Clamp Confusion

[Wade Samuelson]

Hi all,

My clamp collection consists of 2 pipe clamps. I want to get some more. I did a search here to get some info as to what kind I need and am satisfied that Jorgensen clamps will suit me and that I need not spend more to get Besseys or Gross Stabils. I am also considering Rockler's Sure Foot. So...

What do you think? Jorgensen or Rockler? Or does it even matter? And if I go the Jorgensen route, is this http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00931470000&subcat=Clamps a good deal?

Thanks again for doing my thinking for me!

[Larry Norton]

Wade, I had some of the Easy Hold and never used them. It's been a long time ago, and I can't remember exactly why, but I do know you can't use them for glueing up panels, because the pads are an inch or two above the bar. I sold them at a yard sale.


I have some Jourgensen bar clamps, if I had to do it again, I would get the Bessey Tradesman's. They don't cost much more, maybe a dollar or two, but they are much better. I think the acme screw is much better on the Besseys. These aren't the Bessey K Bodies, but look just like the Jourgensen's.


Larry

[Ellen Benkin]

I have a couple of the Rockler bar clamps and really like them. They stand up by themselves and are easy to adjust. I screwed wooden "pads" to the faces so that the metal would not mar the finished pieces.

[Bill Fields]

Wade:

I have a mixed collection of bar clamps--favorites are Rockler--un-favorites are Harbor Freight at about 1/3 the price.

If you use them all the time--get the best.

BILL FIELDS

[CPeter James]

I used pipe clamps for 30 years and finally decided that the time had come to upgrade. My only mistake was waiting so long to do it. I bought some Bessys and I love them. So much better than pipe clamps. They are many, many features, some are small like the ability to stand them on the floor with a glue up and some are large like the fact that they are parallel and non marring.

CPeter

[Corey Hallagan]

I have 4 large pipe clamps for large projects... not enough! I have 6 36" Jorgensens several 24" cheaper like Jorg's. If I had an unlimited budget, I would definitely get a dozen Bessy's in varying sizes. On another thought, get half a dozen spring clamps and a several Irwin 6 inch quick clamps, I probably use those more than anything on small projects or just to hold something while screwing it or shooting a nail.

Corey

[Mike Cutler]

Wade. I have the Jorgenson cabinet master series of clamps, I also have some Bessey tradesmans, and pipe clamps from 1' to 10' long'
The jorgensons are pretty good. They have a nice strong back that doesn't flex under pressure, The tradesmans deflect a little bit, but not much. The 1/2" pipe clamps are 60" long each and they have considerable flex. The 10 footers are 3/4" pipe, and are much stiffer.
The clamps in that picture are a fairly good assortment to have around the shop, but most of them will be too lite for larger cabinet size projects. The backs aren't thick enough. Are they the HD series from jorgenson?
You needs clamps that are heavy enough to not flex under clamping pressure, or the flex needs to be kept to a minimum. Any deflection in the clamp can be transmitted to the glue joint as a stress in an unanticipated direction, which could cause the material being clamped to not "clamp straight"
You will end up with a minor fortune in clamps, and seem to never have enough. I prefer to have clamps in the 48"-60" range, Look for clamps with heavy cross sectional bars to them.
The K- Body style clamps are nice because the jaws move parallel to each other, and the clamp can rest on it's back with the jaws open, besides having strong backs. This facilitates faster clamp positioning during glueups. Which is very important.
Watch for clamp sales. they seem to happen with some sort of periodic frequency, and pay attention in the Big Box stores for when they are on clearance, or are marked with the wrong price, which the local Big Box stores are famous for.
If you like pipe clamps, stick with the 3/4" size, much stronger. You can also make wooden jaws to increase the clamping area on them. One more trick is to use a 3/4" dowel, for 3/4" thick material, between a pipe clamp and the project being glued. This way the force is focused dead center on the face of glue joint.
That's my take on clamps. Hope it helps you.

[Joe Unni]

Bessey gets my vote hands down. I've got a couple of Jorgenson cabinet masters and I'll not buy another - one of them is stuck shut!

BTW - the Besseys are on sale at my local Rockler - 25% off. You might check yours. If you buy these clamps you will not be disappointed!

Good luck,
-joe

[John Cavanaugh]

Wade:

I have a mixed collection of bar clamps--favorites are Rockler--un-favorites are Harbor Freight at about 1/3 the price.

If you use them all the time--get the best.

BILL FIELDS

Bill,

What are the things you dont like about the HF pipe clamps?? Or are you speaking about the HF bar clamps??

