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View Full Version : Jorgensen vs Dubuque Aluminum clamps



Patrick Chase
02-13-2018, 1:02 PM
Somebody asked in the "clamps" thread how the Dubuque aluminum clamps compare to the Jorgensen version. I replied that the Dubuques seemed stiffer and more heavily built. I've had a chance to measure now, and the Dubuques are indeed signficantly heavier in all relevant respects.

The Dubuques have 0.125" walls, vs 0.85" wall thickness in the Jorgensen. This is probably why the Dubuques are much more resistant to twisting.
The Dubuques have 0.096" deep detents to lock the moving head in position, vs 0.042" in Jorgensen. The steel part that engages the detent is also correspondingly beefier on the Dubuque. IMO this may be the most significant practical difference of all, as those detents handle the most concentrated point loads in the entire design.
The Dubuques have noticeably beefier heads/screws/rivets/etc in the fixed part.

As a mechanical engineer I would guesstimate that the Dubuques can reliably handle at least double the load, and probably more. The Aluminum bars in either can handle O(thousands) of lbf in tension, so the fittings (and particularly those stops/detents) will be the practical limiter, and Dubuque has big advantages there.

As always, you get what you pay for. I think that the HF and (to a much lesser extent) Jorgensen clamps are why some people are skeptical of Aluminum bar clamps for heavy work. The Dubuques are in an entirely different league, and I don't hesitate to load the living daylights out of mine.

ken hatch
02-13-2018, 4:38 PM
Patrick,

No experience with Jorgensen but there are a couple or three HF in the junk pile, not good enough to give away, and you are correct about the Dubuque’s being very good.

ken

Ralph Boumenot
02-13-2018, 6:15 PM
I have the Dubuques and I agree with you. The only quibble I have with them is the butterfly screw. When they are close together they hit each other so you have to offset them. A sliding bar in place of the butterfly would eliminate that.

Chet R Parks
02-13-2018, 6:53 PM
Ralph,
I don't have any Dubuque clamps but I'm thinking about it. Would it be possible to cut the wings off the butterfly screw, drill a hole in the hub and insert a sliding rod? I'm just asking, not suggesting.
Chet

Patrick Chase
02-13-2018, 7:45 PM
Ralph,
I don't have any Dubuque clamps but I'm thinking about it. Would it be possible to cut the wings off the butterfly screw, drill a hole in the hub and insert a sliding rod? I'm just asking, not suggesting.
Chet

Or just hack the butterfly off. The screw has 1-3/8" of travel, with 19/32" of shaft exposed between the nut and the butterfly when the screw is all the way in (almost 3" exposed when out). You could cut the butterfly off and still have enough shaft length left to drill for a rod, or accept a brazed-on extension if you have mad skillz and want to get fancy. For that matter the Jorgensen only has about 1/2" of shaft exposed when all the way in, so you'd end up with a similar configuration.

In addition the notches on the bar are spaced by 5/8", so the 1-3/8" screw travel is overkill for most work. You only need ~7/8" of travel to be able to reach every possible clamping position along the bar's length, unless whatever you're clamping is highly compressible.

Chet R Parks
02-13-2018, 8:00 PM
Good idea, thanks Patrick

Simon MacGowen
02-14-2018, 11:05 AM
I have the Dubuques and I agree with you. The only quibble I have with them is the butterfly screw. When they are close together they hit each other so you have to offset them. A sliding bar in place of the butterfly would eliminate that.

I have a decent collection of Dubuques collection, replacing all my previous HF sort of cheapos (not wanting to spend time beefing up them with Paul Sellers' method). I've not come across a glue-up that the butterfly screws would get in the way with each other. I certainly do not want to modify any of my clamps in any way as I plan to sell them in their original design when I hang up my woodworking boots.

So if the screws are in each other's way, I would use a spacer block on one of the clamps to keep the screws from hitting themselves.

Simon

Ralph Boumenot
02-14-2018, 12:47 PM
Yes that is a possibility and I have thought of doing it but haven't.

