clamps

[Brandon Speaks]

So my previous wood working required minimal clamps, I had dewalt about half a dozen dewalt quick clamps in 12-18 inch and a few 36 inch and a few little ones. I also have a pair of dewalt bar clamps in 12 and a pair in 24.

I am realizing that for furniture glue ups I am really in need of some more clamps (was wanting to glue up 4 laminated bench legs last night and really would have needed more to do this).

I know sizes will vary a lot by project and I will need a variety, so I guess my question comes down to type / brand. My instinct is to go to harbor freight and get a decent assortment bar clamps for a reasonable price so I am covered for what I need, then as I add more slowly I will get better brands. Are the HF ones usable enough for this to be a good approach or would I be better off with a smaller number of better ones?

If getting better ones HD has dewalt and Norther tool has bessy for similar price, HD also has parallel clamps but the cost is much much higher. Rockler and Amazon seem to have similar pricing but Rockler is a bit of a drive.

[Daniel O'Connell]

I've heard nothing but good things about HF's clamps, especially the aluminum tube style bar clamps.

That said, my entire clamp collection, saving one Bessey Parallel and a handful of irwin quick clamps, are second hand pipe and older cast iron I-Beam clamps. The i-beam clamps are easily my favorite and it appears Wilton Hargrave still makes them, although at a premium over HF.

The old adage that you cannot have enough clamps seems correct to me. Buy the HF ones you need right now, buy better ones if you find a sale, keep an eye on flea markets and used sources for quality older clamps and eventually you'll have a few hundred and brand just won't matter.

[Lonnie Gallaher]

I think HF F-style clamps are the best deal going. One thing to watch for. Make sure the hole for the screw is drilled and tapped straight and not at an angle to the clamp.

[Jim Koepke]

One thing to consider is pipe clamps. This allows one to change the "backbone" when different sizes are needed.

A quick consult with Dr. Google indicates Lowes carries a model made by Irwin using a method of attachment not requiring one end of the pipe to be threaded. This would be handy if you need to make a lot of 2' clamps from an 8' length of pipe and do not have a pipe threading die.

jtk

[andy bessette]

Jorgensen Pony clamps are the best for the work I do. Pipe clamps are too heavy, bulky and cumbersome.

[Robert Hazelwood]

Face laminating requires lots of clamps. I think I used 18 bar clamps to glue up each of my bench top slabs, and a few more wouldn't have hurt.

So far I have made do with F clamps. Most are 24" Bessey or Irwin from the big box store, the medium duty ones. These do the job, but they are nothing special for the price. I would consider the HF F-clamps instead of these if I were starting over.

It is nice to have a few clamps that have a wide throat. I have a pair of HF welding clamps- they are kind of a beefed up F clamp with a copper clad screw, and have maybe a 7" throat. These get used a lot, especially for clamping things to the bench.

I also have a set of 4 el-cheapo 12" long f-clamps from Woodcraft, that I bought for $10 or something since they were left over from a black friday sale. These are not great clamps, really- the jaws are too loose on the bar, so it's tricky to get them set with one hand - but for some reason I find myself using these all the time. They are just light and handy.

The 12" and 24" clamps seem to cover 95% of my needs. I have a few long F-clamps (36", 48") but they are light duty and can't provide much force. They aren't completely useless, but close. I would spend the money for at least the heavy duty F-clamps in anything over 24" lengths. The medium duty are fine for anything I've needed with the shorter ones.

For applying a lot of force over long distances it's tough to beat 3/4" pipe clamps. They are heavy and awkward, though. Ratchet straps can be useful in these situations as well. You can even use a good low-stretch (i.e. not nylon) rope and a windlass.

For smaller clamps, the little Pony 1.5" c-clamps are nice to have, along with spring clamps. Another occasionally useful type are the vise-grip c-clamps, particularly when you need to clamp and unclamp repeatedly- the HF versions of these are pretty good.


For more specialized clamps, I have gotten a lot of use out of the veritas 4-way picture frame clamps for any sort of mitered frame or box.

[Nathan Johnson]

I needed clamps to build my bench and went to HF.
Got a bunch of the aluminum bar clamps...creating a wood insert is a requirement...they twist like an empty soda can. I also super glued plywood pads on them. I think for a big, heavy glue up you want something more substantial at least to supplement these.
I also grabbed some of their f clamps. Some are better than others, not sure why. Two of my 24 inch ones will twist and bend as they are tightened. Others don't.

I grabbed 3 of the Bessey 1/2 inch pipe clamps with a Xmas gift card. Ordered galvanized threaded pipe from Amazon for half the price HD is charging.

[Jim Koepke]

For applying a lot of force over long distances it's tough to beat 3/4" pipe clamps. They are heavy and awkward, though.

