Essential Clamps

[Tony Wilkins]

Just got finished reading Jeff Miller's essential clamp kit article in the Dec 2016 FWW. I definitely need more clamps (knew that before I read the article). It did raise a few questions in my mind.
do the wooden cam style clamps count as F style clamps? (I got one to try and I'm not sure if I like them or not)


im not sure what he classified the parallel/bessey revo style clamps as (seems like under f style). I'd call them bar clamps because that's the way I tend to use the few I have).


if you read the article, what do you think of it? What's your essential clamp arsenal? What are your can't live without clamps?

[Jim Koepke]

What's your essential clamp arsenal?

Mostly pipe clamps in my arsenal. They can be configured with different lengths of pipe for almost any size work.

My other clamps are just about anything found at a garage/yard/estate sale for a good price.

jtk

[Curt Putnam]

I've got about 30 or so Bessey and other brand clamps picked up one at a time at Rockler sales when they offered 20% off any one item. I've also got a couple dozen 12" F style clamps that are my workhorses for anything but panel glue-ups, a pair of Bessey deep throat clamps, a half dozen or so of wood hand clamps and a number of one hand squeeze it tight clamps. Altogether more than I really have space for. I feel short of 12" clamps right now because most of them are tied up in keeping project parts in stasis. IMO, the bigger your projects the more you want parallel clamps of the appropriate size.

[Warren Mickley]

I have two 4 foot bar clamps, two 3 foot bar clamps, 3 shop made wooden hand screws, 3 quick grip clamps, and about a dozen small c clamps. Most of this I have had for more than 30 years; it is adequate for a one man shop. A machine woodworking shop may need more clamps.

[Tony Wilkins]

[QUOTE=Warren Mickley;2635743 A machine woodworking shop may need more clamps.[/QUOTE]

Interesting that a machine driven shop might need me re than a hand one. I figure I might not need as many now that I a set up for hot hide glue.

[george wilson]

Think about it,Tony: things happen faster in a machine equipped wood shop. So,there is more stuff to glue up.

[Bill Houghton]

I'll have to go back and read that article again. My recollection is that I thought some of the clamp types listed were redundant.

I don't remember whether there was a sidebar on field alternatives to clamps, like wedges against cleats.

[James Pallas]

Having clamps for every possible build is a very expensive route to take. Owning 6 or more parallel 40" clamps and using them once every 2 years to build a table is tough to take. I do have 2 40" and 2 30" parallels and seldom use them, ummv. I have about a dozen 3/4" pipe clamps and many pieces of pipe of various lengths. They are versatile for sure. I also have aluminum bar clamps, the newer universal ones, about 8 quick grips of different sizes. C-clamps from 1 to 4 inches and about a dozen wood hand screws from 4 to 8. I believe it all depends on the type of work you do to guide your choice of clamps. If you do something new you need to build in the cost of clamps that you need or rent them.
Jim

[Tony Wilkins]

Think about it,Tony: things happen faster in a machine equipped wood shop. So,there is more stuff to glue up.

Makes sense.


I'll have to go back and read that article again. My recollection is that I thought some of the clamp types listed were redundant.

I don't remember whether there was a sidebar on field alternatives to clamps, like wedges against cleats.
He does break out types of bar clamps so there's redundancy. Didn't see a sidebar in my electronic version.

[Bill Houghton]

Probably no sidebar on field alternatives, but there should have been. I remember the article as another example of the notion that you HAVE to have a bare minimum of tooling that's actually quite a bit.

Now, I say this as someone who owns far more clamps than, realistically, I'll ever need; I should probably spend some time thinning the herd, except there's this little voice saying, "well, you never know; you just might need this one."

[Brian Holcombe]

I have a handful of Bessey parallel clamps, a few Jorgesen bar clamps and a couple wooden clamps.

[Pat Barry]

I have 6 foot, 4 foot, and 2 foot pipe clamps made from 3/4" black iron pie (Pony brand). 4 sets of pipe in each length with 4 clamps that I move between the pipes as needed. 4 ea of the 16", 24", and 36" Jorgensen F clamps, a half dozen wooden screw clamps in various sizes. A boxful of C clamps in all different sizes, miscellaneous other F style and ratchet clamps and 2 of the quick squeeze / quick release clamps that open up to about 8 inches. Those are my favorites. I plan to get more of these in at least one smaller size.

[Curt Harms]

For whatever reason, I find myself using small F style clamps a lot and have about 18-20 of those. 4 Each 24" & 48" parallel clamps. Half a dozen '3rd hand' quick grip clamps. I'm partial to the aluminum bar clamps because they're light and if used in the air they don't add a lot of weight to tip the glue-up.

[Simon MacGowen]

if you read the article, what do you think of it? ?

