Keldebre Products

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Made in the USA Badger Clamps.

Made in the USA
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The Badger Clamp is a hand tool that clamps and locks on a joist, rafter, stud or other wood structure. It provides a quick, temporary or permanent, means of attachment for hanging, lifting or pulling up to 1000 pounds. Made from zinc-nickel plated steel components, the Badger Clamp is a very durable product that will provide the user with a high quality tool designed to last a life time.

History
The Badger Clamp was first conceived in October of 2007 by the inventor following a spinal cord injury that caused him to have limited abilities. The goal was just to provide him a quick way to be able to lift and move objects in his garage and basement that he normally would have done himself by hand. When friends and family seen the device they were sure they had not seen anything like it before and started thinking up different ways they could use it. Extensive research was done on patent searches to ensure the Badger Clamp would not infringe on an existing patent and it was found that it is a unique product. Keldebre Products LLC was formed to manufacture and market a new product that is called and will carry the trademark name Badger Clamp. A Patent application was filed in the spring of 2009. The Badger Clamp is patented, U.S. Patent No. 8,196,272.

Badger Clamp Manufacturing and Testing
The process starts with sheets of 8 gauge and 13 gauge steel.
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At Consolidated Metal Products Inc., an ISO 9000:2000E Registered Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, CAD programs have been written that are electronically fed to a laser cutter that uses the data to cut precise parts from the sheets of steel. The repeatability of their laser is very accurate, making the last part exactly the same as the first as well as every part in between. Seven different components of the Badger Clamp and Badger Clamp accessories start at the laser.

Next the parts get formed in stamping dies. One at a time each part is loaded in a die onto locating pins to insure exact placement. Then the die is closed and subjected to precisely the same amount of force each time to form the part. During a run, parts are closely monitored and checked for quality. Some parts only require going through one die while other parts need to go through multiple dies.


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When the forming of the parts are complete and they pass a final spot check, they are sent out for plating. At the plating facility the parts are hung on hooks on large racks. When the racks are full they are placed in position ready to be processed through a series of large tanks. This is where the Badger Clamp components get an electroplated zinc-nickel coating. Before and during the plating process, chemicals in the tanks are checked and tested to insure a quality finish and the parts are check in a lab to verify plating thickness.

People who seen our first pre production run of the Badger Clamps compared to the market ready production Badger Clamps ask, what happened to the nice shinny silver finish. Well this is what happened with that finish. The first run was plated with a bright translucent zinc electroplate. And they did look real nice but lacked durability. The electroplated zinc-nickel finish is more of a dull grayish finish. By adding nickel into the zinc the plating is more wear resistant and can withstand being used on a regular basis. Engineering standards ASTM B 633 for zinc plating: no red rust after 96 hour salt spray test. Engineering standards ASTM B 841 for zinc-nickel plating: no red rust after 500 hour salt spray test. Roughly five time the protection. Bottom line is, zinc-nickel cost about two and a half times that of bright zinc and does not look as nice but we think it's worth it to provide a long lasting quality tool.

After plating the parts are returned to Keldebre Products LLC in Ionia, MI. Here the final assembly and packaging of the product takes place.
Once the Badger Clamps are assembled a random group is pulled from inventory for testing.
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The first test is to clamp the Badger Clamp onto a 2 X 4 and place it in a pull force gauge fixture. Then pulling force is applied, pulling the Badger Clamp away from the 2 X 4, until the gauge reaches 1000 pounds and needs to remain there for thirty seconds. The pull force is then released, the Badger Clamp is removed and inspected.


The second test is same as above but this time force is applied until the gauge reaches 1250 pounds and needs to remain there for ten seconds. The Badger Clamp is again removed and inspected. This meets the OSHA requirement for rigging equipment use in the construction industry for material handling, which would require a 1250 pound test for a 1000 pound rating.

OSHA
? Part Number: 1926 ? Part Title: Safety and Health Regulations for Construction ? Subpart: H ? Subpart Title: Materials Handling, Storage, Use, and Disposal ? Standard Number: 1926.251 ? Title: Rigging equipment for material handling.
1926.251(a)(4)
Special custom design grabs, hooks, clamps, or other lifting accessories??? prefabricated structures and similar materials???.be proof-tested prior to use to 125 percent of their rated load.

The third test is intended for producing a failure. The setup is the same as above. Force is applied until one of two things happen.
1- The gauge reaches a level and stops increasing or starts dropping, meaning a failure occurred.
2- The gauge reaches 2000 pounds, test stops without a failure.

Any Badger Clamp that goes through this third test, failure or without failure, will not be sold or scraped without first being disassembled and the components cut into pieces.


Finally with the Badger Clamps passing the first two tests the assemblies are packaged and ready for shipping.

The following is a reply from Keldebre Products to our question – "Are your products Made in America?"

How do you know the products you have listed are Made in the USA?
Before including products in our database we review the advertiser’s website and/or contact them to ascertain the origin of their products. Some advertisers sell both Made in USA products and foreign ones. Therefore we highly recommend you review FAQ 2.

We immediately investigate any complaints regarding deceptive Country of Origin claims. If we determine an advertiser's claim is not truthful we will immediately remove the product/s from our database and suspend our relationship with the Company making the claim.

To document your complaint, email us by using our Contact Us page. We can only respond to complaints that have been submitted in writing.

What does Made in USA mean?
There is no law requiring most products to be labeled Made In USA, or have any other disclosure about the amount of U.S. content. However, for job creation purposes (see our Big Secret tab), if you have a choice between an imported product and one with no country of origin on its label, choose the product without a country of origin over the imported one. This is true because the product without the country origin on its label has at least some American labor in its content and the imported one most likely does not.

Note: Imported products are required by law to country of origin on their label and products partially Made In USA do not. To answer this question completely reviewing our Labeling Tips 1, 2 & 3. These tips are accessible from scrolling to the bottom of our home page clicking Browse All Tips button.