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
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
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...?
Please Pick One of the Following:
Built Correctly & Within Budget / Within Budget & Done Quickly / Done Quickly & Built Correctly
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.
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
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/b...=G5evcsEY#cart
Not a lot there for Neaderthals, but the Dubuque clamp prices are the best I've found.
Fair winds and following seas,
Jim Waldron
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.
Awesome, James! I hadn't seen this site before. Great price.
Please Pick One of the Following:
Built Correctly & Within Budget / Within Budget & Done Quickly / Done Quickly & Built Correctly