As a long time reader of FW (i have the whole collection from #1), I must say I was disappointed to see this article as well as a few other recent articles that don't add much to the knowledge base of what FW has built over the decades. Some of these articles were there to fill pages and if it continues like that, I am going to cancel my subscription that still has a little over two years left.

They are trying to use great photos to create an impression that they are great articles and that's nonsense. Are they running out of authors, ideas, or projects?

Simon

[glenn bradley]

As a long time reader of FW (i have the whole collection from #1), I must say I was disappointed to see this article as well as a few other recent articles that don't add much to the knowledge base of what FW has built over the decades. Some of these articles were there to fill pages and if it continues like that, I am going to cancel my subscription that still has a little over two years left.

They are trying to use great photos to create an impression that they are great articles and that's nonsense. Are they running out of authors, ideas, or projects?

Simon

Don't be too hard on them. You have surely noticed that certain topics recur at some reasonable interval. Magazines have to account for new folks entering the information stream, not everyone started with issue #1 :). Subjects on surface prep, joinery, finishing, materials and tools will repeat themselves. In one interview with one of the trade rags the editor stated the cycle was about 3 years. If they haven't talked about tablesaw technique for a couple of years, there will be an article on it. The challenge is to build that info into a new presentation. Sometimes they hit the mark and sometimes they miss.

[Simon MacGowen]

I see where you are coming from, Glenn. I agree that a magazine has to take care of both new and old readers and I am not suggesting that FW be a magazine for old timers only. However, whether the article is for newcomers or long-time readers, its contents -- on a repeating or new topic -- should be more than photos. Take the clamps article as an example, it takes up 6 pages where 4 would be more than enough. The table sled article takes away another 5 pages...11 pages for newcomers etc., not to mention the Fundamentals dept. also geared for new readers.

My point is a magazine can't hide behind the "we cater for new readers, too" defense and stuff its issue with materials that don't add much other than photos. Am I being hard on FW? Not so when compared to two of my club pals who have decided not to renew their subscriptions. At least, I am still giving them a chance and will observe a bit more.

I can find a few more examples in its 2016 issues where it is not about recurring themes or topics but about substance. Recurring topic is not the issue. For example, they put out an article on polyurethane glue -- which is good even though glues have been covered before, because the author offers good shop reasons why poly. glue has its place in woodworking. If an article adds nothing, keep its no. of pages to a minimum and the editor needs to work harder to fill the page requirements.

Many woodworking magazines have died in the last five years or more. I am not saying a magazine is easy to run, but editors can't rely on putting out the same stuff just because the same thing has not been covered in the last 3 to 5 years.

One last rant about FW. They decided to go back to the old cover design without even checking with their readers. They published a few letters from those who liked the bare design, pretending that's what the rest of their readers wanted. In my woodworking club, three out of five FW subscribers prefer the newsstand version. Since they are producing two cover versions, why didn't they allow the subscribers a choice? I know they have got a (relatively) new editor, but major changes should be made after they consult the stakeholders. The cover change was made as a nod to its roots for an anniversary issue, but then made permanent without warning.

Enough getting hard on the FW and Merry Christmas.

Simon

[Frank Drew]

Having bought and used just about every type of panel clamp, I finally settled on the original Besseys as the most precise. Pipe clamps are the cheapest and probably the most broadly useful since you can use the hardware on any length of pipe, but they're also rather sloppy in use.

Wood hand screws are extremely useful in the shop, and come in a multitude of sizes, all useful at one time or another. I wouldn't want to be without them in a furniture making shop.

[John Sanford]

Once you get to a certain point, the number and variety of clamps you have is a matter of convenience. If you're gluing up one frame and panel item, you only need 4 clamps. If you're gluing up 2, then now you need 8, or you wait for the first glue-up to come out of the clamps....

As an example, I have scads of Mini Quick Grips. So many that I don't think I've ever used all of them, BUT, it also means that I can have some at the table saw, some at the secondary workbench, some in my go box, and a bunch behind my primary workbench. I HAVE used all (about 20 in various sizes) of my parallel clamps at once, and supplemented those with Bessey deep throat F-Clamps (got 'em on sale when Lowes was closing them out) when gluing up multiple 9' long bench segments. Pipe clamps are flexible in length, BUT they're also heavy pigs that don't have much reach. Mine are exiled to an out of the way corner, to be called upon when I need a clamp longer than 50", which is pretty rare.

With that said, one thing I would recommend that I don't recall Miller addressign is having a at least one, if not a pair of 36", 24", 18" and 12" one handed clamps. These longer one handers are invaluable for getting a clamp on larger workpieces where you have to hold something in place with one hand while trying to apply the clamp, all when you're working alone. Once you have the one handed clamp on, THEN you can come back in and put a proper pipe/bar/parallel clamp on using both hands, repeat as necessary. Note that I like getting clamps in pairs.

One thing I thought was sadly ironic about the article is almost all of the clamps picture looked to be Pony. :(