hole is true for me also. three brand of clecos never fly out of the hole when dimpled but the ten stubbys i got a month ago are no good in a dimpled hole. they will not hold. i plan on getting ten more but from a different manufacturer.
clevtool
Well Known Member
We only sell WedgeLock made my Monogram in California. The profit margin in the other brands is significantly higher, which is why you see all the deep discounts at shows. One of our founding principals is that we only sell what we would use, therefore we only sell Wedgelock. We constantly get calls from builders that are frustrated with their 'clekos' and buying Wedgelocks to replace them.
There is a significant difference in the way Wedgelocks work over the others. The parts all have a nicer finish which leads to a smoother operation when actuating and better alignment of all three tines when fully open. This makes the fastener easier to slip into the hole. Like other tools, quality control is what makes a tool predictable, there is nothing worse than some working and some not.
Currently we have many Snap-on and Mac dealers that order the Wedgelock from us to stock on their trucks because of the superior quality and lower cost than they can get from their 'mothership'.
As with anything we sell, try them and if you don't agree send them back for a full refund!
-
There is a significant difference in the way Wedgelocks work over the others. The parts all have a nicer finish which leads to a smoother operation when actuating and better alignment of all three tines when fully open. This makes the fastener easier to slip into the hole. Like other tools, quality control is what makes a tool predictable, there is nothing worse than some working and some not.
Currently we have many Snap-on and Mac dealers that order the Wedgelock from us to stock on their trucks because of the superior quality and lower cost than they can get from their 'mothership'.
As with anything we sell, try them and if you don't agree send them back for a full refund!
-
I second Mike ..... the WedgeLock clecoes are far better. I have roughly 5,000 3/32 clecoes and some were ordered from shops other than Cleveland, and they sent me other brands. During use, I toss ones that don't work well, and when I look into the trash there aren't any WedgeLocks.
There is one overlooked difference.
This may sound odd, (feel free to fire away), but you could be happy you have two brands. I'll explain.
I initially had some kwik-lok's from Browns. When compared to a buddies wedgelocks from Avery, they were definitely more difficult (fatter) to get into the prepunched holes so I bought a heap of wedgelocks from Cleveland (covering a few suppliers) but I use both because they look different .
The button on the kwik-lok is zinc plated and stays bright and I sometimes use these to identify holes I have drilled to final size. I also used them for the Tank sealing process so as to easily visually seperate the gooey ones from clean Wedgelocks. There is less noticeable difference using the 1/8 copper's apart from looks, and I haven't noticed a difference in grip with any.
I hope the picture works. It shows the kwik-lok's on the right.
I have about 4 times more Wedgelock than kwik-lok, but use them all.
Paul
This may sound odd, (feel free to fire away), but you could be happy you have two brands. I'll explain.
I initially had some kwik-lok's from Browns. When compared to a buddies wedgelocks from Avery, they were definitely more difficult (fatter) to get into the prepunched holes so I bought a heap of wedgelocks from Cleveland (covering a few suppliers) but I use both because they look different
.The button on the kwik-lok is zinc plated and stays bright and I sometimes use these to identify holes I have drilled to final size. I also used them for the Tank sealing process so as to easily visually seperate the gooey ones from clean Wedgelocks. There is less noticeable difference using the 1/8 copper's apart from looks, and I haven't noticed a difference in grip with any.
I hope the picture works. It shows the kwik-lok's on the right.
I have about 4 times more Wedgelock than kwik-lok, but use them all.
Paul
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Man Larry, are you building a 737!!!
I second that with the Monogram WedgeLock clecoes. Made in the USA! Living near the coast I have some cheaper brand clecoes that have some surface rust on the plungers. The Monograms still look new. No big deal they still work fine though.
wjb
Well Known Member
Concensus? I didn't even know there was a difference...
+1! (though, the more the bettah)
I've picked up all mine from Brown and Avery; they are all good. And, as a previous poster proposed, they are better after doing your tanks. (Now, I don't even try to clean off the proseal, it's just extra awesomeness to help my fuse along; doesn't get in the way at all)
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BillL
Well Known Member
Old thread, but old tools too.
Somewhere I saw a Ron Covell video where he got them gooped up in the build and when he removed them immediately dropped them in acetone. I did that with proseal of the rudder TE and after leaving them there a few hours, removed each one, exercised it and slung the acetone back in the container, wiped off, and like new again ! Easy, IFF you want them clean again. If not - never mind.
