Types of Bar clamps

[Drew Sanderson]

What are the advantages / disadvantages of different bar clamp styles (i.e., Black Pipe, I-Beam, Quick Grips, ect.)

Thank you,
Drew

[Paul Ryan]

Quick grips are what they say, quick but have relativly low clamping strength. The black pipe compared to I beam is a bit different. The I bean design bends much less when things are clamped hard. The black pipe clamps will bend (concave) fairly easy with clamping force. The bending will cause your panel to curve along with the clamp. There are ways to over come this, using dowels between the clamp face and the panel. Black pipe clamps are just weaker due to the black pipe. But black pipe is cheap so you can make clamps out of black pipe any lenth you want. All you need to do it keep one end of the pipe threaded. But the longer the clamp gets, no matter who makes it, the easier it bends. The parallel clamps are one of the nicest but are pricier. I use my bessys when ever possible due to easy of use, plastic faces, and the bars dont leave much for marks on the wood.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Paul is right about pipe clamps causing wide panels to cup during glue up. If you make up pipe clamps, buy the ones made for 3/4" pipe. When you use them to glue up a panel use them in pairs with the first on one face of the panel and the next kind of close to the first but on the opposite face. Tighten them together to balance the pressure and help keep the panel flat.
Parallel jaw clamps have come down in price due to the number being made and are very good. I started out with bar clamps and still like them. Of course, you will eventually have them all because you can never have enough clamps.
butch

[Jim W. White]

I agree with all that's been said already.

The only thing that I would add is that "Quick Grips" play a definate role in my shop even though I've got a fair number of parrallel clamps now. They are MUCH lighter than any of the alternatives and can be operated and positioned with ONE hand. They are often times the first thing to hit the project only to be replaced later if I need more clamping force.

I have quick-grips, 3/4" pipe clamps, and parallel face clamps and I would not get rid of any of them in lieu of another ....with the possible exception of my shorter pipe clamps (the parallel ones have gotten so cheap when on sale that they are much easier to accumulate, but this wasn't the case years ago when they NEVER went on sale)

Jim in Idaho

[Drew Sanderson]

What is the difference between I-beam and parallel clamps. It seems as though the parallel clamp bar is I shaped.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I defaulted to Pony pipe clamps because (a) they were readily available, (b) cheap, (c) strong as I needed, and (d) work great

Of course I prefer "double extra heavy" black iron pipe for my 8' long pipe clamps.

I've used a variety of heavier rectangular steel bar type clamps in a commercial shop and found them to be great clamps too but as a general rule the cost is prohibitive. If you can pick 'em up cheap at estate sales and fleas it is well worth the acquisition.

As for the clamps in the C-clamp genre I have found that all (every one) of the clamps available in places like the BORG are sub standard junk.
The industrial trade name brands such as Armstrong's forged clamps are so very superior that once you try one you can't settle for less.

[Jason Hallowell]

I use a wide assortment of clamp styles, and find them all useful. Although they have some drawbacks, I use 3/4" pipe clamps often, with the heaviest black pipe I can find. I like the type with stands, like the bessy H body, or the HF knockoffs if you don't mind cleaning up the threads before the first use. They're easy to use, provide high clamping pressure, pipes can be coupled together to give any length, and the fact that the clamping faces can be offset also comes in handy from time to time. They can be a bit heavy and cumbersome at times, and do bow some, especially over longer lengths.

The steel I beam clamps I've used work similar to the pipe clamps but with much less bowing. For the significantly higher expense, I figure I can work around the bowing issue well enough.

I also have a couple sets of assorted jorgensen clamps (thanks to craigslist), and find myself using their quick clamps with large faces a lot. They are really nice for use with jigs and light duty clamping, and I like that they easily convert to spreaders. The jorgensen aluminum bar clamps I have are really nice when needing long lengths where weight is an issue.

As far as light duty steel bar clamps, which also get lots of use, my favorites are the cheap pittsburg brand I got on sale at harbor freight. They are easier to use and outperform all of my namebrand sumo, jorgensen, and bessey's. The handles aren't glued in very well, and may need to be removed and epoxied back in place, but I've had the same issue with several of the namebrand ones as well.

Parallel jaw clamps are probably the nicest clamps to use, especially for faceframes and panels, but due to their high cost, I only have a few of them. I find that using squaring jigs and cauls in conjuntion with my cheap clamps works well enough for me.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have many Bessey K body clamps, purchased after I got sick enough of pipe clamps.

Far superior, stuff winds up flat/square as required, large clamp area means you don't need pads to prevent crushing wood fibres. Yes they're expensive, however not as expensive as screwed up glue ups.

As has been stated before, C clamps are great for machine setups (holding fences/jigs etc), however only if you purchase real ones from industrial suppliers. Expect double digit prices for good C clamps. The cheap ones from the Borg etc are only good if you're looking for counter weights.

regards, Rod.