Where do folks buy their clamps?

mattbyington

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Joined
Mar 11, 2018
Messages
797
Sorry for the basic question.

I want to get rid of all my crappy clamps and upgrade to Bessey clamps.

Amazon sells them and so does Rockler.com

But I've seen some horrid reviews of the way they are shipped (a lot of them arriving damaged).

Anyone have a good site that they can vouch for shipping wise?

Thanks!!

Matt
 
I’ve ordered from amazon when they were selling them at half off (been a few years since I’ve seen a deal on Revo’s).  The little plastic clips on the ends broke despite the extra cardboard Bessey put on the ends.  The rest of the clamps were beefy enough to survive the journey and a quick call to bessey was enough to resolve the broken bits (shipped to my door in a few days).

The other option is to get the Jet clamps when they come on sale around Black Friday.
 
Thank you [member=21249]RKA[/member] .

Yeah I think Amazon is an OK option I just hate when folks don't ship stuff properly!

[member=64030]TinyShop[/member] I was just reading up on that, thanks for the heads up!!

Matt
 
I’ve been ordering mine from Home Depot. Cheaper than Rockler. Also you can have them shipped to store for free and inspect them before taking them home. They also stock some of them in store.
 
I only use Bessey clamps - Mostly different lengths of K-Body Parallel clamps.
The “Fixed Body” version clamps are great.
The ”Vario Body” version clamps are even better (more flexibility).
Bessey’s ARE expensive - But they’re “THE standard” when it comes to clamps -
Worth every penny - And they’ll last you a lifetime.
Yes... It took me a few years - A few at a time - To aquire “enough”.
Caveat > Old woodworkers’ saying: “You never have enough clamps”. [wink]
Just start somewhere.

I bought quite a few from Amazon. Good prices. Yes. Their packaging is terrible -
With many of the reviews decrying breakage from poor/no wrapping/packaging inside the shipping box.
I guess I was lucky - Several orders - No damage.  [smile]
Also got some from Home Depot - And from Rockler - When at “sale” prices.
Johnnyrocket’s comments are “spot on” - Regarding Home Depot.

I also highly recommend:
Bessey LM2.004 (4”) LM General Purpose Clamps - 10 to 12
Bessey KP Rail and Stile Jig - Set of 4 Blocks
Bessey K Body® Clamp Extenders - At least 2
Bessey Heavy-Duty Right Angle Clamps - 4
 
mattbyington said:
Thank you [member=21249]RKA[/member] .

Yeah I think Amazon is an OK option I just hate when folks don't ship stuff properly!

[member=64030]TinyShop[/member] I was just reading up on that, thanks for the heads up!!

Matt

If you missed it, there's also this separate (but related) discussion happening right now elsewhere on the forum.
 
RDMuller said:
Ask Rockler if they will price match home depot

That might be an option if Rockler was offering the Revolution clamps...which, as of the present, they are not.
 
Keep your eyes open and shop around. Just get what you really  need  until you find a really good sale.  Which usually ends up being Amazon.  I am up to 100 Bessey parallel (K bodies, and Revo) some in every length. I probably only paid full price for about eight. I'd say half price for 75 and the rest at about 25% off.

Some years ago amazon had a really good sale and I think I got about 50 of them. Packing was bad especially on the long ones. But for the price ( saved about $1,000) it was well worth dealing with and they replaced all that were damaged. Which was maybe six or eight.

Seth
 
I buy a lot of things from ZORO.  After you buy from them they regularly issue 20-25% off categories.  I do the same thing that I do with Amazon, I put things in my cart and let them sit there until they issue a sale I'm willing to buy.  I always walk thru Lowe's and Home Depot's tool isles whenever there to check out their sale drops. You never know what they might be discounting.
 
thanks so much everyone. Really appreciate all the replies.

I think I'll do the "ship to Home Depot store and check them out". Sounds like the lowest risk.

Seth - 100!!!

[scared] [scared]
 
I just buy them when I need them. I dont need a lot of them anymore maybe a a couple more or 4 at the most of the 24" clamps.
 
[member=1619]SRSemenza[/member]  you broke the old clamp adage ... unless you are building bridges, you have TOO MANY clamps  [tongue]

Mario
 
I am sure there are people that have more. I do think I have enough for what I do and the way I work at this point. I started with the common sizes. Lots of 24".  Then a pretty even spread going up (40", 50", 60") in size including four 84" and four 98".  Then I started filling in the other sizes. I ended up with some 30", and quite a lot of 12" and 18". I kept finding that the longer clamp bars were always sticking out or up in the way around the shop when used on small pieces.

It's a build up sort of process.

Seth
 
I would also add to this list the Bessey pivot jaws:https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-KR-AS-Parallel-Pivoting-Adaptor/dp/B001HSO6WW

which extend the clamping surface and come in handy when clamping non-parallel materials.

The Bessey strap clamp, which do chairs and mitered box constructions:https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-VAS-23-2K-Variable-Composite/dp/B00NO6XHZC

And I've been loving recently the Bessey duoKlamps, which have become my go to trigger clamps along with my 6" dewalt triggers:https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-DUO65-8-24-Inch-DuoKlamp-Spreader/dp/B0002H49OY

Also might make sense to invest in some pipe clamp fittings (in 3/4" or 1/2") that will allow you to create clamps of varying length as needed:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/BESSEY-...e-Set-for-3-4-in-Black-Pipe-BPC-H34/204986131https://www.homedepot.com/p/BESSEY-...e-Set-for-1-2-in-Black-Pipe-BPC-H12/204986130

As someone has already said, you can never have too many clamps.  But these are the sort of thing that you can definitely source for less than full cost provided that you keep an eye out on the regular for deals and second-hand offerings.

Joe Felchlin said:
I only use Bessey clamps - Mostly different lengths of K-Body Parallel clamps.
The “Fixed Body” version clamps are great.
The ”Vario Body” version clamps are even better (more flexibility).
Bessey’s ARE expensive - But they’re “THE standard” when it comes to clamps -
Worth every penny - And they’ll last you a lifetime.
Yes... It took me a few years - A few at a time - To aquire “enough”.
Caveat > Old woodworkers’ saying: “You never have enough clamps”. [wink]
Just start somewhere.

I bought quite a few from Amazon. Good prices. Yes. Their packaging is terrible -
With many of the reviews decrying breakage from poor/no wrapping/packaging inside the shipping box.
I guess I was lucky - Several orders - No damage.  [smile]
Also got some from Home Depot - And from Rockler - When at “sale” prices.
Johnnyrocket’s comments are “spot on” - Regarding Home Depot.

I also highly recommend:
Bessey LM2.004 (4”) LM General Purpose Clamps - 10 to 12
Bessey KP Rail and Stile Jig - Set of 4 Blocks
Bessey K Body® Clamp Extenders - At least 2
Bessey Heavy-Duty Right Angle Clamps - 4
 
My Home Depot here in Richmond VA has the new Revo clamps at the old "we need to get rid of these old clamps" price.[emoji106]

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 
I just came from Homedepot and bought a KRE3.524 for $16. dont know if the system is wrong or the clamp are on sale.

788502203746 CLAMP 24IN       16.00
    BESSEY REVO PARALLEL CLAMP 24X3-3/4
 
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