Clamps

[Arturo Lumpkin]

I am relatively new to woodworking. I have built things, especially wooden things, most of my life. I am however just getting into the finer areas of woodworking and want to get further into fine furniture making.


I am looking to add some nicer clamps, espcially some deep throat Bessey F-style clamps and some Jet parrallel clamps. I have been told by some veteran woodworkers that I know to watch for the big sales that come around once to twice a year on Jet and Bessey clamps at Rockler, Amazon, etc. He said that I can get notice of such sales on the woodworking forums. Where do I find those notices? Is there a particular time of the year that the sales normally occur? I am no rush as I already have some clamps, I am just looking to buy in bulk when a sale hits.

Thanks!

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Do you have a local Woodcraft? You can sign up on line for sale flyers. That's where I got my Jet parallel jaw clamps from. I don't think they've been on sale recently, so the sale may be coming up soon. I like my Jet clamps. I'm one of those idiots that manage to have the Besseys smash my finger when they slide down. I do have Besseys too.

[Jim Andrew]

What is your location? Where you are makes a lot of difference on what companies you can deal with locally. I have been buying the heavy duty F clamps that Menards sells. Lately they have been getting them on sale at great prices. Can't buy more, my racks are full. Menards also gets the Jorgenson Cabinet Masters on sale. Right now, Grizzly has a sale catalog out, and it has some clamps on sale. I ordered 6 I beam clamps.

[Chip Byrd]

Agree with Jim. Menards will put the Jorgy parallel clamps on sale 3 or 4 times a year. During that time, you can pick up 2 x 24" and 2 x 36" for about $100. Haven't used the Jet or Besseys, but I love the Jorgies.

[Matt Krusen]

Jet parallel clamps were 50% on Black Friday this past year. Hopefully they'll do that again this year.

[glenn bradley]

Jet parallel clamps were 50% on Black Friday this past year. Hopefully they'll do that again this year.

Bought mine in November. Was told today I may get them by the end of May ;-(

[Dan Rude]

I am still waiting on my 3 31" Jets, :( I have received my 2 24" Jets about 2 months ago. Rockler has a sale on the Irwin clamps this month. I have 2, I like the Jets better but? Since they are only available once in a while. I am thinking of going Orange. The price at the Menards made in the USA sale prices make them a great deal! Dan

[Jason Mikits]

If you don't have a Menards, but do have a Home Depot, keep an eye open online and wait for the sale. Then take the Menards sale ad (on a smart phone) into Home Depot and HD will match or match plus an additional 10% for the Jorgy parallel clamps. I do this on occasion to buy all of HD's on hand stock. I have many and prefer the Jet clamps, but for the price I had to buy a bunch of the Jorgy clamps as they are still nice clamps.

[Matt Day]

I recieved my Black Friday jet clamps in a week or so. Key is to call to see if they're in stock before ordering.

[glenn bradley]

Bought mine in November. Was told today I may get them by the end of May ;-(

Sorry for the less-than-helpful post. I had just gotten an email about further delay ;-)

The value of clamp types will vary with what you do and how you do it just as so many other things that we all use in one form or another. Other than the 4" Bessey might-mini's, I use f-style clamps least of all. I have plenty because that is what I bought at first and they do have their uses.

My go-to clamps are Bessey Uni-Klamps and of course, these are relatively expensive for what they are. I watch Amazon and Rockler and grabbed them on sale till I had a good supply. After that, Bessey K-Body clamps are my main clamp but, any good parallel jaw clamp will do and opinions vary here too.

Consistency is important as having a mix of clamps styles can make glue-ups a challenge. I have a lot of orginal K-bodys and you can only find them on the used market now. Although the quality gap is substantial, I did take advantage of Woodcraft's sale on the Groz K-body knock-offs just because they are the same dimensionally. They have worked well as additional clamps along with the K-bodys despite their obvious "copy" status.

3/4" Pipe clamps are just the thing when that sort of crushing power is required. As you get better at making parts you will find less force is required to assemble them but, for shear 'reach' pipe clamps can't be beat. Some 3ft and 6ft pipe clamps along with some pipe couplers can handle many things.

