Sawdust on the Floor

If I were to ask you to make a list of the things that every woodworking shop will NEVER have enough of, I am sure that the list would include some very obvious things like lumber, glue , finishing materials, and of course Clamps.

I wish I could tell you that there is one type of clamp that will satisfy every need in your shop. But unless you are performing a single operation on the same size piece of wood over and over again there is no one clamp that will always work. The type of work that you are performing normally will direct the type of clamp that need.

My favorite clamp for most of the large work in my shop is the pipe clamp. What I like about the pipe clamp , is that the length is not set if you need a longer or shorter clamp, simply change the pipe. I currently have a collection of both ½” and ¾” pipe clamps, with lengths that run from 36” to a couple that are 72” long. I also prefer to use pipe clamps over bar clamps for glue ups of stock. I like to really tighten down on the clamps, and have found that the bar clamps tend to deflect, or bend when tighten securely, which move the glue up out of alignment.

Bar clamps are great for light duty glue up. While pipe clamps have less deflection, they are heavy and can damage smaller projects. The biggest difference in Bar clamps other than cost, are the thickness of the bar, and design of the ends. Bessey, shown at the right, have heavy gauge bars, and large parallel clamps points. Other manufactures use lighter bar and have smaller clamp points. The lighter weight clamps also have a flexible contact point on the movable portion of the clamp. There is nothing wrong with either the Bessey style clamp, or the standard bar clamp, both work very well. Which is better for you really depends on how deep your tool budget is. I would very strongly recommend that you stay away from the bargain box clamps, the flexible points don’t work on them, making them almost useless.

I recently saw a new option for clamping your work, vacuum clamping. The use of vacuum clamping in woodworking is not a new concept. A lot of woodworkers who work with veneers use vacuum clamps as a method of hold the veneer until the glue has set up. This method required that the project be placed inside a bag, that is then sealed and a vacuum is pulled on the bag. This creates equal pressure on all parts inside the bag.

This new concept is intended for to be used as a hold down for your work piece. Instead of using a vacuum pump, these clamps use your shop air compressor to create the vacuum. The clamp is connected to your compressor via flexible hose, and a manifold, that is basically and on/off valve

The clamp is offered in two styles, a single sided clamp that you bolt to your work space, and a double sided clamp, that’s clamps itself to your work surface. Seems like a really good idea for those smaller projects, costs aren’t really that bad either. One note, the hoses and fittings are standard and are available at your local DIY store. There is a replacement seal offered by the manufacture, that I think would be a good thing to have in your spares bag. There is nothing worse than having to go find specialty seals late at night or on a Sunday when all of the stores are closed. And if your luck is like mine, they wouldn’t have it, even of they were open.

No matter what type of clamp you choose to use, please use them. There is nothing more dangerous then a piece of wood that goes flying across your shop because it wasn’t secured when you ran your router or sander across it.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking Hand Tools – Spring Clamps