The versatility of medium to small screw clamps

[FestitaMakool]

The more I use them, the more I love them.
Screw clamps…

The adjustability and to force two or more pieces of wood together, with Millimeter accuracy.
I do like the lever clamps, but the finesse and the force even the smallest screw clamps can do makes them incredibly handy. As when forcing two long 2x6” together and making them straight:

These Besseys (in the middle) with the combination of lever and screw action is my go-to for carpentry, both that they can easily be operated as one handed to clamp something in place and later screw tighter with high force, and they grip very well even when used skewed as here.

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[Imemiter]

You've convinced me to order two. Thanks!

 

[Packard]

I will have to count when I get home but I may have as many as two dozen small bar clamps plus two Festool track clamps.

I have a few Bessey clamps, but mostly the less expensive Harbor Freight clamps.  I have found that typically, the smaller clamps are required to have less clamping force.  So the cheaper H-F clamps work out well. But you don’t want them in the 24” or longer sizes.  The bar is too light duty and will bend into an arc when you apply pressure.  The shorter ones do better in that regard.

I also have two 5” deep c-clamps and two 8” deep c-clamps.  Not needed often, but when needed, a solution to a problem.

The old axiom is that you cannot have too many clamps. But I just glued up a mid-century style screen door.  It had two vertical pieces about 78” and 5 horizontal pieces about 28”.  The limiting factor was not the clamps, it was the open time on the glue.

There were 20 dowels to glue and 10 joints to clamp.  It turns out that I had plenty of time, but I felt the pressure to rush.

Some research after the glue-up shows that Titebond WWIII has a 10 minute open time but 25 minute total time including clamping.

Still, I get the feeling that I have enough clamps for a one-man shop.

 

[FestitaMakool]

[member=71322]Imemiter[/member] - Nice to hear! I dismissed mine at first, but later I realised that these suits carpentry like tasks better than anyone else I had tried before. Before starting this project I’m at now, I cleaned and lubed them and are enjoying them very much as a pair of extra hands, and they double serve in glue up.

Here’s more describing photos, lumber isn’t necessary always straight.. this method with clamping both ends perfectly parallel to each other and a large screw in each end before parallel shifting the two 2x6” together with the large clamp at an angle where each end of the clamp pushes each board into perfectly parallel sandwich. No glue here as these will be upright posts, so only 1/4x3,5” (6x90mm) screws .

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[smorgasbord]

Call me old-fashioned, but I still love the decades-old Jorgenson wooden handscrew clamps that I have.

If you wanted to buy some, I think these are the only ones still made in the US:https://www.infinitytools.com/handscrew-clamps

 

[luvmytoolz]

I do a huge amount of small glue ups using probably 50-60 80mm x 250mm F clamps at a time, so those Bessey ones would be incredibly useful for me, but at $130AUD ea they're effectively unobtanium in the numbers I'd need.

I've got a bunch of the Bessey edge clamps and love them, terrific quality, but for that money I can buy 20 of the cheaper F clamps like the pic attached, which over time have proven to be really good quality and robust!

 

[FestitaMakool]

Call me old-fashioned, but I still love the decades-old Jorgenson wooden handscrew clamps that I have.

If you wanted to buy some, I think these are the only ones still made in the US:https://www.infinitytools.com/handscrew-clamps

Ditto - I recently discovered these, incredibly versatile!
Ordered mine from both Lee Valley and Fine-Tools in Germany:
(Some, including Fine-Tools also have hardware kits so you can build from your own preferred wood)
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[Vtshopdog]

What type of jobs do you guys find the old school wooden clamps most useful for?
I have some around but seldom reach for them and would love your suggestions for future reference.

 

[luvmytoolz]

What type of jobs do you guys find the old school wooden clamps most useful for?
I have some around but seldom reach for them and would love your suggestions for future reference.

I use mine for clamping odd shaped stuff, just last night I needed to cut thin sections off a 130mm solid rod of HDPE using the bandsaw, which would normally be extremely dangerous. Using one of my large wooden clamps it gripped it tight and gave me two solid bases to sit on the table so I could safely push it through without risk of it spinning. I also use them quite a bit to hold small stock on my CNC that would normally be difficult to clamp down, by clamping them in the wooden clamp, and then use normal clamps to clamp the wooden clamps to my CNC table.

