You pick which clamps I need

[Rob Will]

If you were starting from scratch,

What type of WW clamps would you buy?
What sizes?
How many?
Who has the best price?
Any deals on complete sets?The intended purpose is for personal / family furniture making and some furniture repair. Not a production shop but some pieces are large. Space is not an issue. Let's use a budget of about $1000. Thanks for your suggestions.

Rob

[Mark Rios]

I've mentioned this a couple of times in other threads, so....sorry for the repetition.

Amazon will price match +10% from other websites and I just bought two sets of Bessey clamps with a price match from Timberline. Timberline either has stopped their sale or run out of some of the clamps but the online ad flyer says that the sale is good through the 31st. They don't have the sets anymore (I don't think) but Amazon didn't even ask when I called so I ended up getting two 2450 large door kits for $95 each. Amazons regular price is $149. These kits come with two 24" and two 50" clamps and four blocks to support the clamps while gluing up cabinet doors.

I'm still an amateur and other real woodworkers will be able to give more and better info I'm sure but the price match deal is pretty good.

I just looked at prices for 12" K-bodies and I see that Amazon has lowered their prices again on the sets that I ordered......suprisingly after I asked them for the price match down to exactly that price. :D Other bessey prices went way down again also. I'm going to check out Woodcraft right now.

Maybe we are in the middle of a clamp price war???? Lucky for us.

[Martin Shupe]

Rob,

Bessey K-bodies, sized depending on your projects.

Amazon has a deal now, as does Rockler.

I have some as small as 12" (actually quite useful), to as long as 98".

The 24's get a lot of use, as do the next size up (I forget how long).

[Allen Bookout]

Rob, I have a set that I feel that is about right for me and sounds like that I am in about the same situation as you.

8 50" Bessey K Bodies
8 24" Bessey K Bodies
12 12" Jorgensen Cabinet Masters
8 24" Jorgensen Heavy Duty Jorgensen bar clamps
8 12" Jorgensen Heavy Duty Jorgensen bar clamps
A few 12" quick grip clamps
Some squeze type clamps plus a few different C clamps
4 3/4" pipe clamps (a few more would not hurt)

Seems to me that it is a well rounded collection for general use but everyone has their special needs. I kind of like the Jorgensens best but the Besseys are also good clamps. Do not have any Cross Stabils but some prefer them. I think that you cannot go wrong with any of the three brands. There are some other good clamps also.

Since I do not need any additional clamps at this time I have not been looking for good deals so am of no help on this issue.

Have fun shopping! Allen

[Dick Parr]

Our Woodcraft has 40% off Bessey's going on right now. Don't know if it is going on at all of them or not.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I can vouch for the Gross Stabil "Scott Phillips" parallel clamps...I bought four of them last summer on sale from somewhere for about the price the K-Body Bessey's have been selling for lately. I've used them a lot and expect to get many more years of work out of them. That said, I just opened up my new set of Bessey K-Bodies (from last week's sale at Timberline) and I'm sure they'll be on par with the Gross Stabils. So far, I've only got four of each brand, in 24, 40 and 50 inch capacities, but for your intended uses I think you'd want more of the long guys than I have. Either brand shows up on sale from time to time, but now's a good one to grab K-Bodies.

I've also got four pipe clamps, so if I need to do something longer than my "good" clamps can hold, I can make them as long as I need. I also agree with Allen's suggestion for some good bar clamps. I have some cheapie bar clamps that are barely worth the shipping I paid for them, and I recommend against wasting your money on cheap clamps. Good pipe clamps and bar clamps can be inexpensive, but they're not cheap. I also get a lot of use out of my Irwin Quick Grip clamps, and my old-school wood handscrew clamps. And don't leave out the C clamps. Here again, don't cheap out, and they'll last forever and give good results.

For a grand, you should be able to buy quite the assortment of quality clamps.

- Vaughn

[Alan Turner]

A fellow I know has some of the new Irwin "F" style bar clamps, and I borrowed a couple a few weeks ago for a large glue-up. They were terriffic. Just ordered a bunch of the 6" size. They also come in lengths up to 36", but I think they are a bit light for the longer lengths, although at 12" they would be fine. By using Froogle, I found them for $8.41 at TylerTool.com, and then asked Woodworkers Supply to price match, and it did. Woodworker.com. These clamps come with the plastic pads of a type which do not introduce oil into the wood, as do some. They seem to be the same material that Bessey uses. The bar is 1/4" by 3/4", so while they are not heavy duty, they seem fine for my purposes at what I think is a good price.
For bar clamps, I like the bessey K-bodies, and also the Hargrave bar clamps, which I manage to find used, at auctions, etc. New, they are a bit spendy.

[Joe Mioux]

Hi Rob:
A starter set for under $1000.....first 4 listings below would be K body Bessey's, the longer ones would be pipe clamps.

Twelve - 12 inch
Eight - 24 inch
Eight - 40 inch
Four - 60 inch
Couple - Longer ones

Buy more as needed.

