I’ve been testing a set (but have maintained operational security) and they are flat out amazing — a wonderful example of elegance in design where things aren’t finished until all which can be removed has been (and there has been an iteration since the testing samples were made which bears that out).
They secure things well and easily, and dust shoes clear them with room to spare for reasonable setups.
I’ll now be able to post a (glamour?) photo of my all-in-one little tool case for my Nomad and Shapeoko which these fit into perfectly.
I was a beta tester for these and I can vouch that these clamps work great.
They hold with a crazy amount of strength and I have used them in many different configurations. I’m specifically impressed with the vertical pressure they apply when clamping only from the sides. I don’t see the benefit in the stainless steel for a woodworker like myself, but perhaps there are benefits with some more rigid materials. I plan to buy more of the Aluminum clamps to add to my arsenal of clamping power.
Aluminium is a bit softer and more forgiving to a crash. Steel is really tough and harder wearing but if you hit one at speed your bit is probably toast.
The aluminium is a bit cheaper to make which allows us to pass on the savings for what we think is a great clamp.
Due to the above we were not sure what people would prefer, so we did both.
Honestly, I have been using these for a few months now and they are my go-to clamp. I have both the steel and aluminium, all work great still.
I was one of the lucky ones to beta test these, and they are the best, most versatile clamps I have seen or used. I particularly love using the angled grub screws to hold my workpiece while leaving the top surface open for flattening.
The step block usage is interesting and something I hadn’t considered — will have to look into making a set with steps size to match the Gator clamps with an angle which matches the lean of the step height.