One essential for making many types of clamps less awkward is to set them up before hand with a dry run.

Having all the clamps ready before spreading any glue will make things go much better.

jtk

[Daniel O'Connell]

One essential for making many types of clamps less awkward is to set them up before hand with a dry run.

Having all the clamps ready before spreading any glue will make things go much better.

jtk

Thats one of my favorite things about the cast iron ibeam clamps. They produce a lot of force and they are stable and won't roll like pipe clamps* if you are gluing something larger than your bench. For face laminations I generally build a base of 4-6 ibeam clamps to get the heart of the beast secure and then use pipe clamps to cover every inch.

*Yes, yes I know you can fabricate v-blocks to set the pipe clamps in, but thats just another little thing for me to lose

[Jim Koepke]

*Yes, yes I know you can fabricate v-blocks to set the pipe clamps in, but thats just another little thing for me to lose

Instead of v-blocks drill an appropriate sized hole in small blocks of wood and store them on the pipe clamps. They will not get lost.

If they are sized correctly one can be held in place near the head of the clamp with a small drop of epoxy.

jtk

[Daniel O'Connell]

Interesting, hadn't thought of that, thanks!

[Pat Barry]

Instead of v-blocks drill an appropriate sized hole in small blocks of wood and store them on the pipe clamps. They will not get lost.

If they are sized correctly one can be held in place near the head of the clamp with a small drop of epoxy.

jtk
This is a very good tip!

[Patrick Chase]

FWIW my favorite long clamps are the Dubuque aluminum channel ones. Lee Richmond (thebestthings.com) has good prices on sets of 4 and 10 (http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/uniclamps.htm), drop-shipped from the factory. The HF clones are about half the price, but I've had marginal experiences with their stuff and am willing to pay double for the US-made Dubuques. They're almost completely replaced pipe clamps and steel bar clamps in my collection due to the huge weight difference. I keep heads, pipes, and couplings on hand for when I need very long clamps, though.

For stuff that requires more depth I use a combination of Bessey Revos and long F-clamps (mostly Bessey Tradesman and the "heavy duty" ones from LV). Be aware that the Besseys have been discontinued and that an improved design is coming out shortly, though.

[Frederick Skelly]

FWIW my favorite long clamps are the Dubuque aluminum channel ones. Lee Richmond (thebestthings.com) has good prices on sets of 4 and 10 (http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/uniclamps.htm), drop-shipped from the factory. The HF clones are about half the price, but I've had marginal experiences with their stuff and am willing to pay double for the US-made Dubuques. They're almost completely replaced pipe clamps and steel bar clamps in my collection due to the huge weight difference. I keep heads, pipes, and couplings on hand for when I need very long clamps, though.

For stuff that requires more depth I use a combination of Bessey Revos and long F-clamps (mostly Bessey Tradesman and the "heavy duty" ones from LV). Be aware that the Besseys have been discontinued and that an improved design is coming out shortly, though.

I strongly agree. If you can afford the Dubuques, you won't regret it - I love mine. I bought mine from Lee too. Good guy to deal with.

If you buy the HF bar clamps, you can improve them by inserting a piece of hardwood down the center of the bar. Google it.

Good luck!
Fred

[Mike Holbrook]

If I had it to do it over I would buy the Dubuques as well. I bought a bunch of Bessey Revo Jr. clamps that Highland Woodworking ran a special on. I have learned to dislike those clamps! They are frustrating to coax into sliding up or down, some much more than others. The plastic caps over the faces split into pieces and then fall off. Without the caps they are practically useless. I talked to Highland, they sent me to Bessey. Bessey said they had no plans to offer replacements for the caps and did not want to take back a couple that I felt were just defective. Every time I use them I consider tossing them all in the trash and starting over. I have a few regular Besseys which I used for years with only minor issues. I bought the smaller clamps because I wanted something lighter. The regular Besseys worked well, but tended to slide up & down too easily, which is why I thought the slower sliding smaller clamps might be an improvement.

[ken hatch]

Add one more agreement with Patrick. The Dubugue aluminum clamps are worth the difference in price vs. HF. I've no experience with the HF "F" clamps but in life, if you are lucky, you get what you pay for. Someone's tag line is "life is to short to use used sandpaper", I'll change that to life is too short to use tool shaped objects.

ken

P.S. With good technique and methods the number of clamps needed isn't that great. As an example; I can build a table with no clamps. The base will not need any clamps because I usually draw bore the base together. For the top some scrap wood and wedges will work. I will admit I usually use clamps because I own some but even then usually no more than four. Fewer clamps means better clamps become affordable.

[Matt Evans]

One thing to consider is pipe clamps. This allows one to change the "backbone" when different sizes are needed.