As with any tool, buy the best you can afford as no one ever regretted buying a quality tool. You can over-spend on almost any tool but, try not to fall short of the level of quality that will get you years of trouble-free service. I have found it better to wait awhile rather than fill my clamp racks with cheap-o's that just hag around and collect dust ;-)

[Don Jarvie]

A word about Besseys. They make them in Germany and China with the German made clamps are better quality so keep that in mind. HD had a 4 pack of 6 and 12 inch clamps for 19.99 which were from China. Huge difference in quality.

[Jon Nuckles]

I have taken advantage of the Menards "made in America" sale to get the Jorgensen clamps in the past (at Home Depot with their additional 10% price match) and have been waiting for that sale to get some more. The last time Menards ran the "made in America" sale, however, the Jorgies were not included. I hope they'll be added back the next time that Menards runs the sale.

[John Sanford]

Home Depot / Lowes (and likely Menards as well) frequently have the Irwin Quik-Grips on sale. A 4 pack of the 6" Minis, or a pack of 2 12" Minis and 2 6" Minis. Pick up one or two packs. I use my Quik-Grip Minis and Jorgensen ISD (same size as the "normal" Quik-Grips) far more than any other clamps. I would get these before I getting a bunch of F-clamps. And then when it's time to get F-Clamps, get the deeper reach ones. 85%+ of the time you can use Quik-Grips rather than 4-12" 'normal' reach F-clamps.

Also, a couple of handscrew clamps are extremely useful. My preference are the US Made Jorgensens, which may very well be Dubuques. I believe, but cannot say for certain at the moment, that the Jorgie handscrews are no longer American made. You can also find the Dubuques online (https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/CDC/item/MS-WSC.XX). The handscrews are really handy because they can clamp non-parallel items. Methinks I'll be adding a few more handscrews to my clamping arsenal.

As for parallel clamps, my only experience is with the Bessey K Bodies. I have both the old, middle and new styles. The new ones are da bomb! Love 'em.

[Vince Shriver]

Anyone tried the Kreg clamps that have a vice grip type handle?

[Arturo Lumpkin]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I should have probably added two things to my last post. First, I already have a good deal of Irwin Quick Grips (and most of them are the XP600s). I also have two great / close friends who have dedicated woodworking shops with plenty of tools and clamps I can (and do) borrow if I am in a pinch. They also do it as a hobby so between the two of them, there is a good chance that there are some free clamps.

I also have three kids under the age of 3 and 1/2 (no twins). So obviously I am very busy with the family right now. At this time, we are planning on building our next house (hopefully in the next 3 to 5 years) with enough land to build a nice dedicated woodworking shop for me. Right now, I just work in our two car garage. So I have plenty of time to hone my skills, gradually get some nice tools / clamps for myself, and grow into the finer areas of woodworking. Again, this is going to be more of a hobby... albeit an intense and addicting one for sure.

So overall, I am in no rush. The clamps I mentioned in my first post are ones I have used before and really liked. I am not against trying other brands / types of clamps but I am blessed to be in an opportunity that I have access to good tools and/or equipment while I build out my own.

Thanks again!

[Arturo Lumpkin]

Do you have a local Woodcraft? You can sign up on line for sale flyers. That's where I got my Jet parallel jaw clamps from. I don't think they've been on sale recently, so the sale may be coming up soon. I like my Jet clamps. I'm one of those idiots that manage to have the Besseys smash my finger when they slide down. I do have Besseys too.
I actually was in my local (Raleigh, NC) Woodcraft store this past Friday. They did not have any Jet clamps but they carried Bessey's and Jorgensen clamps as their main clamps. The employee said that they carry Jet every once in a while on special promotions. That sounds like what you are talking about. I will definitely look to sign up to their flyers, thanks.

[Arturo Lumpkin]

Bought mine in November. Was told today I may get them by the end of May ;-(
I am with you on the hating waiting part. I put in some recent orders for some Incra Rules and some Woodpeckers products and their popular products always seem to be on back order. 50% off is awesome and it normally makes it worth the wait but obviously it is frustrating.