Wait for the sales, Besseys K's were on sale in Oct at the my local Woodcraft for 40 pct off, I believe Dick mentioned that his local WC have them on sale now. In Oct, I bought some 24's for $21 vs $34 reg and some 40's for for $25 vs $37 reg price ( I am doing this from memory so prices may be off slightly) Anyway they were terrific prices.

Personally, I like the K body Bessey's but there is certainly nothing wrong with having some good old fashioned pipe clamps as well, especially for the longer glue ups. The reason I say this is because you will use the longer ones less, so going with pipe clamps can save you some money. Also, 3/4 inch pipe clamps are strong.

[Frank Pellow]

I finally have what appears to be the right number of clapms for the projercts that I am currently working on and plan to work on in the next 6 months.

4 12" Bessey K-Body

8 25" Bessey K-Body

4 41" Bessey K-Body

2 60" Jorgensen Cabinet Master

2 60" pipe clamps

11 C clamps of various sizes

23 Jorgensen fast acting clamps of various sizes (mostly 4 inch but as long as 36")

8 Assembly braces (see: http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=51101&cat=3,43576)

2 Record Corner clamps

1 Scrooge clamp (see http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=44908&cat=1,43838,47843)

4 Jorgensen wooden clamps with 2 pieces of wood and 2 threaded rods (I am not sure what they are called)

2 sets of Veritas Panel clamps (see: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=31181&cat=1,41637)

Of course, some new project might bring the need for additional clamps of various types.

You can never have too many clmaps!

[Jack Norfleet]

One point, try to get even numbers of each. I had odd numbers of various Besseys and always seem to be one clamp short in the length I am using.

[Jason Sanko]

I bought all mine as needed and I am not done. I would not just go out and spend money on clamps or anything else untill I need ot for a project. $1000 goes a long way and you would be awfull dissapointed to buy a bunch of clamps and then find out you don't have what suits you needs and you have to buy more. Same goes for Router bits to me I buy them as needed.

That said I have K-Blodies 24" (12) and 40" (16) most used sizes, but would like to find some 6 fters (about 4) for something I am working on now. I got my K-bodies differnent places on sale one or two at a time, not done buying them either going to get some 50" also. I started with pipe clamps and still have a bunch, 16 4', 4 5'. Additionally I have an assortment of others I needed at one time or another and still use including little bar clamps, hand screws, quick action irwin single handers 12", some rockler 18" bar clamps, a ton of C-clamps.

[Tom Pritchard]

Rob, I have 4 each of the PSI "Y" clamps, and they are one of my favorite. They used to sell them as a set, but now you would have to buy them seperately. You can see them here:

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/cly.html

They are well made, very useful, and affordable. Good luck on your pursuit!!

[Mark Rios]

Rob, I have 4 each of the PSI "Y" clamps, and they are one of my favorite. They used to sell them as a set, but now you would have to buy them seperately. You can see them here:



Those are really neat Tom. I'm going to look into those.

[Jim Becker]

IMHO, this is an impossible question to answer with any specific authority...the right answer depends upon what kind of projects you do (which you answered somewhat) and what you plan on doing "soon". Although I am a true believer in the parallel jaw clamps (Bessey K-body in my case), it's far more economical to start things off with some pipe clamps for the heavier work. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to make into different sizes. The newer type with the "foot", such as the Irwin or Rockler, also help make panel glue ups easier. Start with a dozen of them with a bunch of assorted lengths of black pipe and some F-clamps, such as the Bessey tradesman or similar. A few Quick-action clamps for quick light "sticking" are also nice. I also like to keep some spring clamps handy for both certain assembly tasks as well as jigging on tools. Once you have a reasonable set of workable clamps, you can start investing in other types as the needs arise and the sales occur. (I bought nearly all of my parallel clamps on sale to save money as they are at the upper end of the cost scale) Since you have a reasonable budget, pick up a few of the parallel type to see if you like them and what brand you prefer before you buy more. (Bessey, Jorgy, Gross Stabil) Rockler had some band clamps on sale recently that are also nice to have for unconventional shapes.

[Mark Rios]

See Jim....thats why you're a moderator. A true voice of experience and wisdom.

[Jim Becker]

See Jim....thats why you're a moderator. A true voice of experience and wisdom.

No, I'm a moderator (of the finishing forum) because I work cheap... ;) LOL!

[Frank Pellow]

No, I'm a moderator (of the finishing forum) because I work cheap... ;) LOL!
That's true Jim, but it is also because you give good advice. :)

[Mark Rios]

HOLD ON NOW FRANK.....I'm doing the sucking up in this thread. You will just have to do yours in another thread.

:D :D :D :D :D Just teasing:D :D :D :D :D

[Rob Will]

Thanks for the input guys. It seems that we have a concensus on Bess or Jorg parallel clamps. There are indeed some deals on these if you buy a set i.e. the Bessey large door set for about $95 -98. Buying a few of these feels right. I also like the heavy Jorgensen I-beam clamps......now there's some "American Iron".

Rob