A quick consult with Dr. Google indicates Lowes carries a model made by Irwin using a method of attachment not requiring one end of the pipe to be threaded. This would be handy if you need to make a lot of 2' clamps from an 8' length of pipe and do not have a pipe threading die.

jtk

I have had those clamps and returned them very quickly. It seems like a fantastic idea, but the execution was not done very well. The head end just doesn't truly stay put unless you hold it in place with one hand while trying to adjust the other end.

[Jim Koepke]

I have had those clamps and returned them very quickly. It seems like a fantastic idea, but the execution was not done very well. The head end just doesn't truly stay put unless you hold it in place with one hand while trying to adjust the other end.

My comment on the Irwin clamps was made before having used or seen them. They popped up in a search for pipe clamps using Google. Stopped in at a Lowes yesterday to take a look. My skepticism is now confirmed by your comments.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

Add one more agreement with Patrick. The Dubugue aluminum clamps are worth the difference in price vs. HF. I've no experience with the HF "F" clamps but in life, if you are lucky, you get what you pay for. Someone's tag line is "life is to short to use used sandpaper", I'll change that to life is too short to use tool shaped objects..

I probably made too much of the "US made" part. I've worked for multiple employers that produce quality stuff in China. Apple is a well-known example as well.

The catch is that if you want quality you have to pay for it no matter where it's made. If you look at companies that do produce quality good in China, they maintain very close control of their supply chains and manufacturing from end to end. They build up their own suppliers and factories, and embed trusted and knowledgeable employees (people who work for them, not the supplier) at every important step. Apple does this, my employers did this.

By contrast HF acts as more of an importer. As I understand it they procure what they want to sell from the wares of the vast ocean of existing rock-bottom-cost suppliers, and then slap a "Pittsburgh" or "Central Machinery" label on it. That's how you end up with "single use tools" (if you're lucky).

[Andrew Seemann]

I got a bunch of what were called "Columbia" F clamps on clearance at Woodcraft a dozen years ago, which looked almost exactly like the cheap Harbor Freight ones that I had. I tend to use them the most. Also have a bunch of 1/2 Pony pipe clamps, a dozen bar clamps, Jorgensen clamps, and a mess of C clamps.

The F clamps were the the cheapest, but I use them them most. There are certainly better made clamps, but these are good enough, and I'd rather have enough good enough clamps than not enough better clamps.

[Joe A Faulkner]

...
P.S. With good technique and methods the number of clamps needed isn't that great. As an example; I can build a table with no clamps. The base will not need any clamps because I usually draw bore the base together. For the top some scrap wood and wedges will work. I will admit I usually use clamps because I own some but even then usually no more than four. Fewer clamps means better clamps become affordable.

I'd add that with proper technique, the clamping strength/pressure you need isn't that great either. If things are square and fit well, you shouldn't need the strength of i-beam or 3/4 pipe to pull things together. I noted that "The Best Things" comment on the Dubuque clamps speaks to this:



"If you need any more clamping force than these clamps can provide, which is about 1000 pounds, then you need to go back and fit your work better, or you will be setting up internal stresses in your work that will cause problems down the road."

[Frederick Skelly]

I'd add that with proper technique, the clamping strength/pressure you need isn't that great either. If things are square and fit well, you shouldn't need the strength of i-beam or 3/4 pipe to pull things together. I noted that "The Best Things" comment on the Dubuque clamps speaks to this:



"If you need any more clamping force than these clamps can provide, which is about 1000 pounds, then you need to go back and fit your work better, or you will be setting up internal stresses in your work that will cause problems down the road."




Here! Here! I've always felt that way (but there are people who strongly disagree with that viewpoint.)

[Patrick Chase]

Here! Here! I've always felt that way (but there are people who strongly disagree with that viewpoint.)

While I agree with the spirit of Lee's remark, I think that there are valid applications for heavier clamps.

It's actually straightforward: The glue manufacturers recommend clamping pressures (in PSI) based on balancing joint closure with the potential for squeeze-out and resulting starvation. They do so under the assumption of perfectly matching parts. For example, for PVA glues the recommended pressures are on the order of 100-200 psi.

If you find yourself having to use more pressure than that then (and as Lee says) you're probably compensating for a badly fit joint, and the right thing to do is to fix that rather than use bigger clamps.

The complication comes when we try to go from pressure to clamping force. If you're gluing up a 4" thick benchtop, then in order to achieve 200 psi you would need a pair (top and bottom) of 1000 lbf clamps for every 2.5" of bench length. In that specific instance a beefier clamp might be more appropriate and convenient to use, provided that your work + cauls are thick enough to uniformly distribute that much load. On the other hand you don't need a perfect glue joint with 2 kpsi of strength for a glue-up with that much surface area, so coming in low with the clamping pressure wouldn't be the end of the world and the Dubuques would be perfectly fine anyway. You could probably rub that sort of joint together and be fine.

