Long Clamp Advice

[HowdyNeighbour!]

I have been slowly expanding my very humble and cheap clamp collection but so far I haven't plunged into getting any long bar/body clamps. Not doing any big joinery work so no need for sash clamps I feel. So far, for cabinets and joining laminates I've been relying on a strap that is supposed to be used as a bin lock so very far from adequate, and the bloody students, (I mean non-howdy neighbours) are using my bins again! At present the Bessey Uniklamps are on sale 4 x 800mm for £103 and 4 x 1000mm for £113 (on the bessey website and also on toolchimp). I was eyeing up the cheap no brand orange ones on ebay but these prices are not that far off of those. I've almost used up my monthly "boys toys" budget as the good wife calls it and was hoping to use what I had left to buy some hardwood timber this weekend at the monthly local forestry sale but then I saw these. I'm not sure if this is an especially good price or the usual "sale" price 6 months out of the year? What should I do? Local wood or big clamps? Are the Uniklamps worth the hype or any other alternatives?

 

[Inspector]

Don't have the Uniklamps but do have the older K-body. They are good. Before getting them I used Jorgensen Pony pipe clamps. Great thing about them is being Abe to switch the heads for longer pipes or use pipe couplers to add length. The Bessey visions will be a good bet if you can get the pipes at a reasonable price.

Pete

 

[HowdyNeighbour!]

Hmm, that is a good point, with just buying the heads you can stick any length of pipe in there for the most versatility. Is there any pros and cons of pipe clamp vs parallel body clamps? or are they interchangeable in use/function?

A set of 4 Bessey pipe clamp heads for 3/4” is about £88, but a quick look online it looks like getting the right sized pipe with threading isn’t easy or cheap.

Sooo, it’s a better long term investment to hold off the uniklamps and to spend a bit more money for a set of pipe clamp heads and get a selection of different lengths of pipes?

 

[fleyh]

I know you mentioned that not looking for sash clamps, but have you considered Sash Clamp Heads?
Having those you can quickly make clamps of any length (even from timber off-cuts) and switch between different lengths easily.
To give you an idea what I am talking about:

 

[Spectric]

Hmm, that is a good point, with just buying the heads you can stick any length of pipe in there for the most versatility. Is there any pros and cons of pipe clamp vs parallel body clamps? or are they interchangeable in use/function?

A long pipe will flex more than a clamp with a stamped H body but the pipe gives versatility with lengths, with the Bessey clamps you can also use supports like these when clamping panels Bessey Framing Set Kp from Westcountry Machinery 4 Wood and also join them to get a longer one from two shorter ones using Bessey K Body Extender Kbx from Westcountry Machinery 4 Wood

 

[Yojevol]

Hmm, that is a good point, with just buying the heads you can stick any length of pipe in there for the most versatility. Is there any pros and cons of pipe clamp vs parallel body clamps? or are they interchangeable in use/function?

A set of 4 Bessey pipe clamp heads for 3/4” is about £88, but a quick look online it looks like getting the right sized pipe with threading isn’t easy or cheap.

Sooo, it’s a better long term investment to hold off the uniklamps and to spend a bit more money for a set of pipe clamp heads and get a selection of different lengths of pipes?

If you fancy a pair of sash cramp heads as in the above video, I have a spare pair. I'm sure we could come to an agreement that would meet with your good wife's approval AND allow purchase of more of the lovely hardwood (although not much at today's prices).
Brian

 

[Sideways]

I think the Bessey flat face style clamps are a great tool for glue ups. Not something that I use a lot but a real nice to have. I think the key is to take advantage of the sales. You have to jump on them when the opportunity shows up. I'd never have bought otherwise.
Also, I cheaped out and bought the Axminster own brand. Not quite as good as the Bessey but still decent and a great deal at under £100 for 4 a few years back.
Personally, I find clamps with a round wooden handle hard to tighten up to where I want them. An advantage of the Axminster is the two part plastic handle giving better grip and that these pivot sideways so that you can get extra leverage. I wouldn't buy any clamp with just a simple straight wooden handle.

 

[Orraloon]

When I built a queen size bed I needed 2 clamps a tad over 2m long. Those clamp ends that you attach to a length of wood was the answer.
About 25 quid for the clamp ends and some building demolition wood.

I did explore the pipe clamp option but the pipe is not cheap and would be too flexible over long lengths. They are actually longer than I needed but I was reluctant to cut the wood shorter as who knows what future needs may be.
Regards
John

 

[HowdyNeighbour!]

