Which parallel camps should I get?

[cgallery]

The Irwin clamps (24") are on sale at Rockler for $21.59. The 48" are $28.79.

Harbor Freight has 24" on sale for $19.99 (minus $3 because I have a 15% coupon, so $17).

My thinking is that the HF clamps are probably going to get less expensive over time. They're always having some sort of sale. So if I want to start building a collection of clamps, perhaps they'd be a decent way to go.

OTOH, the Irwin clamps may be of higher quality (don't know that for sure), and Irwin will probably make them for some time. The price isn't that much higher. But it will probably be harder finding sales on them in the future?

I'm leaning heavily towards the Harbor Freight.

[LCHIEN]

they're all much better than the alternatives, I'd go with the best bargain. Don't worry about future additions, your projects won't care if they don't match.

[Salty]

Not sure which clamps you are refering to at HF. These are probably not it but I wanted to relate this experience. I bought 2 of these about a month ago. BTW, I consider anything that HF sells as JUNK.
I curse them EVERY time I use them. Why, well it is in only a very small part my fault. The part that is my fault is that I bought them in the first place and that I haven't taken the time to modify them to solve the problem.
The problem is that when the pad on the end of the screw gets pressure on it it tilts slightly and binds up the threads in the pivot(area indicated by the arrow). What I need to do is grind the threads off near the pivot so it won't bind in the housing. Basically it is a bad design as the threads should not go that far into the pad housing.
The ones you are looking to get may be fine. My brother has good luck with the stuff he buys from there. OK, I'm done ranting!

[jackellis]

I have a buch of these and I've found them more convenient and easier to use than my Jorgensen and Bessey K-clamps, especially for panels. No problems at all with binding. As far as I'm concerned, they're an outstanding bargain.

I should mention that I tighten them only enough to provide firm pressure on the glued surface. I don't crank any clamps down really tightly.

[drumpriest]

The Irwins look pretty good to me, they are heavier than my Bessey's, more like the Jets. I haven't seen the harbour freight ones live and in person, but they look a lot like the bessey's to me.

[messmaker]

I have a buch of these and I've found them more convenient and easier to use than my Jorgensen and Bessey K-clamps, especially for panels. No problems at all with binding. As far as I'm concerned, they're an outstanding bargain.

I should mention that I tighten them only enough to provide firm pressure on the glued surface. I don't crank any clamps down really tightly.

That's what I thought as well. I always find it troubling that a tool I am perfectly happy with is "junk" in another man's eyes. I guess I just don't
pay attention.

[Carlos]

I have those aluminum bar clamps from HF and absolutely love them, though of course they have no reach so they have limited uses. Clamp hard, turn easy, lightweight.

I recently bought some Irwin parallels and also have Jet and Bessey. The Jets are best because the heads are bigger and they have a release trigger. This means you can work them with one hand without fighting to make them release (shake-shake turn-turn shake-repeat). The also have markings for size so you know where to set them as you lay them out, and they are ready to use. The Irwins are nicer than the Besseys, and cheaper than the Jets. Never tried the HF version.

Me? I'm happy to have an assortment of different ones so I have a lot more by buying some cheap, but also a set of four of the top-quality Jets.

[Carlos]

PS...pick up the Jet four-clamp kit with holders so you have a nice set of clamps plus a way to hold them in position withough hands.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Worrying about matching does not make any sense as Loring points out. Also as he points out, they are better than the alternatives ie pipe claims, aluminum bar clamps, etc.

The Irwins were highly regarded in recent reviews in the mags. The reviews cite that the HF units were slightly out of parallel.

I have around 30 Bessey Kbod, 4 Jet and 2 HF, all parallel clamps. I do not have any Irwins but will likely pick up a couple for testing next week when I visit my very first Rockler store (Yaaaa!). Not sure if you want to wait until next week, but I could give you a run down of real life comparison in my shop as I have a bunch of glue ups to do over the weekend. As it stands right now I REALLY like the Jets and the Bessey and HF units are practically identical IMHO.

Given the information and experience that I have I would choose one of the following options :

HF units are a great deal at $17 each. I have only saw 24" in stores and never saw the other units on sale online at HF. Keep that in mind.

