In the post about my DIY clamp storage racks last week I mentioned getting most of my clamps at estate sales. I put together a solid collection that way, with most of the clamps being really old. There was a Pittsburgh sticker and a Harbor Freight price tag on one of the clamps. Knowing they have a lifetime warranty on this stuff, I went in to Harbor Freight with 2 of the clamps which had beat up pads like this…

The sales associate said, “Yep, we’ll replace them. There doesn’t even need to be anything wrong with them.”

“Really?” I asked. “I have a bunch of these old clamps.”

“Yeah, bring them in and get new ones.”

I rushed home and grabbed the rest of the old clamps.

In total I had 4 each of the 6″, 12″, and 24″ old clamps. Now everything matches the others I had purchased new from the store.

Harbor Freight gets a bad rap because their products can be pretty cheap (in price and quality). According to reviews you have to be careful with some of their tools, but these clamps are one of the most recommended products in the store. The almost identical clamps cost 3-4 times as much at Home Depot.

I like it when a company stands by their products and policies. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve heard that Sears does the same type of replacement on Craftsman hand tools.