Advice on buyings sets of bar clamps

[Mike P. Wagner]

I have been making a fair amount of saw dust in the past year, using a set of 6 old C clamps. My birthday is coming around soon, and I am thinking of buying a set of bar clamps. I can't quite figure out how to proceed. If you were about to spend $150 on a set of bar clamps, what would you buy?

It looks to me like I could get 3 or 4 sets of Irwin Quick Grips - would that be a reasonable way to proceed? Do any of the woodworking sites sell sets of clamps at a discount?

Thanks,

Mike

[DaveW]

Not trying to bad-mouth good (aka expensive) clamps - I'd love to have some myself, but the way I look at clamps is - it depends on what you want to do with them. Given that you've been doing a bunch of stuff with a few C clamps, I think you'd probably be fine with "generic" bar clamps. I bought a set of the "Columbian" bar clamps - it came with (IIRC) four 22" and four 18" bar clamps, as well as a bunch of C clamps and pinch clamps. All that for $20 - I haven't come across anything that those couldn't clamp yet (within 22" of course).

If you went this way, it'd leave $130 for some pretty nice wood!

[monte]

Look at the Pittsburgh bar clamps that HF sells. Usually on sale too.

[Pappy]

Watch HF for the 'F' body bar clamps and the aluminum bar clamps to go on sale. Stay clear of the quick grip type clamps that HF sells - total junk.

Open the boxes on the F body clamps and check for rubber pads on the jaws. Some of them have them, some don't.

Test the sliding action of the moveable jaw on the aluminum bar clamps to make sure it is free.

[LCHIEN]

if I only had C clamps as you do:

Buy a pair of the Irwin quick Grips in the 6" or 12 inch size. Lowes had some deals on a pair for $19 for a while.
Then also buy a pair of the Irwin Mini-quick grips in the 6" size.
Sometimes these can be found in pairs at a lower price but you should be able to get them for around $10 each or less. The quick grips work well one-handed and are fast and easy to use. Don't know about the knock offs but I'd avoid them. The QG-2 are reversible but I seldom use them that way.

Then buy around a dozen clamps from HF when they have one of their 1/2-price sales on F-clamps, assorted 12, 18, 24 and 36" sizes, I guess 2-3 of each size.
These can be had for average of around $5 each and are good for those bulk clamping episodes.

Just for fun you should get a wooden parallel jaw screw clamp the kind with two screws. A 8 or 10" clamp will set you back maybe $15.

That should leave you some extra money but its a good start.

[Mainemarc]

Hi Mike:

It depends on the type of woodworking you're doing. Are you going to need to clamp panels or carcasses longer than 24"? If so, you might consider adding some pipe clamps to your shopping list, I find the inexpensive bar clamps in the 36" size too whippy.

Otherwise, concentrate on the bar clamps in the 12"-24" size.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I've found wood jawed hand screws to be increasingly useful as I discover what flexible clamping tools they are. Especially when you start thinking about them as modular vises that can be clamped anywhere you need them on your workbench or saw horse. The 8" - 12" sizes are the most useful.

[LarryG]

Excellent advice thus far. Don't know if I can add much, but I'll try.

Figure out what lengths you're likely to need most often (based on the size of your projects, obviously) and start your collection with the next larger size. IOW, if you need mostly 12" clamps, buy 18s. An extra 6" of bar length doesn't get in the way too badly when you don't need it; but when you gotta have 14" clamps, you'll be set.

In calculating the needed sizes, don't forget to allow for cauls. These may be little squares of 1/2" MDF, used to protect the finished wood; or they may be 2x4s, used to apply leverage over a long assembly that can't be clamped out in the middle.

My advice would be to not go overboard on Quick-Grips. They're great as a third hand; I'm not wild about them for actually clamping a glue-up. I use mine just to hold everything together until I can get the REAL clamps in place.

The justifiably-popular Pittsburg F-bodies from HF are terrific up to 24". Longer than that, clamps with heavier bars, such as the Jorgensen HD series, perform much better.

