Is there a difference in clamps

[Howard]

I was reading the latest thread about clamp rack design and realized that I don't have near enough clamps! I was looking at the ones at Woodcraft and HD and the 36 to 48" ones were upwards of $40 to $50 each. However, looking at Ebay, there were several sets of 6 that looked the same but the entire sets could be had for $36 to $40. Is there a difference between them? Is a clamp a clamp or is it like anything else, you get what you pay for? Looking at the pictures of the clamp racks some of you have, you could have a small fortune tied up in just clamps. I really don't relish the idea of spending over $500 for a complete clamp set so any ideas would be appreciated.

[LCHIEN]

you have to compromise with a few very nice ones and a large quantity of OK ones. Few can afford top notch ones for everything.

You don't attach a link so I can't tell if your ebay ones are any good.
But usually there aren't any great clamp bargains on eBay.
Many of us build our clamp collections based on sales - buy a handful everytime there's a sale for around half price.

[Sam Conder]

99% of my clamps are from Harbor Freight. I buy their "el cheapo" Pittsburgh brand F clamps when they go on sale. I also have 8 of their pipe clamp kits on some pipe I bought at Heepo. Other than those, I have a few Quick-grips that I have received as gifts and two Jorgensen band clamps.

[sweensdv]

Pretty much you get what you pay for but that doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive clamps to get the job done though. For clamping jobs of under 24" in length the Harbor Freight bar clamps will work just fine and will cost you less than $4 each. For clamps over 24" you could use pipe clamps that will cost about $8 and up depending on the length of pipe you need. The Besseys and Jorgies are certainly more user friendly and of higher quality but you do pay for that with a higher per clamp price tag.

[TomBar]

I agree with the advice about the HF bar clamps. I have many of them up to 24". Also the FH aluminum bar clamps are great for 24" and up. I just used them for a glue up this weekend. Don't forget pipe clamps, they are fairly cheap at HF and you can make them to any length you need.

[monte]

For short clamps the HF Pittsburgh brand F clamps will work fine. I have many of them from 6" to 18" in length. For longer clamping dimensions you can use inexpensive pipe clamps or I would recommend either Jorgensen or Bessey clamps but they are much more expensive. Also keep in mind that you will never have enough clamps.

[L. D. Jeffries]

Ditto on all the posts re: clamps. I go for the "cheapies" when buying shorter ones, For longer lengths can't beat pipe clamps. Only caution on HF and other cheapies is that some times u get slippage cause the serrations on the bars are not too good. But as said; You get what u pay for!

[Never2old2start]

I just bought four HF 36" clamps (pittsburg whatever, and they even came individually boxed...a first for me) and they were like 11.00 a piece. Even bought two bar clamps for like 6 bucks. I never had one 'slip' on me yet. Wish I had 300 bucks for the Besseys but these get the job done.

~ Paul ~

[Tom Hintz]

I have developed a personal clamp acquisition program. I have several "bargain" clamps from various sources and they work OK. I also have a growing selection of good clamps that work great. So, the plan is to fill out my shop with the good clamps, but over an extended period of time.
I have settled on the Jorgensen Cabinet Masters as my primary shop clamps but do have a bunch of their pipe clamps as well. My plan is to buy one or two whenever I can, maybe a few when they are on sale. I can't make the necessary funds appear to buy a bunch at one time so am relegated to the slower, more painless plan.
Another thing I like about the Jorgensen Cabinet Masters is that they are made in America. Plus, they have larger jaws than the Besseys, have reversible heads for use as spreaders and are built to last forever and then some.
I have a review of the Jorgensen's at the link below with photos and more on the features than I have time to type here.
They are great, but I need to buy them more slowly. The good news is that once in the shop, I am not going to wear them out!

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews...abclmprvu.html

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I love Bessey K's.
Buy 2 Bessey KBK2450 Large Cabinet Door Kits and you get :
(4) 50" Bessey K's
(4) 24" Bessey K's

$255.98 - $50 Presidents Day Sale = $205.98 A great deal to cover the basics of the higher quality clamps where it is critical to have square joints during glue up.

