New Woodworking Needs Advice on Clamps

[Frank Berryman]

I am a new woodworker. Like many before me, my first project has been a workbench. I am working on the drawers (22"x24") now. I have my dovetails all cut and am ready to glue them up, so I need to buy some clamps. I like to buy things once. I usually avoid the cheapest and the most expensive. There seem to be a lot of different kinds of clamps. So I am looking for some well made clamps that won't break or break the bank. Any advice? I'm thinking I should start with four. Brand, model and size would be helpful. Thanks.

[Wayne Delyea]

I watch Rockler and buy from them when they are on sale. Im not sure if its still going on but last week I bought 36" and 24" Jet Clamps for 1/2 off.

[Frank Berryman]

I watch Rockler and buy from them when they are on sale. Im not sure if its still going on but last week I bought 36" and 24" Jet Clamps for 1/2 off.

Which model do you recommend? The F-style?

[Tony Bilello]

you will need A LOT of clamps sooner than you think. If I were you, and I was recently when restarting a shop, I would start with the less expensive clamps first. I am an experienced woodworker and I knew what I needed.
Start with the less expensive bar clamps, then get a bunch of 1/2" and 3/4" pipe clamps. No matter what high dollar clamps you ultimately end up purchasing, you will always need the lighter weight bar clamps and pipe clamps also.
You say you have drawers to assemble, figure on 4 clamps per drawer.
That will give you 2 clamps on front and 2 on rear.
Trust me when I say I am not a fan of Harbor Freight but for clamps, they are a good place to start.

[Eric Roberge]

The F-style are on sale at Rockler right now. 36" (6.49ea) (they are not bad for the $$) 6" SOLD OUT today
Parallel clamps should be on your list soon (Jet, Bessy (or Woodcraft)) If you look at WW shows or keep an eye online you can find a good price. My local Woodcraft store is having a sale in two weeks ...10% off.
Someone here at SMC said that if you hit them on a Saturday they will sometimes sell the ones used in the class at a discount.

I also like the Quick grips from Irwin. Very nice for small projects or for clamping a piece of stock to a bench, etc...

Maybe some pipe clamps?

My 2c...for drawers I would get some parallel clamps to start 30's or 40's. That being said, I would also order some of the 36" F-styles while they are on sale.
Bessy and Jet are lifetime warranty

E-

[Myk Rian]

I like the Jorgensen bar clamps at the HoPo over the Jet bar clamps. The Jet clamp bars bend when you apply pressure and the threads aren't as meaty.

ACO hardware carries MIT clamps. Not bad for the price and a heck of a lot cheaper than the Irwins.

[Paul Steiner]

You have 2 inexpensive options. One is to pick up a set of Pick up a set of F-style clamps like columbians even bessey's. I think a set of 15 is about $30. Good clamps for the price but they could be better, they do not sit up right on a table.

The other is a set of HF pipe clamps. These will sit upright on a table and I would put them up against any name brand pipe clamp.

Neither of these can hold a candle to so of the nicer bessey's or Jorgensens or irwins.
The inexpensive ones will probably hold you until you shop around and find deals on nice clamps. And you will need alot of clamps in the future.

[Frank Berryman]

Thanks for the ideas. Between Lowes, Home Depot and Woodcraft I think I'll be able to pick something up tomorrow. I don't want to wait a week for them to be shipped mail order.

[Tony Bilello]

Right on, brother.

[John Schreiber]

I usually like cheap, but I don't go cheap on clamps. When you are in the middle of a glue up, the last thing you need is a clamp slipping unexpectedly.

The parallel clamps are very nice and if you are gluing up a workbench top, I'd start with those and supplement with pipe clamps and bar clamps.

[Paul Ryan]

Frank,

No matter what you end up with now, keep on the look out for some parallel clamps. This past winter when the bessy's were on clearance and close out I stocked up. I bought a lot of clamps, thinking I had enought I quit. As it turned out I could have used a few more. The bessys are real nice but any parallel clamp will be. I hade been using pipe clamps for a while. They work for clamping up projects and so on. But I hate using them for glueing up panels because it doesn't take much for them to bow. You can never have to many clamps of any type.

[Jack Ellis]

Another place to look for clamps is on Craigslist. Most of my clamps (and most of my tools) are recycled. If you can't wait, F-clamps from HF will be fine. However I really like HF's aluminum bar clamps for all sorts of projects, including drawers and panels.

Some posters with far more experience than I suggested you watch out for bar clamps that have a tendency to bend. I'm of the opinion that in most instances, if you're applying enough pressure to bend the bars, you're applying far more pressure than you should. Really tight clamps squeeze out too much glue.

[Eric Roberge]

Myk,
The Jets bend? Are you talking about the F style or the parallel?
The F's I can see bending, but the parallels are rock solid just like the Bessey's. No flex in mine.

[Rod Sheridan]

I started out using pipe clamps, and slowly switched to Bessey K bodies.

Well worth the money in my opinion.........Rod.

[Doug Shepard]

In addition to whatever standard clamps you get I'd also get couplle of handscrew type clamps. There a lots of uses for them that other types dont do well. One example is for holding smaller work while feeding past a router table bit. They also wont mar the wood like some other types can if overtightened.