Which pipe clamps?

[Billy Trinh]

I have some jet F clamps I'm thinking of getting 4 pony pipe clamps to add to my small clamp collection. I see two versions of pipe clamps, the regular ones and one with 2 1/2 depth. Which ones should I get? 4 of the regular? 4 of the deep reach? 2 of each? Thanks in advance for your input.

[glenn bradley]

I bought a set of four of the deep ones on sale 4 years ago and have never used them. I don't know why. I thought they would be so useful but it just hasn't turned out that way.

I will say that the Jorgies I have do everything they are supposed to. The Bessey H style and the Rockler Sure-foot versions with the little feet that raise them up off the floor sure look like they would be an improvement.

[Lee Schierer]

I would go with the regular ones. I've not had a lot of need for deep reach clamps, though there are few times over the years a couple would have been handy.

[Brad Wood]

if you are going with the regular depth, you may want to consider the Harbor Freight units with the feet. I've got a few of them and they do what they are supposed to do, and at least half the cost of the Pony. "fit and finish" may be a bit rough compared to the Pony, but not an issue from what I've seen so far.
I've seen lots of other comments regarding the HF version and haven't really seen anything negative about them.

[Chris Tsutsui]

I got 4 HF ones and used them on four 4' black iron pipes. One of the HF clamp top assemblys was machined with lesser tolerances than the others.

HF has a good return policy though so this wasn't a problem.

[Robert Chapman]

If I had to do my clamp purchases over I would not buy pipe clamps. I would buy parallel clamps even tho they are more expensive they do a much better job of keeping your boards at right angles to each other. Jet parallel clamps seem to be a good value.

[Frank Drew]

If I had to do my clamp purchases over I would not buy pipe clamps. I would buy parallel clamps even tho they are more expensive they do a much better job of keeping your boards at right angles to each other. Jet parallel clamps seem to be a good value.

I agree with this in principle, in that I would have gotten K-body or equivalent clamps earlier than I did, but still, a bunch of Pony pipe clamp fittings and some lengths of pipe can come in handy, particularly a bunch of short lengths if you have to do any bent laminations, for instance.

Starting all over, I'd probably buy mainly parallel clamps (Bessey, Jet) and Jorgensen hand screws, getting some other types of clamps as the need arose.

[Paul Ryan]

If I had to do my clamp purchases over I would not buy pipe clamps. I would buy parallel clamps even tho they are more expensive they do a much better job of keeping your boards at right angles to each other. Jet parallel clamps seem to be a good value.

I am in this camp as well. After buying 20 bessy's last year, I have never used my pipe clamps. I wish I would have saved the money and not bought the pipe clamps. They are really a pain in the but. The one thing they are good for is length. If you need a really long clamp every so often it is a heck of a lot cheaper for a 8ft pipe clamp than an 8ft bessy. 8 of my bessy's are 24" and use them 90% of the time. I own some aluminum bar clamps as well. I use those fairly often too, when I run out of bessy's. Unless you are on a tight budget and cannot afford anything else, buy some parallel clamps you will be happy you did.

Check out the deal's and discount page, Jorgy's are a real good price at a true value store. Shipping is a little steep, but these clamps will last you forever, not the case with bar clamps.

[Denny Rice]

I am in the minority here. I have 30 Bessey clamps of different lengths and I use them for everything but my larger glue-ups. For my larger glue-up I use my 3/4" Pony pipe clamps, and I like them. I guess because I've always used these clamps since my days in high school and feel comfortable using them. The clamps clean up easy and I just like them....

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Another vote for the HF clamps. I have both the 1/2 and the 3/4 inch sets. I normally use only the 3/4" sets.

A tip, buy some one inch PVC pipe, cut it into 2 inch sections and slip them over the 3/4 inch pipe. This will space the pipe off of the work piece and you wont get the dreaded black marks.

[Roger Pozzi]

I would definitely NOT get the Irwin pipe clamps. I thought they were very smart by making their pipe clamps so as to not have to have one end of the pipe threaded. NOT!!
They will not stand up on their own while clamping or stay aligned while placing them on your project. They really require about 5 hands for use and IMHO they are useless.

[Mike Hall1]

Another vote for the HF clamps. I have both the 1/2 and the 3/4 inch sets. I normally use only the 3/4" sets.

A tip, buy some one inch PVC pipe, cut it into 2 inch sections and slip them over the 3/4 inch pipe. This will space the pipe off of the work piece and you wont get the dreaded black marks.

Like this.

[James Carmichael]

The HF clamps are OK, but inspect them as soon as you open. At least 1 I've bought had a jaw about 12-degrees out of parallel.

I have both the footed clamps and the cheaper ones which are about $4 apiece and don't see any functional difference, except the footed clamps sit a little more stable on a surface.

I'm not sure what the "deep reach" is, but I'd stay with the regular. Use cauls with two clamps if you need more depth, like a carcass glue-up.

I don't think it's an "either or" choice between pipe and parallel-jaw clamps. I use PJs for initial layup of edge-joints or carcasses and PCs for additional clamping.

I started out with just PCs, it was simple economics:
Four 3/4" HF PCs + 10' Home Depot black pipe cut & threaded in 4 30" lengths = $26 (2005 prices), or about the same as one 24-36" parallel-jaw clamp (if you catch it on sale). Add a some couplers, and you've got lots of different lengths.

[Billy Trinh]

Thanks for the advice Sounds like I could get 4 of the HF pipe clamps and use the saved $$ to get some parallel clamps later.

[Jerome Hanby]

Hmm, just checked both web sites and the Rockler sure foot clamps and the HF Professional are within a few cents of being the same price...