I then recommend Harbor Freight 36" Aluminum Bar Clamps which are on sale for $5.49. I don't think you will find a difference between the high end brands and these cheap ones for Aluminum Bar Clamps. Maybe 6 - 8 of the 36". Pick up a few 24" for $5.99. Of course you can buy some or all of these with 20% off coupon right now.

Then pick up some steel bar clamps. Catch them at HF for a song. Purchase to your hearts desire.

If you don't want to split with the $200 for the K's and have a tighter budget I would stock up on the Aluminum Bar Clamps. Note HF has two different styles of clamps. The less expensive ones have a true quoted opening capacity (ie really opens 24") where as the cheaper ones have bars that are 24" thus open about 20". The throats are deeper on the more expensive ones as well which will more closely approximate the K's even clamping pressure.

[scorrpio]

Goes more or less like this: if you run a production shop, you generally don't have the time to fine tune each individual clamp up to assure that it's not distorted. You don't want to have to get inventive to achieve deeper throat capacity. Means you want clamps that have long parallel jaws that will not mar the wood and that will stay dead parallel even when applying 800+ lbs of force. Something like Gross Stabil.

If you are a nobbyist with not much of a budget, and don't mind spending extra time and effort figuring out and tuning tricky clamp-ups, you can go for rock bottom.

[Tom Miller]

I use these for small stuff (Besseys - the ones on top):



But I think I might fill out the low (small) end with the HF Pittsburghs. Any opinions from those who have both? Any noticeable quality or fit/finish difference?

Seems like the HF ones might do better one-handed; squeeze it closed to hold, then tighten it down. Does that work?

Regards,
Tom

[LarryG]

But I think I might fill out the low (small) end with the HF Pittsburghs. Any opinions from those who have both? Any noticeable quality or fit/finish difference?

The Bessey and Jorgensen F-body clamps are nicer, but it's hard to argue they're three times nicer. That's the approximate price spread when you catch the HF Pittsburghs on sale, which they frequently are.

Even so, I'm in the process of (slowly) supplementing my Pittsburgh F-bodys with Jorgies. The more you use the HFs, the more aggravating they become. The castings are always slightly out of square. The threads are a fine pitch, rather than the quicker-to-crank ACME threads on better clamps. The clutches don't work as smoothly. For me, at least, using my HF clamps finds me muttering to myself, "These were an excellent buy, they absolutely cannot be faulted for what I paid, but I do wish I'd paid a little more." If that makes any sense.

I think clamps are akin to fine wines or craft beers. The longer and broader your experience, the more you learn to appreciate The Good Stuff.

[Tom Miller]

Even so, I'm in the process of (slowly) supplementing my Pittsburgh F-bodys with Jorgies...

Hmmm, maybe I'll look at the Jorgies. I was mostly interested in the clutch action, which the Besseys don't have, and how they might help with one-handed use. I envisioned being able to squeeze the clamp closed so that it stays put, before tightening the rest of the way.

Regards,
Tom
p.s. I see you figured out how to change your forum status. (Just jealous.)

[tfischer]

My favorite clamps are the Jorgensen EZ-Hold II -- they're sort of like a Quick Grip but have a ratcheting action that holds much better with no slipping. I use them whenever I can, and have a bunch of them in several sizes.

Most of the rest of my clamps are 'cheapies'. I have a few 1/2" HF pipe clamps that work just fine. Everyone says I should have bought 3/4" but for the sizes I use (4'-5') the 1/2" are solid enough. I also have a couple of the HF aluminum bar clamps -- no problems there either, and a few of the F-clamps.

Do NOT buy the HF "Quick Grip" knockoffs. I have a few, they don't hold at all, and one of mine actually broke with limited use. Frankly I don't like Quick Grips that well either -- but I'm spoiled by the Jorgensen EZ Hold II's mentioned above...

-Tim