Essential Clamp Kit
What clamps to have and why you should have them
Synopsis: If you’re just getting started building a collection of clamps for your workshop, here are some guidelines from someone who’s been at it for quite a few years. From bar clamps to spring clamps, Jeff Miller provides a roundup of the clamps he uses every day, with advice on how many you’ll need so that you can tackle any project.
The old chestnut is true—you can never have too many clamps. But which clamps you need depends on the type of work you’re doing. As a general rule, you should buy the clamps best suited for the primary work you do, but you’ll also need a more general selection of clamps for the wide range of projects and shop tasks you’ll encounter. Assuming a finite budget, you’ll need to make some choices to build an appropriate clamp kit for your shop.
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Comments
The bar clamps sure seem like the thing to get , but, no one seems to make them anymore. After a half hour search on the internet the only thing I could find were a few very limited selections of the I-beam style. Based on the color yours were Jorgenson's but they are out of business. Any suggestions?
I found the same thing as the first commentor - is this a rehash article from many years ago? These type of clamps do not seem to exist any longer.
This is not an old article. I've found i-beam clamps on craigslist very easily. Yes, jorgenson is out of business, as of a few months ago. These are the tools that Jeff Miller uses, not the tools that everyone uses. Many people feel that parallel jaw clamps are mistakenly left out, but this is Jeff's take article and he doesn't use them.
As for the I-beam clamps, Bessey is supposed to be releasing I-beam clamps that look suspiciously like red colored Jorgenson's very soon.
Wilton also makes notched bar (I-beam clamps), though I've had trouble tracking down a distributor for them.
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