Thanks everyone for all the different perspectives, and for highlighting the not-so-obvious considerations about the different types of options for long clamps. It seems that clamps fall into the category of tools where the answer to the question How Many? is “you need all of the clamps” XD

Joking aside very appreciative of having different options, Brian, you are extremely kind, I will send you a PM. I think you are right Sideways, take advantage of sales, a lot of my nice tools and equipment are from sales. Those add ins Spectric linked also look interesting. Certainly the framing set has similar 3d printable things out there.

I think with a set of the Besseys that are good to go, and Brian’s clamp heads to play DIY with, I should be sorted and I can experiment with other different home made options in the meantime.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Just to add my 2p worth. I have Bessey parallel jaw clamps. I have no doubt they were the best I could buy at the time, HOWEVER I rarely use they full ability and turn to lighter clamps first most often (Bessey and other makes). I think the point I am making is we over engineer what we actually need for clamping pressure and rarely is it 8000N!

 

[thetyreman]

I have the uniklamps and they are very good, for my needs more than enough pressure, I also have some sash cramps that I bought from rutlands for times when I need extra force, but they are very heavy being made from steel and cast iron, I use both for different purposes, and need quite a few more uniklamps.

 

[John Hall]

The T section 136 / 138 series Record sash clamps are good and can be found fairly cheaply on EBay, if you can find them locally without postage costs

 

[matkinitice]

So I've got a problem coming up in the next few weeks. Building a bookcase that exceeds my longest clamps.

I've not actually done this yet but I have seen it on Youtube, can't remember the source but it seemed genius.

You take a piece of scrap and use a couple of smaller clamps to clamp it across the width of a shelve, near both ends. Then with the side of the carcass you clamp using your standard clamps 600mm or whatever by clamping the edge of the scrap and side. This in theory negates the need for 2m+ clamps or whatever. This then should pull the shelve tight into the joint while gluing. I'll report back on this in the coming weeks.

The other thing to consider is draw boring. You don't need clamps then, obviously this only works with mortice and tenon joinery.

Basically there's always a way without buying specialist clamps. Anything over 1.2m seems overkill unless you're going to use them loads.

Failing this I have some ratchet straps that I could try.

One thing I know is crap though, Americans recommending pipe clamps. The price of metal pipe negates any savings even if the clamp heads are cheapo.

 

[Alwyn]

Previous post. I had similar problem assembling a dresser- sash cramps too short. To overcome this I used lengths of 12mm threaded rod with wooden battens and it solved the problem at a low cost.

 

[baldkev]

I know you mentioned that not looking for sash clamps, but have you considered Sash Clamp Heads?
Having those you can quickly make clamps of any length (even from timber off-cuts) and switch between different lengths easily.
To give you an idea what I am talking about:

If you got lovejoys clamp heads, look for a length of 2x1 box steel. 3mm thick will be good. Box steel easily available in 5m or 7.5m lengths, so you can go as long as you want

 

[Yojevol]

If you got lovejoys clamp heads, look for a length of 2x1 box steel. 3mm thick will be good. Box steel easily available in 5m or 7.5m lengths, so you can go as long as you want

This is why I had a spare set. I've got 2 others mounted on steel box section tube. I can join the 2 together which gives me a 9' capability, however in 22 years I've only used it once in that mode.
Brian

 

[rogxwhit]

You can never have enough cramps or the right cramps for every job, so you improvise. There's nothing like a T-bar cramp, but sash cramps can be overlapped in opposition and screwed together to increase length. Ratchet straps are absolutely invaluable and can address huge frames. I recycle thick card corner protectors that some things come packed with by chopping them into short lengths to use under ratchet straps where a strap goes round an arris, to stop the strap indenting the wood. Sometimes with odd shapes it's expedient to screw on temporary blocks for cramps to engage with.

 

[Hpps]

I recently bought some 6' long sash clamps off ebay, 4 for £75. They didn't turn up on time so I had to improvise with my shorter cheapo aluminium bodied sash clamps by removing the sliding ends and drilling and bolting the bar sections together leaving the tightening end on each end - it actually worked very well.

The ebay clamps eventually arrived and were awfull as expected. The one thing I wasn't expecting was for them to be twisted along their length, especially as they were steel, this made them nealy useless when trying to keep something in square whilest glueing up.

 

[Fergie 307]

If you got lovejoys clamp heads, look for a length of 2x1 box steel. 3mm thick will be good. Box steel easily available in 5m or 7.5m lengths, so you can go as long as you want

I have a couple of sets of very similar ones by Record, very handy to have.