Clamps,Clamps, Clamps, whats the difference?

[Maurice Metzger]

LOL, that's a great thread ender.

[Reo Fendel]

No rule of thumb, in IMO, you use whatcha got. Some styles are better than others for specific applications, but when I got started, I got a dozen or so Pony 3/4" pipe clamp sets, plus a buncha black pipe at different lengths from 24" to 96". $$ was the main driver. With a good set of cauls (do a search here - you'll see a lot of good info on making your own, and a coupla food fights) the pipe clamps did me well in everything, including repro Stickley bookcases.

I'm with you. I've had 4 fourty inch K Body parallels & they've sat in the corner of my shop for twenty some years gathering cob webs. 1500 lbs of pressure?? ...with wooden handles? Give me a break (or a broken hand). The Pony 3/4" pipes are THE ones I always go to when you need to crank with a lot less effort. And with cauls and good joints, they're every bit as square as any parallel. At fifty bucks a pop for the K Bodies, you can have 4 Ponys at any length, and much better leverage. Go with Wetzler or Hartford if you need heavy duty F clamps, they can't be beat.

[Rick Fisher]

K-Body Clamps are IMO the top of the food chain. I own a bunch of Bessy's but also own 2 x yellow Stanleys.. The Stanley's are cheap knock off's but awesome as well.

Jorgies, Jets.. They are the full sized pickup of the hand clamp.. All good stuff

[Dave Cav]

The best advice I can give is to have a lot of them. I just counted; I have 57 pipe/bar clamps (53 mixed Harbor Freight, Jorgy, Sears, no brand..., 2 48" K bodies I got with a router on CL and 2 old school I beam clamps), about 3 dozen F clamps (mostly H.F. dark blue but a few Jorgy), about 2 dozen C clamps, a half dozen wood handscrews and about 2 or 3 dozen spring clamps. They all get used in one way or another, and sometimes I run out or low on F clamps and have to improvise.

Yeah, some of the high end/heavy duty I beam clamps will give you 1000 pounds of clamping force, but, generally speaking, If you need 1000 pounds of clamping force, you're doing something wrong.

[Mike Heidrick]

Clamp Porn

[Lonnie Gallaher]

I just watched a video by William Ng. I was surprised to see that most of the clamps used were the blue Harbor Freight F-clamps. I am also surprised when I watch some videos and see nothing but brand new tools. It causes me to wonder if the presenter has ever used the tools other than to do the video.

I come from a steel fabrication back ground where having a clamp that will pull over a 1000 pounds is essential, but in woodworking it is not. A lot of my clamps come from my steel fabrication days with many more from yard sales and thrift stores, a few came from HD when they still sold Jorgies, but now the main stay is best deal in town - the lowly Harbor Freight clamp.

A word of caution to those who buy HF clamps, they need to be inspected before purchase. Make sure the castings are accurate and symmetrical and that the screw hole is drilled straight and true to the clamp axis. I always close the clamps after use so that the plastic pads do not come off and get lost. HF does not have replacements available.

[Mark Walden]

Quality clamps have Acme threads on them. Look at the tops of the threads if they are flat the is Acme, if the are pointed that is standard threads. The standard threads are faster and cheaper to make,
but the points wear off quickly and you get a lot of play in the handle.
Mark Walden