Hello All – <!—-><!—-><!—->
As woodworkers, we’re all familiar with the adage, “you can never have enough clamps.” That got me to wonder how many clamps on average a woodworker has in his or her shop. I probably have 60, a quarter of which are pipe clamps – ends and stops that I can make any size if I need larger or smaller lengths by getting more black pipe. The rest are assorted c-clamps, pre-made bar clamps, wooden-jaw parallel clamps, spring clamps, and a few specialty miter clamps. I may have a band clamp somewhere in there as well.<!—-><!—->
My questions are these: <!—-><!—->
How many do you have?
What types are they?<!—-><!—->
Do you buy them as needed for a project and add them to your collection or did you equip yourself with a broad selection starting out?
Thanks – Jp
Replies
You made me go look! I quickly counted 43, as follows:
4 pipe clamps
8 bar clamps (mix of 2' and 3' sizes)
6 quick release clamps (mixed sizes)
6 spring clamps (mixed sizes)
18 C clamps (mixed sizes)
1 web clamp
I bought these as mostly as needed, but occassionaly as I found a good deal.
Bob
About a dozen cheap bar clamps, 16 Bessey K-bodies, two pipe clamps, and four Irwin quick-clamps. Bought all but the Irwins setting up, added them mostly to use on jigs etc.
If you can count them you don't have enough;)
Troy
Too many to count but you never have enough, so I just picked-up a set of the new Jet parallel clamps. Rockler has a package deal that includes 2-24", 2-40" clamps, 4 framing blocks, 4 stand/end stops and bench dog pegs for the incredible price of $100. They are better than the Bessey's in every respect. If you are in the market for some parallel clamps you should pick up this kit.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Jerry - I agree - the new Jet parallel clamps are great. I got the same package but they substituted 2 50" for the 40" for an additional $4.
John L
Had to check. Here's my tally.
10 pipe clamps
11 small bar clamps (less than 30")
27 C clamps (they seem to multiply when the lights are off)
12 spring clamps
10 Irwin quick clamps
5 Other (edge/twist/ old style cam bar clamps)
Not nearly enough. Nuff said. <grumble, grumble>
Jake
Let's see:
4-- 1/2" pipe clamps 3' long; 2-- 3/4" pipe clamps 5' long; 2-- 3/4" pipe clamps 4' long; 2 Irwin quick clamps; 2 Rockler F clamps 24"; 1 band clamp and ~10 C clamps.
I buy them as I need them, or as I catch them on sale. Never have paid full price for them. I am very interested in the Jet clamps and the new Woodcraft parallel clamps made by Bessey. Any of you taken the plunge on the Woodcraft? Tom
I think it takes some deep pockets to buy a lot of clamps at once. It's not a bad idea to try some before you get a bunch that you don't like. I have well over 100, 3 doz. pipes, 3 doz. assorted F style, 3 doz. assorted C clamps, 2 doz. spring, 1 doz. wood screws, 6 cabinet claws, 4 bands, 6 quick clamps, 1 pr. reverse head , 6 cam clamps, 8 toggle clamps, 6 pinch dogs, 1 doz. miter springs, surgical tubing, 4 engineers clamps, assorted vice grips, and of course, rubberbands, clothespins, tape, bungee cords, bricks.
The first clamps I bought were 6 Wetxler 6"x12" F, 6 Jorgensen pipes and a couple of small C clamps. One of the best investments I ever made, these are still on the job after close to 40 yrs. The rest got added either as needed or as a normal tool acquisition. I'm fussy about my clamps, the ones I would buy never go on sale. The cheap ones and knock offs haven't proved to worth the money. I threw out a dozen Chinese F clamps, they ticked me off so many times by jamming or slipping. I don't run out of all my clamps at once but I can run out of a particular type at times. I could have used twice as many in the picture.
I would suggest that you buy what you need when you need them.
I try to buy my clamps in sets of 20.
Buy/use the right strength of clamps.
I did 96 laminations where I needed to use 12" clamps. I used 5 3/4" pipe clamps. 12" "F" clamps would have been a poor choice.
(several hundred clamps of various sizes and types.)
Edited 10/5/2006 9:55 am by GHR
Not going to abandon my morning coffee to go out and count them, but as far as when I buy them, when they're on sale!! I got four Jorgenson Cabinetmasters during their big sale (50% off?), 4 Bessey K's when they had their sale (last year?), and 4 of the new Jet clamps last month when they were on sale at Rockler. Add to that some Shop Fox aluminum bar-clamps, quite a few one-handed Quick Clamps or whatever they call them, and a dozen or two miscellaneous ratcheting and this and that. Pipe clamps sit in a dusty corner.
Oh, and 2 of those large wooden-screw clamps, forget what they're called, but they come in handy. A mere "half-way decent start" as far as a clamp supply goes, but it's a start.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 10/5/2006 11:41 am by forestgirl
4 pipe clamps with connectors and extra pipe of diffetant lengths
6 parallel clamps of differant lengths
3 band clamps
6 C clamps of varied size
4 Jorgensen wood screw clamps - 10"
8 bar clamps of differnath lengths
8 quick clamps of differant sizes/lengths
10 clothes pin type clmps of differant sizes
20+ spring clothes pins
" There'll be no living with her now" - Captain Jack Sparrow
Regardless of how many you have, I have come up with a mathematical formula to determine the exact number of clamps you need. The magic formula is as follow:
# of clamps needed = n + 1
n = current number of clamps
This mathematical formula seems to hold true from beginners to profesionals.
GBez
I'm not in my shop right now so I don't have an exact count, lets just say...... lots. When HD was discontinuing the sale of Bessey clamps I went on a buying spree at six or seven stores near me. I was like a shark in a feeding frenzy. I also have pipe clamps, C clamps, straps, and spring clamps.