The HF clamps are all I own, so Im just curious what I am really missing by not having the other clamps.

--
John Cavanaugh

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Comparing the Jorgensen Pony and Rockler Surefoot, I prefer the Rockler...but not enough to pay much more for them. They were attractively priced when they came out, but lately have gone up. I don't have any of the Harbor Freight, Pittsburgh, or other 'knock-off' brands, but I did have a couple Craftsman that have literally fallen apart...so if I need a pipe clamp fixture, I stick with the 'big names'.

I've also got Cabinet Masters, Bessey K-Body, and Gross Stabil parallel face clamps...and reach for the Cabinet Masters first, then the Gross Stabil, and as a last resort, the Besseys. I just can't get the hang of the Bessey.

KC

[Norman Hitt]

Bessey gets my vote hands down. I've got a couple of Jorgenson cabinet masters and I'll not buy another - one of them is stuck shut!

BTW - the Besseys are on sale at my local Rockler - 25% off. You might check yours. If you buy these clamps you will not be disappointed!

Good luck,
-joe

Joe, just send them on down, and I'll open them, (and break 'em in for you. :D On their website they give the procedure to open them, if they get stuck, and if you make sure that you don't back the screw out all the way before you let the clamp faces go together, you will always be able to unscrew them a round or two and release them. I have both Cab Masters & Bessy K bodies and like certain things better on each, but my old worn out body sure likes the larger handles on the Cabinet Masters, and like KC said, they also seem a little easier to get locked in place than the Bessy's.

[aurelio alarcon]

I have, among others, both bessey and jorgenson bar clamps. I usually grab for my jorgys before the bessys though. This is because I found that the spring on the jorgys acts kind of like a third hand (keeps the jaws in place). If I use the bessy's like this, they tend to slide. But they are both, in my opinion, excellent clamps. Unless I am gluing up, I usually use my Craftsman one handed clamps. They are excellent for clamping up stuff to my work bench with one hand. But for glue ups, I always reach for my jorgys or besseys.

[Brian Hale]

Hi Wade

I've become a big fan of 24" and 48" aluminum bar clamps because they stand up on their own and are plenty strong enough for all but the most demanding situations where you need a lot of clamping force. Because aluminum doesn't react with glue like steel does, I don't need to worry about stains where the wood/glue contacts the bar. Best of all they're LIGHT so moving a panel with 8+ clamps is easy.

I get mine from Highland Hardware. The ones sold at Sears are junk by comparison.

Brian

[Mike Tempel]

I too have a collection of clamps that includes Jorgy's, Bessey's, GS's, pipe clamps, quick grips, and an assortment of others. I too reach for the Jorgy's first as they seem to be the easiest for me to use. The Bessey's are just as nice but I prefer the Jorgy's the most. The GS's are nice but they tend to hang up more when I am trying to adjust them to length. All were bought based on sales prices and not so much preference at the time of purchase. If I had to do it all over again I think I would have extended my Jorgy collection to include more sizes. I currently have everything from 24", 36", 48" (these vary in size from manufacturer to manufacturer but are pretty close). I would prefer to have more 24"s and fewer of the larger 48" sizes as they are used more in my shop. I have 8 50" Besseys that gather more dust than use compared to the smaller sizes. I agree with everyone else, get the best that you can afford. You won't be sorry in the long run. I only use my pipe clamps now when I run out of the parrallel jaw clamps.

[Joe Unni]

On their website they give the procedure to open them, if they get stuck, and if you make sure that you don't back the screw out all the way before you let the clamp faces go together, you will always be able to unscrew them a round or two and release them.

Thanks Norman. Could you please provide the website? The site that I found www.adjustableclamp.com (http://www.adjustableclamp.com) did not have that info - as far as I could see.

Thanks,
-joe

[Jim Becker]

The "footed" pipe clamps are also available under the Irwin brand name. Honestly, if I were going to do pipe clamps, I'd want some of this style in my arsenal, regardless of the name or color. (HFT notwithstanding...I wouldn't buy any from them ever again based on the poor quality of those I own) The foot is a nice improvement over the traditional pipe clamp design, particularly for working with panels.

I will not give up my parallel jaw clamps, however...Bessey K-body in my case, but Jorgensen Clampmaster or GS would be just as happy in my shop.