Pipe clamps are great for the longer sizes not just because they're more resistant to bending, but because they're cheap. You can buy a few sets of fittings, get some pipe cut to different lengths, and move the fittings to whichever lengths suit your current project. Get the pipe threaded on both ends so you can use couplers to make up longer clamps. Remember that the usable capacity will be 5"-6" less than the pipe's actual length.

The parallel-jaw clamps (Bessey K-Body, Jorgensen CabinetMaster, etc) are spendy but my oh my do they ever work as advertised. I have about a dozen of these and always use them up first, and not just because they cost the most. One thing to bear in mind is that for things like drawers and boxes, one parallel-jaw clamp will often do the work of two ordinary bar clamps, which makes them less costly than you'd think (because you need fewer of them).

Second the motion about wooden handscrews. Very handy. At least one band (or web, or strap) clamp is worth the investment, too, especially for four-sided assemblies with mitered corners.

[crokett]

I second what Larry said about the Bessys. I have 8 and those are always the ones I reach for first. They are pricey, but worth it.

[Tom Miller]

quote:Originally posted by Mainemarc

I'm probably in the minority here, but I've found wood jawed hand screws to be increasingly useful....

I bet all of us are in the minority on that one! (Tip o' the hat to Yogi Berra.)

But seriously, someone should start a thread for folks to post all the ways you can use these.

Regards,
Tom
OK, I will. Maybe in the "Tools" forum.

[Black wallnut]

Great answers all! I agree about the Bessey and Jorgy CabinetMasters, they are always the first I grab and in that order. I think the Bessey's are stiffer.

That said it is wise to buy a number of the lesser "F" bar clamps first unless your need for clamping is panel glue-ups IMHO. For many of the projects I've done quantity of clamps has beeen at least as important as Quality. I do wish I had more. My current project is taking what seems like forever because of all the panels I'm glueing up.

Hand screws (parallel action, two screw type) are worth their weight in GOLD when you need to clamp something 6"+ from the edge of a board, like a shop made drawer pull.......

[vaking]

Does anybody use these?
http://www.garrettwade.com/shopping/...oductID=102542
I do and they work OK for me and the price seems right.

[Tom Miller]

Re: quick grips -- I have some, and they have their uses, but they're definitely not my "go to" clamps. YMMV.

But if I needed to equip myself well, clamp-wise, with $150, I think I'd go with pipe clamps. Even if/when you start buying the Besseys and/or Cabinet Masters later, you'll still get plenty of use out of your pipe clamps. I do, anyway, although I tend to reach for the Besseys and CMs first.

I think pipe clamps can provide much more clamping pressure than QGs, too.

You could get 8 clamp head sets for ~$100, leaving you $50 for pipe, which should be plenty (?) for ~8 clamps. That's a good minimum number for carcases, etc.

Given that you can buy shorter or longer pipe and swap clamp heads, or use pipe couplers to lengthen, you really end up with a versatile setup.

I recommend sticking with 3/4" -- no point spreading your $$ over both 1/2" and 3/4" unless all your work is small.

Regards,
Tom

[scmhogg]

Alex,

I bought ten of the GW clamps when they were 5 for $19.95. They work great and are smooth and well finished, unlike HD clamps.

Steve

[LCHIEN]

Here, someone just posted Quick Grips for sale 2 for 1 at Home Depot.

http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...TOPIC_ID=21401

[mr.g]

Mike,

A recent issue of Shop Notes magazine (vol.14, issue 82)addressed the exact same question you are asking. What types/kinds of clamps to buy when you are just getting started. They broke it down into getting 3 sets of clamps, a basic beginning set, a long assembly set, and a speciality set. The article states that this way you can add on as your projects and skills grow. Estimate of $150-$160 dollars for "name" brand clamps in the first two sets and about $100 for the last set.

For the basic set they recommend bar or "F" style clamps 4 of each in the following lengths, 6", 12", and 24".

The long assembly set consists of both 3/4" pipe clamps (4 at 36") and aluminum bar clamps (4 at 48". The author likes the lighter weight of the aluminum clamps when used on large assemblies.

Finally the speciality set is listed as 2" spring clamps (6 total), 2" C-clamps (4 total), 3" C-clamps (2 total) and band clamps (3 total).

Just one more thought on how to begin the quest for "enough" clamps!
Hope it helps out.

Mark