Simon MacGowen
02-14-2018, 6:28 PM
Pat Barry: Wood magazine rated the Jorgensens as 4.8 out of 5, better than the Dubuque.



It is the other way around:

https://www.woodmagazine.com/review/clamps/bar-pipe-clamps/dubuque-universal-aluminum-bar-clamps
https://www.woodmagazine.com/review/clamps/bar-pipe-clamps/jorgensen-aluminum-bar-clamps

Simon

Ted Phillips
02-15-2018, 11:06 AM
I'm a big fan of the Dubuque clamps. Have bought quite a few over the years - and have the same complaint about the butterfly screws banging into each other. I have never taken the time to solve the problem...

On another note: Has anyone tried Paul Seller's suggestion (https://paulsellers.com/2011/11/4473/) to add a wooden spine inside the aluminum bar? I have fitted a couple of my clamps out with 1x2 strips of pine. It gives them a lot more stiffness and not much additional weight. This modification allows me to clamp the bar in my bench's face clamp without any risk of damaging the clamp bar. Gives you several very handy work holding options.

TedP

Pat Barry
02-15-2018, 12:47 PM
Pat Barry: Wood magazine rated the Jorgensens as 4.8 out of 5, better than the Dubuque.



It is the other way around:

https://www.woodmagazine.com/review/clamps/bar-pipe-clamps/dubuque-universal-aluminum-bar-clamps
https://www.woodmagazine.com/review/clamps/bar-pipe-clamps/jorgensen-aluminum-bar-clamps

Simon
You probably didn't see that I deleted my post having found the same info.

glenn bradley
02-15-2018, 1:09 PM
Go with the Debuques. The HF's fortified work but, The bother versus just buying a superior product is questionable. I glued up some long scrap strips and milled them to fit.
379156 . 379157 . 379158

Definite improvement but, the weight removes one of the main reasons for using aluminum clamps in the first place. Not surprisingly, these get used almost never.

Pat Barry
02-15-2018, 2:37 PM
Go with the Debuques. The HF's fortified work but, The bother versus just buying a superior product is questionable. I glued up some long scrap strips and milled them to fit.
379156 . 379157 . 379158

Definite improvement but, the weight removes one of the main reasons for using aluminum clamps in the first place. Not surprisingly, these get used almost never.
It seems pretty stupid that you have to "fix" a clamp that is being touted as being superior. If anything, what you have identified is a a huge deficiency of these clamps.

Nathan Johnson
02-15-2018, 2:59 PM
It seems pretty stupid that you have to "fix" a clamp that is being touted as being superior. If anything, what you have identified is a a huge deficiency of these clamps.

Those are photos of the Harbor Freight cheapies.

Pat Barry
02-15-2018, 3:06 PM
Those are photos of the Harbor Freight cheapies.

Sorry then, I guess it wasn't obvious enough for me :)

James Pallas
02-15-2018, 3:17 PM
I bought 4 Debuques a couple of years ago and they have become my go to's for most work. When I need more I have to use some from the pile. I would buy more but presently can't justify it because I own so many others.
Jim

Nathan Johnson
02-15-2018, 3:21 PM
Sorry then, I guess it wasn't obvious enough for me :)

I only knew because I have them and went through the same process. :)

Patrick Chase
02-15-2018, 4:45 PM
Sorry then, I guess it wasn't obvious enough for me :)

Dubuques are all grey, Jorgensen/Pony have orange fittings, HF are grey with light[er] blue fittings, Irwins have darker blue fittings, Bessey have red and/or black fittings, etc.

Patrick Chase
02-15-2018, 4:47 PM
Go with the Debuques. The HF's fortified work but, The bother versus just buying a superior product is questionable. I glued up some long scrap strips and milled them to fit.

What's the Aluminum wall thickness on those HF clamps?

Jake Rothermel
02-17-2018, 11:20 PM
Man, the timing of this forum is sometimes just straight-up UNCANNY. I've been debating for a little while now if investing in *dollars* for some Dubuque clamps (how the heck do you pronounce that name? "Doo-Book"..."Dew-Beek?") was a better choice than investing in *time* for the Pittsburgh (HF) clamps and Paul Sellers-ing them to make them work. I'm very limited in Shop Funds these days so saving some money by spending more time is usually the more attractive option but there's only so far even I'm willing to go before it becomes just easier (and better) to save up and buy better-quality tools to begin with.