[Bruce Overholt]

Although I haven't had a chance to use them yet, think about a premium clamp like Bessy's and Gross Stabil. I feel that this is one area where money is well spent. When I was in the remodeling business may years ago, pipe clamps were the way to go because of the abuse they can withstand. However, Jorg F-Style bar clamps have a lot of flex in the longer sizes.
So for woodworking, I decided on the Gross Stabil line. Mostly because I have a good relationship with my local Woodcraft Supply owner. I honestly have to thank him for the extra discounts and freebies I've been given during my larger sales. Try buying four clamps and see if you can't get 10 or 15% off or a free 5th clamp. (YMMV)
Also, watch the threads here at sawmill creek. Twice, I've been alerted to clamp sales on line. Woodcraft had two Gross Stabil sales so far this year.

Good Luck,
Bruce

[Larry Norton]

When I used to use pipe clamps, I made some combination pads/stabilizers out of a square piece of 1 by. I drilled a hole in the middle of it, slid it over the pipe, and made it tall enough so that it would hold the pipe up off the bench. Place one on each side edge of the panel to be glued up and they will protect the edges of the panel. Cut some pieces of foam pipe insulation and use 2 pieces on each pipe for each board that is in the glue up. The insulation will hold the panel up off the pipe and prevent the black stains on the botton of the panel. HTH

[George Summers]

I have a fairly large collection of various length pipes for pipe clamps. Most of my pipe clamps are HF purchased when on their periodic half off sales. Other than those I use the 'F' style bar clamps in various lengths (the kind with the clutch plates - not the true 'F' clamps). I don't worry about clamp pressure with these as I am one who believes that if you have to apply that much pressure to get the joint together then you have not jointed the edges well enough or not cut your joinery well enough. I don't think that you need a lot of pressure to bring a properly cut joint or properly jointed edges together. I can get glue squeeze out with out bowing or flexing the bars and that is a sign to me that there is enough pressure.

George

[Bart Leetch]

I have a fairly large collection of various length pipes for pipe clamps. Most of my pipe clamps are HF purchased when on their periodic half off sales. Other than those I use the 'F' style bar clamps in various lengths (the kind with the clutch plates - not the true 'F' clamps). I don't worry about clamp pressure with these as I am one who believes that if you have to apply that much pressure to get the joint together then you have not jointed the edges well enough or not cut your joinery well enough. I don't think that you need a lot of pressure to bring a properly cut joint or properly jointed edges together. I can get glue squeeze out with out bowing or flexing the bars and that is a sign to me that there is enough pressure.

George

Hurray George I couldn't have said it better. I have watched my Dad using pipe clamps for about 45 years now & have never seen one bowed yet & have never seen one or cranked one down that tight my self. Lets face it you'll be damaging the material your clamping with that kind of pressure that is unless your using wood blocks between your clamp faces & the project being clamped. Still there is something wrong with the joint if you have to apply that kind of pressure to bring it together.

I have a mixture of clamps like George's Harbor Freight 3/4" pipe clamps & HF clutch type F clamps & 4 Sears 3/4" pipe clamps from the 50's that were given to me by my Dad. These are the type with the little lever that you have to sometimes have to tap to lock. Some day I'll have the other 32 clamps like these & yes I'll use them. I am not looking forward to having them....& you all know why it has nothing to do with the clamps themselves.

I do wood working as a hobby & although I would like to have the very best tools in all categories this includes clamps it is not necessary I am not in that much of a hurry. WHY........if I have the very best tools I probably wouldn't have any money left over for wood & wouldn't need the tools.

Tools without wood...or wood without tools = 0 One way or the other you have just rusty tools or just dusty wood.

Remember it your going to have pipe clamps make you pipes at least 6" longer than what you plan to clamp i.e. 4'6" & keep pipe joint couplers around to extend your clamps. Make some 2'6" pipe sections as well as extra 4'6" sections for quick extensions. Sometimes you can find used 3/4" pipe. I have purchased as much as 17' for $2. Talking about galvanized pipe vs black pipe I'll say I have both & reach for the galvanized all the time & the black goes begging I don't like the stains or the fact that any glue spilled on the pipe sticks better on the black pipe. I have though of coating the black pipe with something but instead I may make some plastic pipe pieces so that they can be snapped onto the pipe to raise the project up off the pipe.

I have used Bessy's over at my friends shop which he purchased with a Jet cabinet saw & nice RBI planer along with a lot of other tools. He likes them too. But as of now has not gone out on purpose to purchase more. Clamps are kinda like cars unless you are on the road all the time they just set in the drive way. thats why I don't own a Cadillac, Continental or great big high off the ground 4 wheel drive either. No really I hate the way trucks are raised off the ground now days its the most useless thing I've ever seen. It makes a truck worthless to try to work out of.