I even had the cashier at a HD buy three clamps for me! They were the bessey four inchers and they were selling them for one cent each! I only had a twenty dollar bill, so this wonderful woman reaches into her pocket, takes out a nickel and tells me to have a nice day.
I am now trying to come up with a clamp rack design using cardboard tubes from rolls of plotter paper from work. I have a bunch of two and three inch tubes that I can cut into different lengths. If I ever finish it I will post a picture.
Wolfman
When HD was discontinuing the sale of Bessey clamps I went on a buying spree at six or seven stores near me. I was like a shark in a feeding frenzy.
You too! I covered the greater Austin TX area pretty good. I think I bought in the neighborhood of 80-100 clamps that day, couldnt find any more HD's.
Doug
Hey Doug,
Like you, I'm pretty lucky to have so many Home Depots within a half hour of me. I have about six stores, one in every direction. Although i didn't think i would have much need for those four inch clamps, I find myself using them all the time. I bought medium duty, light duty and even some of the heavy duty Besseys. Some day I will have to count them all, I beleive it is about ninety clamps.
good hunting,
Wolfman
don't know for sure the number, but it is an entire wall full...
mostly k-bodies as i use these for most of my clamping.
i have about 8 of each size of quick grip, not much clamping power, but i use them like extra hands when assembling things, or holding things in fixed positions around the shop, also great as spreaders when need be
i have a few dozen wooden cabinet screws of varying sizes
a drawer full of c-clamps, rarely used, but glad to have them when needed
i also have about a dozen 3/4" pipe clamps and lengths of pipe ranging from 4' to 10'
i have some old heavy duty metal bodied bar clamps that were my grandfathers that are about 40" long that have heavy agressive screw handles that you can really gorilla down on something with.
for a long time i had a rule that every time i bought any woodworking tool or supply i would also buy 1 clamp of some kind...i t was relatively painless since i was already making a purchase and i built up a decent collection reather quickly...other than that i have always just bought what i needed when i needed it...
About six months ago was when Bessey had their 35 year? sale on their K-Bodies. I mail ordered from Lee Valley, Woodworker's Supply and Hartville. I believe the prices were about 25% off. I spent over $700. From 80 inchers down to 24 inchers. $700 got me about 25 clamps, in all. All the rest of my clamps are light-duty Harbor Freight specials. HFT has sales on their F-styles. Cost is about 75% less than the orange ones. I also have four panel clamps that you buy the hardware and add your own 2"X2"'s. Pressure from all four sides make these ideal for glueing wide material. For $20 each, I rate these the best value.
One can suffer a clamp shortage at any time , so it is wise to take precautions, other than buying these items at random whenever they are seen to be marked down/a good deal/bargain/steal etc.
I can suggest two items that have saved the day for me many a time-And I do have a HEAP of sash clamps and G clamps.
Item #1 is a goodly supply of motor vehicle inner tubing cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide by random lengths. Great for binding or pulling and they apply plenty force evenly too.
Item #2 is a bunch of wedges -self explanatory.
But this does not mean to say that one should resist the urge to acquire another pair of Record heavy T section sash clamps every now and again.Philip Marcou
I think a total count might have little meaning. We probably all started out with some smaller, lighter duty ones, maybe a few c clamps, then went from there. So the total number may be higher than the ones we actually use. I have aobut a dozen 12 and 18" Wetzlers I got at a show, over two years, and (4) 30 plus inch Bessey, and a couple of light duty quick grips. Those I use a lot. The rest are just there for when I need them for extra clamping.So if I were to gear up now for all my clamping needs, I would have lots of K body clamps in all sizes (I would think the other companies that make the parallel type clamps are just as good), and stick with those. Plus a few dozen deep reach Wetzlers (they are machined a bit crudely, but get the job done, are very very strong, and have a nice little inverted rest piece). Plus I now use those little Quick Grips, with about a 4" opening, at my bench for little hold downs a lot. And my vacuum plate, which is incredibly gret and SAFE for various router uses.
Record T-bar...4
Other T-bar...2
Home made bar clamps (clamp heads on wood bar)....4
Record 1 metre F clamps...4
Record 60cm F clamps...6
Wolfcraft 60cm ratchet bar clamps.....4
Wolfcraft 60cm F clamps....4
Wolfcraft 80cm quick clamps.....4
Wolfcraft other (various) quick clamps.....6
Various capacity steel F clamps.....8
Various G clamps....18
Various pincer clamps....25
Veritas Frame clamps.....2
Steel band frame clamps....2
Web clamps....3
Small brass butterfly bar clamps....10
Jewellers clamp...1
The clamps I forgot to mention.
I would like to claim I bought them all for projects as the need arose. This would be untruth, although every clamp has been used.
Lataxe, a wood squisher
PS, some are called "cramps" in Britain, of course. But which ones and why?
I have 26 K-bodies, most acquired in oneys-twoeys when on sale; e.g., a Rockler discount card, at a few of the Local Home Depots when they were claering out their inventory a few years ago, and from Lee Valley during the 35th anniversery sale (ordered at a woodworking show, so free shipping too!). 'various sizes, although I have more of the 24" than any other size.
2 of the lighter-duty Bessy parallel jaw clamps; 18" I think.
2 4' 3/4 Pony pipe clamps
2 10' 1/2" Pony pipe clamps
about a half-dozen misc. C clamps, 4"- 6".
One Irwin quik-clamp
Considering the glue up I did this afternoon...not enough.
Around 30 and planning to buy lots more.11 pipe clamps8 irwin quick clamps6 bessey kbody2 c clamp3 F clampHas anyone tryed the R & R stacking clamps? ,In my next trip to USA Im thinking in buying a couple of those clamps.
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