Glenn, did you find using a hardwood versus pine at all worth it, in terms of strength/stability? I imagine those were scraps...?

Curt Harms
02-18-2018, 7:54 AM
(how the heck do you pronounce that name? "Doo-Book"..."Dew-Beek?")

I grew up not far from there. We always pronounced it "Da-Bewk". The city was named for a Julien Dubuque, a Quebecois settler according to Wikipedia.

Tony Zaffuto
02-18-2018, 11:31 AM
Had some Jorgy's. Have a lot of the Dubuques. Dubuques better made, butterfly nut doesn't bother me, but sliding bar on Jorgies did-bent easy if you slightly over tighten. Have looked at HF and Rockler, with the latterappearing well made, but costlier than the Dubuques. The HF? Felt very flimsy.

glenn bradley
02-18-2018, 12:56 PM
Glenn, did you find using a hardwood versus pine at all worth it, in terms of strength/stability? I imagine those were scraps...?

My bad; see below.


It seems pretty stupid that you have to "fix" a clamp that is being touted as being superior. If anything, what you have identified is a a huge deficiency of these clamps.

I obviously wasn't clear. I should have said "and milled them to fit the Harbor Freight clamps" or something like that. The ones being fixed are the Harbor Freight cheap-o's. The Debuques do not require this.

Normand Leblanc
02-18-2018, 10:53 PM
I grew up not far from there. We always pronounced it "Da-Bewk". The city was named for a Julien Dubuque, a Quebecois settler according to Wikipedia.

I'm from Québec and in French it's very easy to pronounce. Here was have lots of Dubuc but I don't remember any Dubuque.

I own a bunch of those Dubuque clamps and they must see 80% of all my clamping needs. Love the weight.

joe maday
02-19-2018, 2:31 AM
And let's not forget...The Universal Bar Clamps are made by Dubuque Clamp Works, here in the USA! Get them from "Tools for Working Wood" or "The Best Things" and support a USA dealer.

James Waldron
02-19-2018, 12:20 PM
And let's not forget...The Universal Bar Clamps are made by Dubuque Clamp Works, here in the USA! Get them from "Tools for Working Wood" or "The Best Things" and support a USA dealer.

Or, if you shop by price, you may want to check the prices at Coastal Tool, in Connecticut:
http://www.coastaltool.com/dubuque/bar-clamp.html?id=G5evcsEY#cart

Not a lot there for Neaderthals, but the Dubuque clamp prices are the best I've found.

Ted Phillips
02-19-2018, 4:09 PM
My bad; see below.



I obviously wasn't clear. I should have said "and milled them to fit the Harbor Freight clamps" or something like that. The ones being fixed are the Harbor Freight cheap-o's. The Debuques do not require this.


I agree - the DeBuques don't require the wood inserts - they are plenty robust. However, if you are going to be clamping your Debuques in your face vice like Paul Sellers, then the wood keeps the aluminum (or "aluminium" as the Brits call it!) from deforming.

TedP

Patrick Chase
02-19-2018, 4:18 PM
I agree - the DeBuques don't require the wood inserts - they are plenty robust. However, if you are going to be clamping your Debuques in your face vice like Paul Sellers, then the wood keeps the aluminum (or "aluminium" as the Brits call it!) from deforming.

As I noted in the very first post of the thread, the dubuques have 1/8" thick Aluminum walls. They can take at least O(hundreds) of pounds of compressive load distributed over the width of a bench vise jaw, so clamping them is harmless as long as you don't go totally nuts. Also to completely prevent that sort of deformation your wood insert would have to be *exactly* as wide as the channel, which I very much doubt.

The insert trick is more useful to stop large-scale twisting/racking as seen in the HF clamps.

Jake Rothermel
02-20-2018, 1:57 PM
Awesome, James! I hadn't seen this site before. Great price.