[glenn bradley]

Well Brandon, here you have a wonderful example of all the differing opinions based on what sort of clamping one does. Good info on actual recommended clamping pressure and properly fitting joinery as well. When asking what clamps to buy, our old friend "it depends" reigns supreme. The value of a specific clamp will be directly proportional to what you want to clamp and how but, we've got to start somewhere.

For me, with the exception of Bessey Mighty-Minis, the f-style clamps get used the least. Due to the scale of my pieces (dressers, curio cabinets, hutches, office furniture) and the fact that my methods are to glue-up sub-assemblies (I'm a one man operation) my 'most used' clamp is the Bessey Uniklamp in various lengths. These become fairly useless for anything requiring glue manufacturer recommended force once you get past about 18" in length but, I have a half a dozen or more in 6", 8" (I cut these down myself), 12" and 18". Watch for them on Amazon or at specialty shops like Rockler and you can catch some deals. I see 24" ones get blown out often enough (due to them being too light weight at that length I imagine) and just cut them down.

As the sub-assemblies become assemblies, I switch to Bessey K-Bodys and this is where a lot of discussion starts for parallel clamp users. I found that I kept running out of 24" clamps and so just started picking up a 24" k-body anytime I saw them for a dollar an inch or better. I did this till I stopped running out of them and now probably have too many :o. I have K-bodys, Groz knock-offs, Jets, Baileys, etc. in various lengths but, prefer the K-bodys. Other folks prefer others.

For long stuff I have a few parallel clamps of 50-odd inch lengths but, like a lot of folks, rely primarily on pipe clamps for long clamping jobs. Even on large pieces I rarely need more than a half a dozen clamps that reach in excess of 60".

Beyond this I have the usual collection of corner, strap, face frame, deep reach, aluminum, Jorgie f-style, Kant-twist, c-clamp and other odds and ends. Remember that every clamp you buy will have to be stored. I find that this keeps me from buying any more at some point . . . well mostly anyway :)

P.s. If you are an I-beam clamp fan Bessey has gone to market with these (https://www.homedepot.com/p/BESSEY-7000-lbs-Load-Capacity-48-in-Heavy-Duty-Industrial-Bar-Clamp-IBEAM48/301712088) following the demise of Jorgensen.

[Jeff Ranck]

FWIW my favorite long clamps are the Dubuque aluminum channel ones.

These are what I've had my eye on. I have a bunch of aluminum bar clamps from Rockler. They are the most frustrating clamps I own. I only use them as the clamp of last resort as they bind, flex and are all around frustrating to use. They just sit in the corner getting in the way and I'm going to recycle them and purchase the ones from Dubuque. Now if I could only figure out what lengths I want.

[John C Cox]

I needed clamps to build my bench and went to HF.
Got a bunch of the aluminum bar clamps...creating a wood insert is a requirement...they twist like an empty soda can. I also super glued plywood pads on them. I think for a big, heavy glue up you want something more substantial at least to supplement these.
I also grabbed some of their f clamps. Some are better than others, not sure why. Two of my 24 inch ones will twist and bend as they are tightened. Others don't.

This mirrored my results with HF clamps as well....

My advice is:
Buy one or 2 and use them. If they work as well as a Bessey or Jorgensen, awesome.. Buy some more.... If you are not happy with them - you don't have a big stack of bent, twisty, and out of square clamps..

[jack duren]

Is the rail on the bessey and Jorgensen the same on there I-beams?
s
Is it a fact that the Dubugue aluminum clamps are or work better than the others like Jorgensen,bessey and other makers of aluminum sash clamps?

[Patrick Chase]

Is the rail on the bessey and Jorgensen the same on there I-beams?
s
Is it a fact that the Dubugue aluminum clamps are or work better than the others like Jorgensen,bessey and other makers of aluminum sash clamps?

I have a couple Jorgensen aluminum clamps, and the Dubuques feel as though they have thicker channel walls, but not a huge difference. I'll measure tonight when I get home to confirm. No idea about Bessey. Aluminum is more expensive than steel, and HF is all about saving money, so you can make a pretty accurate guess as to how beefy those clamps aren't :-).

Jorgensen is no more. They went out of business a couple years ago IIRC.

[jack duren]

It's not really whether there thicker, but how they perform. Those cheap aluminum clamp from HF and Ebay don't perform well under pressure. I bought a few in mid 2000 and there still sitting there drawing dust...

Jorgensen will be around a long time. I just put 20 gear clamps up for sale...

[Patrick Chase]

It's not really whether there thicker, but how they perform.

Absolutely, but in this specific instance the performance has a lot to do with the wall thickness (and profile, of course).