4 pack of Jet from Rockler or Amazon for around $100. This includes 2 24" and 2 40" clamps. They are currently a little high at Amazon but of course they go on sale. Rockler often has them in store for $99. That turns out to be the same price as the Irwins and I can not believe the Irwins are better, nor do the Irwins include the bench dogs and framing blocks that the Jet set includes.

As always, the Bessey cabinet kits in the $60 - $70 range cant be beat. That is when I built my Army. I bought 10 2440 sets at $60 each and 10 2450 sets at $67 each. I sold off half on ebay in two clamp sets which actually paid for the 20 I kept! It was a sweet deal.

But bottom line . . . if I am spending $100 on 4 clamps I am getting the Jet Cabinet Door set.

Edit: Oh ya, though I have a small army of parallel jaw clamps I still use my HF aluminum bar clamps from time to time and think they represent an incredible value! I have used the heck out of mine and never had the problems you are running into. I highly recommend them as beginner clamps. As far as the depth of the jaws, HF also has a deep jaw version of the aluminum bar clamp which they have put on sale lately.

Double Edit : On the HF units looking like Besseys, the design was licensed by Bessey and they are identical in design. Besseys are made in Germany and HF parallel clamps are made in India. The HF units have metal handles that are too small and the Besseys have wooden handles that are too small! LOL!.

[hermit]

How do the Jorgensens compare to the others?? I bought 4 of the 48" at Home Depot and love em. I'm looking to get some more (24"), but don't have any Rocklers, HF, Woodcraft, etc near me, so I have to deal with shipping. Any big differences one way or another??

Todd

[Jeffrey Schronce]

How do the Jorgensens compare to the others?? I bought 4 of the 48" at Home Depot and love em. I'm looking to get some more (24"), but don't have any Rocklers, HF, Woodcraft, etc near me, so I have to deal with shipping. Any big differences one way or another??

Todd

Ya, wait for a clamp sale on Amazon which offers free shipping. I can't imagine there is a much more expensive way to buy parallel jaw clamps than at HD. Watch the bargain alerts section. There will be deals on clamps sooner than later.

BTW, the Jorgensen Cabinetmasters are fine but hard to find a deal on them unlike Jet or Bessey.

[hermit]

Ok thanks Jeff, I'll keep my eye out. Boy that was fast. When I was looking, there were some "sales" but you either get a good deal and pay shipping, or get free shipping but the price was so close, it was easier to go to HD to get em. Plus, around here, I buy gift cards for HD at the local grocer, and get discounts on gasoline. That ends up saving a little on the price

Todd

[Carlos]

Worrying about matching does not make any sense as Loring points out.

I make it a point to vary my clamps, because they all have different properties. I may reach for an Irwin even though the Jet is "better" simply because the Irwin does something different that works well in the current situation.

I can not believe the Irwins are better, nor do the Irwins include the bench dogs and framing blocks that the Jet set includes.

Oh yeah, forgot about the dogs, nice bonus.

[LCHIEN]

my added comments in this ongoing discussion:
the Thing about parallal jaw clamps that makes them nice is that they are stiff enough that the jaws stay parallel under load. F-clamps, pipe clamps - all of them you can visibly see the long beam bending as you tighten them, it throws the jaw parallelism off which may be critical for certain glue-ups, particularly panels.

The one failing of the parallel clamps is, my are they heavy. of course, this is to make the beam stout enough to not bend. Anyone can make a parallel jaw clamp if they make it heavy enough (and goodness knows they all do). Neat trick would be to make one light and still won't bend.

The Aluminum bar clamps that Salty mentioned are an attempt to do this. A lightweight aluminum bar beam, extruded into a hollow rectangular shape to make it stiffer per weight, are pretty good, stiff clamps. The kicker is that they have limited reach of around an inch (compared to 3" or more for Bessey K-bodies, for example) but that's fine for panel glue-ups. They sure are a whole lot lighter and easier to handle! Much Cheaper, too. I got a handful of 36"ers from Penn state when they were on sale and I don't think they have the problem the HFs Salty complains about have.
An alternative to consider.

[Carlos]

I just got two of the HF clamps. They were on sale ridiculously cheap in the last e-mail flier, so I had to try two. I should have bought more! See my review in the tool reviews section. Summary: They are better than the Irwin and Bessey clamps!