Need clamps for my new shop..

[Dan Kraakenes]

So, my small 320sqf L-shaped home shop is soon finished, and I need clamps. I have previously just done green woodworking, so this is my first actually place to do 100% dedicated woodworking.. albeit with just hand tools. I own a miter saw, a jigsaw, dust extractor, and dont intend to bring other power tools into the shop.


What types should I get, now that I can start fresh and get 80-90% of the clamps I need.. so I intend to buy in bulk or wait for a sale to get them all.


I would prefer clamps made in the US or Europe. So Dubuqe or Bessey?

Are there certain sizes I should get more of?

[David Buchhauser]

Dan,
I have some of the Dubuque bar clamps as well as some of the Bessey. I suppose it depends on your intended purpose for the clamps. These are both good quality clamps. Some of the Bessey are made in Germany, and some I believe are of Asian manufacture. Of course - the Dubuque clamps are made in USA. I'm sure others will chime in later in the day. The length of the clamps will be determined by the work you intend to use them for.
David

[Ralph Boumenot]

Clamp size is hard to give an answer to not knowing what type of work you do. I would recommend a range from 12" up to 36" to start with. I think 8 of each size as good, 12 is better, and 16 is the best. Of course this number will vary with your needs and work. You can't do any better than Dubuque and Bessey. Maybe F style clamps for the 12" and bar clamps for everything above that.

[Dan Kraakenes]

Any depth of throat you would suggest for the F-Style ones?

[Bradley Gray]

Woodworking is so varied, I think you would do well to buy what you need for projects as needed. You will soon have a pile.

[Justin Rapp]

HomeDepot has a sale right now on a 4 pack (2 12" and 2 6") for $17. For smaller work they are great. I've got a few sets of them and planning on grabbing another set or two today.

[Carl Beckett]

Agree that you wont really know what clamps you like until you build a bunch of stuff. But I will recommend some specifics anyway, knowing this is WRONG because I dont know what you will build, but also knowing specific answers can give a starting point for consideration:

Min 4 of the F-style. Bessey and Jorgensen have sets of 4 that are often on sale. Pick a lenght that will cover what you think you might build. 12" and 24".
Two (or 4) of the 36" jorgensen aluminum channel clamps. Only because I started out with these and use them a lot, to this day.
4 'quick grips' clamps. 6" and 12". These are the plastic 'Vice Grip' clamps that when you squeeze the handle it clamps. Irwin makes a version that can produce quite high clamping forces, which I also like.
6 to 8 Harbor Freight hand spring clamps. Cheap and versatile for just holding things in place.

This is a decent starting selection.

[Dan Kraakenes]

What I am going to build, before I even start building stuff for friends or decorating inside the house..

Saw horses
Workbench
Shop cabinets
Doors and fronts for cabinets
Mitre station
Shaving horse
Pole lathe
Interior shop door

So even there I would need a vide array of clamps...

[Mike Walsh]

Pony 3/4" pipe clamps are very handy, and with an assortment of pipe lengths can cover a range of uses. Fairly inexpensive too, including the pipe which you can get at the big box stores

[Phil Mueller]

I have a half dozen 7” deep throat Bessey F-style that I find to be useful...I use them mostly for clamping cauls when doing cold press veneer on smallish projects to be able to reach into the center of the caul. Otherwise, the standard throat seem to work for most needs.

I’ll second the quick grip clamps in several lengths. And if you plan to make projects with mitered corners (boxes, frames, for example), I would recommend the Veritas 4 way speed clamp, and/or the Bessey variable angle strap clamp. Rockler also has a 4 way speed clamp that looks to be similar to the Veritas.

I have a shop similar in size to yours, and I would agree to buy as you need them. Storage of dozens of clamps in various sizes gets to be a challenge, especially if they are rarely used.

[glenn bradley]

As you notice from all the responses, we all think the clamps we like are "best". If I had to make a short list:

• A pair of 4", 7" and 12" handscrews
• 4 to 6 parallel clamps (these come in many flavors and the arguments continue as to what's best for what).
• A dozen 4" Bessey Mighty-Mini's or similar non-clutch-plate f-style clamps
• A pair of deep throat f-style clamps
• Pipe clamps for the longer stuff

I could do just about anything with that list but, there are more elegant ways to do frequent tasks. This means I have bunches of clamps; you may or may not end up the same ;-)

I think every clamp in the shop was bought on sale . My rule of thumb for Besseys used to be a dollar an inch. If I found 24" k-bodys for $24, I bought 'em. Christmas time is good for sales on "sets" (clamps that go together in someone's opinion).

The rule for clamps is similar to planes, chisels and router bits; buy what you need as you need it. If you buy a giant set there will undoubtedly be units that gather dust. When you stop "needing" one more <insert clamp type here> you have what you need. I think I overshot that a bit as I had developed a habit of taking advantage of a good sale. Your needs will vary from mine based on what you do. If you're not sure what you'll do and just buy a "bunch-o-clamps", you can end up with a lot of clamps (and money) tied up but, not super useful. Take your time.

[Gary Ragatz]

Nobody's mentioned handscrew clamps yet, so I'll throw that into the mix. I have a half dozen of various sizes. That's probably more than I need, and they're not something I use every day, but there are certain jobs they just seem to be best for. And if you're doing mainly hand tool work, it seems like there ought to be a couple of wooden clamps in the shop. I use the larger ones 10" and 12" most frequently. Dubuque makes nice ones; I'm sure Besseys are fine, too.

[Justin Rapp]

I think every clamp in the shop was bought on sale . My rule of thumb for Besseys used to be a dollar an inch. If I found 24" k-bodys for $24, I bought 'em. Christmas time is good for sales on "sets" (clamps that go together in someone's opinion).

The rule for clamps is similar to planes, chisels and router bits; buy what you need as you need it. When you stop "needing" one more <insert clamp type here> you have what you need. I think I overshot that a bit as I had developed a habit of taking advantage of a good sale. Your needs will vary from mine based on what you do. If you're not sure what you'll do, you can end up with a lot of clamps (and money) tied up but, not super useful. Take your time.

This is really good advice. I have bought clamps over time also. For larger clamps, I tend to use pipe clamps because I can easily modify the length of my clamps based on a pile of pipes I have. I can also make really long clamps by connecting two pipes together with unions. When I needed more clamps, I just bought the clamp portions ($15 each) and was able to use existing pipes I already had. This really helps keep the cost down instead of investing in a few dozen clamps of varied sizes.

[James Brown]

3/4" Pipe clamps are economical, beefy and versatile. I like the Besseys; the HF knockoffs are a step down in finish but are generally acceptable in my experience. I bought the black pipe in 10' lengths at Home Depot and had them cut and thread it on both ends of all pieces; it's a LOT cheaper than buying it in shorter threaded lengths, and you can buy fittings to join pipes together when necessary for larger scale applications.

[Brian Behrens]

For what you are looking to build, I would start out strong with (4) 24" bessey and (4) 50" bessey parallel clamps. It's nice to have a few f clamps in 12 and 24" sizes. I get 99.9% of my work done with this selection. Much of what I do is larger scale like the things on your list. The only other clamps I occasionally reach for is some 8' pipe clamps, which are actually my 4' pipe clamps joined together with a pipe coupling.