Old clamps

[Chris Fairbanks]

I am in the middle of a major redesign/reorg of my 3 car garage which is used fully for a shop except parking my weekend car in here when I am not in the middle of a big project. My goal is better workflow and more space in the shop to work as I am going to start a major house remodel including building all of the kitchen and bath cabinets myself. With that said tonight I got most of my Bessy K body (original style) clamps mounted. I have pretty much every size they made when they were produced and rarely use anything else. I have some cheapy plastic spring clamps I am keeping along with 2 x 3/4” pipe clamps. My question is a have a random assortment of those quick clamp bar clamps. I don’t think I have used one in a long time but I know the second I get rid of them I’ll wish I kept a few. Do you see any need to keep these type of clamps around. I really want to make some space in the garage but not at the cost of something I “may” need :(.

[Jamie Buxton]

I have a storage spot away from the shop which is where the tools I don't use very often go. If I do need them, I can make the trek. Where would you have such a storage spot? In a shed in the yard? In the attic or basement? In the Bay Area, there's a fair chance you have something like a crawl space?

[Larry Frank]

I use the Quik Grip clamps all the time. I have the Bessey but they are heavy and awkward and do not use them unless I need really strong clamping force.

Just ship the Quik Grip to me!

[Brian W Evans]

I use my quick grip clamps all the time as well. I use mostly the small ones, like 6-8", but sometimes the big ones. I mostly use them to hold things temporarily in place - spacers for shelves or drawer slides, clamping blocks, etc. They are surprisingly expensive. I wouldn't get rid of them. Instead, hang them up high or put them somewhere else, as Larry suggested.

[Charles Taylor]

I use my quick-grips often, mostly to hold something to the workbench/work table temporarily, and I use my K-bodies for most assembly tasks. I'm growing a collection of handscrew clamps, however, to use in some circumstances where I might otherwise use my shorter K-bodies or my small inventory of lighter-weight bar clamps, or when I need better holding power than the quick-grips.

It's my collection of C-clamps that never seems to get much use. They stay in a bin in the bottom of a storage cabinet, except for a few that do manage to find occasional work here and there in the shop.

[Jim Becker]

I use that type of clamp frequently for utility in my shop...no way would I get rid of them. It's easy to make a simple rack to clamp them to, especially this type...two pieces of scrap wood or plywood joined as an "L" and screwed to the wall. Tighten the clamp on the protruding rack, lining them up in a row.

[Lee Schierer]

Hang a 2 x 2 horizontal on a wall and clamp them to it. You can get a lot of clamps in 16 inches of wall space.

[glenn bradley]

As you can see there are those who use these a lot and those that don't. Like you, I rarely used them. I got rid of all but a few of each type because I just knew if I let them go, I would want them. It may be pathological since I have used a couple of them maybe once in the last 10 years but, still let them take up space.

[John Jardin]

Chris,
Like you, I too have a lot of Bessey K body clamps and use them often. however, my quick grip clamps are used by me daily. They take up little space after I designed a nice mounting block and attached them to this cabinet. Like Larry said, if you don't want them, ship them to him...better yet, send them to me. One never has enough clamps. (sorry for the wrong pic direction - still trying to get it right)

437396

[Ron Citerone]

You can always have too few clamps! 🤪

[BOB OLINGER]

I use these style (as well as pipe clamps) all the time. Chris, if you want to get rid of them, I'll pay the UPS shipping :)

[Ralph Okonieski]

My quick clamps are used daily when I’m in the shop, at least the small ones. The longer ones are mostly used when dry fitting components together. Not sure of my processes if these type clamps were not available to me.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have been slammed with work this week and forgot about this thread. You have convinced me to keep them put I need to find a place to mount them. I don’t have anywhere else to keep them besides in the shop and most wall space is already claimed. I’ll figure something out. I’ll post some updated pictures once I am done. Thanks!

[lowell holmes]

I have a high shelf at the back of my garage to store stuff on. My clamps are clamped to the front of it.

[Ron Citerone]

I screwed metal floor flanges onto my garage ceiling with iron pipe between them. Then I laid my longer clamps up there to keep them out of the way.