They're really surprisingly handy generally, and the grip is quite astounding.

 

[smorgasbord]

The larger ones also have deep throats, which bar clamps don't have and only really expensive C clamps do have.

And since the jaws are relatively wide, the total clamping surface area is large, so they don't dent your project.

 

[six-point socket II]

Ordered me a pair of Bessey EHZ30-2K. Thank you for pointing them out!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[ChuckM]

What type of jobs do you guys find the old school wooden clamps most useful for?
I have some around but seldom reach for them and would love your suggestions for future reference.

The wooden clamps are called handscrews, and I have a dozen of them in various sizes. Among other uses, I use them to hold small pieces instead of my hands when milling them with the bandsaw or router. I also use them to hold a torch at an angle to heat the branding iron.

Google "handscrew," and you'll find many applications.

 

[waho6o9]

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Cut outs in the hand screws increase their versatility.  Some folks drill a hole in the end to hold dowels.

All the Best

 

[Imemiter]

[member=71322]Imemiter[/member] - Nice to hear! I dismissed mine at first, but later I realised that these suits carpentry like tasks better than anyone else I had tried before. Before starting this project I’m at now, I cleaned and lubed them and are enjoying them very much as a pair of extra hands, and they double serve in glue up.

One-handed positioning has been a must-have feature for me. So much so that I've put up with the relatively weak clamping power of the 24" Irwins for years now. The 24" more for the throat depth than the clamping span. That, and the slightly larger grip seems to give me a little more pressure. Those Bessey bar clamps with screwdriver handle seemed like they'd be the ticket, but they haven't been that easy to position with one hand. Looking forward to trying these out next week!

   

 

[FestitaMakool]

Think you’re going to like them guys! [member=71322]Imemiter[/member] and [member=61712]six-point socket II[/member]
As long as you know their best use.
I bought mine long ago, and I just did an price check locally  [blink] I surely didn’t pay that much but it was some years ago… one forget fast  [big grin].

Hope you share once you have received and put them to your test!

 

[Rutabagared]

They're not one-handers, but I've found these clamps from Lee Valley to be exceptional regardless of price (they're cheap!).  They engage better than any f-style clampe I've ever used, are cheap and have protector pads that stay put! (can't say that about some others).  I always add a couple to an order.

 

[FestitaMakool]

They're not one-handers, but I've found these clamps from Lee Valley to be exceptional regardless of price (they're cheap!).  They engage better than any f-style clampe I've ever used, are cheap and have protector pads that stay put! (can't say that about some others).  I always add a couple to an order.

If we are talking about Bessey EHZ30-2K - Yes they are.
An added bonus is that the pump lever works both ways, so you can both pump from the bar side as well as the screw handle side, and finish it off with high clamping force with the screw handle.

 

[Rutabagared]

Apologies for the confusion.  I was not referring to the Bessey's, but the Lee Valley clamps.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.They engage better than any f-style clampe I've ever used, are cheap and have protector pads that stay put! (can't say that about some others).  I always add a couple to an order.

Amen. Those from KMS Tools, also made in China, are even cheaper, but are also slightly not as robust as LVT's. I threw in one or two to my orders from time to time to meet the minimum free shipping purchase limit. Now, I have half an dozen of them.

 

[six-point socket II]

Think you’re going to like them guys! [member=71322]Imemiter[/member] and [member=61712]six-point socket II[/member]
As long as you know their best use.
I bought mine long ago, and I just did an price check locally  [blink] I surely didn’t pay that much but it was some years ago… one forget fast  [big grin].

Hope you share once you have received and put them to your test!

Yeah, Bessey doesn't come cheap these days, if they have ever ...

Thing is, clamps totally fly under the radar for me as I don't do a lot of glue ups. I basically have what I need for what I do, but having an additional, highly versatile, pair is never wrong. Just looking them up the other day showed a lot of "new to me" products by Bessey I had never seen before, so maybe there are some future purchases to follow ...

Kind regards,
Oliver