Carpenters question
What is your best or most versatile bar clamp in your woodworking arsenal? I have two pairs of the Irwin clamps but they really don’t have the clamping power that you need sometimes.
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I have a little bit of everything but Bessey makes up the majority.
Also use their pipe clamps, h style and the regular ones.
I have some older 48" Irwin bar clamps that are as stout as any of em.
Are you talking about the ratcheting, pistol grip Irwin?
If so they are pretty much worthless
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Yessir exactly they are basically another set of hands at best but no power.Comment
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I mostly use clamps for cabinet doors, and panels that are very similar to doors.
The bulk of my clamps are 1/2" pipe clamps. I started with just a few Pony brand. After a while, I wanted to be able to clamp up 8 panels at a time, so I bought 16 pipe clamp sets off of Amazon. I'm sure they're Chinese. They had a pin that held them together, that kept falling out, so I replaced all those with a little machine screw and nylock nut. The majority of the stuff I do is less than 12" wide, so I bought 18" pipe nipples to makeup the clamps. I do have a few 36" and a couple 48". I also have two 60" pipes and couplings, so I can really make up whatever length clamp I need.
I also have a drawer full of the quick grip type clamps, but rarely use those.Comment
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Do you have a problem with the 1/2 pipe bowing under pressure? Now that I think of it you just need something strong enough to hold a joint together while it’s being glued or fastened.Comment
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I have a couple of these I picked up on sale and really like them. Just pipe clamps other than that which work well enough for my needs. Never had an issue with the strength of the 1/2" pipe.
Best $25 I've ever spent if you use pipe clamps. Only thing consistently organized in my shop lol.Comment
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I've never had an issue with the 1/2" pipe. Like you mentioned, it just needs to hold the joint together.
Bob, I have 2 of these racks, full.
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