Pipe Clamps

[William A Johnston]

I have been using 3/4" pipe clamps from Jorgenson. They do the job but the clamps do not clamp 90 degrees from the pipe to the clamp.

Is this normal with all brands of pipe clamps or are there brands that do clamp at 90 degrees.

Thanks for any tips or advice.

Bill

[johnny means]

Pipe clamps are horrible, all of them. Square cost extra.

[William A Johnston]

What about parallel clamps?

They are super expensive and heavy.

Bill

[Mike Cutler]

No, the pipe clamps I've used never clamped up parallel.
A trick I saw many years ago was to place a dowel between the pipe clamp and the edge of the material. This way the pressure was applied directly to the side of the material, via the circumference of the dowel.
Regardless, they do work, and I have used them many times through years for some pretty big panel glueups.
Parallel clamps are a huge step up though, and worth the investment.

[johnny means]

I have created auxiliary jaws for pipe clamps by drilling a hole in blocks of wood then sliding the blocks onto the pipe between the clamping ends. By making the blocks a little wider you can get a square clamping surface.

[Ron Selzer]

I started out a lot of years ago with pipe clamps and made good furniture with them. Since progressed to parallel clamps and then to Universal Aluminum Bar Clamps.
have 24",36", 48", 60" and 72" all will open at least what they say. I highly recommend these, Pipe clamps only come out now when I run out of the Universal Clamps.
They are made in the US of A by Dubuque Clamp Works, available different places. I bought my last ones from
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/aluminumclamp.aspx

[Mike Cutler]

I have created auxiliary jaws for pipe clamps by drilling a hole in blocks of wood then sliding the blocks onto the pipe between the clamping ends. By making the blocks a little wider you can get a square clamping surface.

Nice idea!!!

[Jim Becker]

Pipe clamps can provide a lot of force, but they are not "parallel" with any consistency. You can partially mitigate with leather pads, and should always alternate top/bottom and when gluing up panels, use cauls to keep things flat. Parallel clamps are indeed higher priced, even for "off brands" it seems...almost 100% of mine were acquired over the years when they were on sale to at least save a little money. But I have zero regrets for buying them. I do keep a few pipe clamps for when I need extra long ones and extra-long ones, if you catch my meaning. (I have two that are longer than 8' that a friend gifted me)

[Frederick Skelly]

What about parallel clamps?

They are super expensive and heavy.

Bill

Here is an alternative. I love these things. LINK.

[Mark Hockenberg]

Bill - I'm in the same camp as everyone else. I started with pipe clamps and now I rarely use them. I bought several K-body Bessey clamps and reach for these first. Yes they are heavy and expensive, but the parallel jaws improve the quality of your work. I also have a few aluminum clamps as others mentioned. These are great clamps - easy to adjust and the light weight is very nice.

[William A Johnston]

Well it seams to me that parralel clamps are what I need to invest in. I've decided to get a few parralel clamps and a few universal clamps to try them out. I have around 40 pipe clamps so I'm sure they won't go to waist. It's just like everything in this hobby is you can't afford to get what you really want at first then you end up buying it later wishing you would have spent the money in the front end.

Thanks for all the tips.

Bill

[Jim Becker]

Bill, the pipe clamps are perfectly useable...you just have to be certain to verify that things are lined up as you move down the line tightening them more than you do with parallel clamps, etc. But once you do have some parallel clamps, you'll also reach for them first. The clamps that Fred linked to above are also very worthy, particularly for panels.

[Mike Kees]

Bill I have to say that I have 10 Jorgeson parallel clamps that very rarely actually get used. I have 40 or so pipe clamps that are used all the time if you were closer I would trade,Personally I hate parallel clamps. Heavy ,clumsy and expensive, with half the clamping force of my pipe clamps. I would buy only one or two to figure out if you like them better before jumping off the cliff . YMMV.

[John Gornall]

I agree with Mike.

Recently started usung 1/2 inch pipe clamps for small glue ups and they are good. I buy a 3 ft pipe threaded both ends, cut it in half, and have 2 - 18 inch clamps.

[John Sincerbeaux]

I bought my first pipe clamps when I was a teenager because thatÂ’s what the high school wood shop had. Later in life when I heard about KBody parallel clamps, I bought about 15 of them in various lengths. They were the first gen of the K Body clamps. I donÂ’t understand the problems guys are having with pipe clamps? Super easy, reliable, and strong. Craftsman and cabinet makers having been using them for well over a hundred years.
My experience with the parallel clamps I own are they are fundamentally and mechanically flawed.
They’re kinda fussy to position and engage in the desired position. Glue drips into the threaded bar making it not so fun to clean, and mechanically, you have zero leverage to transfer your energy to clamping pressure because of a longitudinal handle. Almost all clamps that are used for “clamping” have either wing style or rod style levers for clamping? I know the newer parallel clamps have better handles than mine but they still are longitudinal style which again, are extremely limiting. Of course you could debate how much pressure do you really need?
If I were buying clamps today for large glue-ups, I would look hard at the aluminum clamps linked above.