You can’t beat a spring clamp for ease of use. As the name suggests, a coiled spring creates the clamping force.

But spring clamps don’t generate much pressure, so they aren’t a good choice when gluing large parts. When gluing little parts, however, they often are your best choice. You can get a decent, midsize spring clamp for under a buck at home centers.

Because they are used one-handed, you can easily put one or two spring clamps to work holding a stop block in position. Or, when laying out joinery, you can butt the parts together face-to-face, hold them in position with one hand, and put a spring clamp on each end to keep the parts aligned as you transfer the lines from one to the other.

Traditionally, spring clamps were made from steel, but some are now plastic except for the spring. I looked at generic steel versions sold by The Home Depot and plastic versions by Quick-Grip. Both worked fine, but the generic brand fit my hand better, making them somewhat easier to squeeze.

Recently, a new type of spring clamp has come on the market. For lack of a better description, I call it a hybrid. It locks with ratcheting action. All the hybrids worked OK, but none worked as well as the classic steel spring clamp. Plus, the hybrids cost more.

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