Giant Clamp [Restoration + Force Test]

This restoration is on the largest C-clamp I have ever found. I purchased 6 of these clamps from a local stair maker, who said he bought them about 20 years ago from the Beaver Lumber Co. in Saskatoon, SK, Canada. Beaver Lumber was a lumber and hardware store started in 1906 in Saskatchewan. He mentioned they were used in the lumber yard to glue large wooden beams together. I was hoping to uncover a maker's mark on these clamps, but was unsuccessful. If they were made in Saskatoon for the Beaver Lumber Co., I would guess that they were made no later than the 1940s by John East Iron Works Ltd., which was also based in Saskatoon from 1910-1960. John East Iron Works was the largest foundry in Saskatoon at the time.

I decided to remove all rust and leave the large casting unpainted to show of as much of it as I could. I also chose to smooth out the edges of the clamp to help highlight its amazing design. I estimate that these are around 200lbs each. All 6 clamps are in fairly decent condition.

I had some friends come over and test the clamping force that one human could apply and it ended up being around 20,000lbs of force. I am tempted to test what the maximum clamping force it could reach before breaking, but I do not want to waste one of these awesome clamps!

I still have no idea what I am going to do with these!

I would like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.

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