pipe clamps give ultimate clamping power

[Electric Comet]

for me 3/4" pipe clamps using black pipe can not be beat for sheer clamping power

well i suppose there are clamps meant for welding that are equal or better but pipe clamps are common in woodworking consistent sturdy durable cheap powerful

one annoyance is if they build up with glue but that is more operator error i usually focus on the project and forget about the clamps when i am unclamping

then i am reminded to scrape off the glue next time i use them not having used the bar clamps i do not know how the glue effects the usability

[Leon]

Now there you go! Totally understandable and a reasonable explanation.

Absolutely, I still keep mine for those occasions that I run short on a project.

Rub wax or parifin on the pipes. That will prevent the glue from bonding quite so tightly.

Oddly glue on Cabinet Master clamps is not a big issue and it does come of pretty easily. The Bessey K-Bodies are renown for having problems with glue stick on the bars. So much so that the new style Bessey K-body clamps actually come with stand off pads to prevent the project from coming indirect contact with the bars. This either prevents glue from coming in direct contact with the bar at the joint or lets you easily wipe the glue off before it sets.

[Electric Comet]

will try this out once i scrape off all the glue

was wondering about the glue on those kbody

wow the cabinet master is not cheap definitely out of my range too

clamps are near to being a commodity i think funny thing is i think there is still room for new competition

but maybe prices will go lower with current competitors

[John McCoy]

Electric Comet wrote in news:n1ink8$55n$ [e-mail]:

You might be surprised at how much clamping force can be exerted by a pair of wedges (*).

It's also worth noting that, in woodworking at least, there's such a thing as too much clamping pressure. If you really have to bear down on a clamp to get a joint together, there's something wrong with how it's cut. That's the value of doing a dry run with the clamps, you can fix stuff that doesn't come together right before it's covered with sticky glue.

(* technically the wedges and the screw clamp are the same thing, both variations on the inclined plane)

John

[Leon]

All of them, K body style, seem to be pretty proud of their products. The good news is that the old name brands have a life time warranty and do hold up for years on end. But then I would expect nothing less for clamps like this.

I think Jet and Irwin were thinking that, but they too are high priced. I'm wondering why Bessey had lowered prices on some of their clamps so much. Even the pipe clamps.

Hope so but only if the quality does not suffer. IIRC Bessey are German and Cabinet Masters are USA. Others are from where most every thing else comes from.

[Leon]

What would be the indicator of too much pressure?

Not glue starvation, a thin joint is a strong joint. Maybe damaging the surface.

[Electric Comet]

the sound of splintering wood

see above

[Leon]

My clamps have broken before the wood cracked. LOL

[Electric Comet]

i am not sure i could crank my pipe clamps down hard enough to break them at least not by hand

even so the wood would splinter way before the pipe clamp broke

[Martin Eastburn]

[krw]

WOrkpiece shattered into toothpicks? ;-)

How about warping?

[J. Clarke]

Depends on the wood. Balsa, sure. Lignum vitae, not so much.

[John McCoy]

Leon wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I think the most common would be a panel that seperates or cracks, because the clamps were used to force two boards together that hadn't been jointed straight enough.

They are all things that a careful worker would find and fix during a dry run, but we all know that guy who just forces things together and hopes for the best.

(I do recall argueing, probably 20 years ago, that you couldn't cause glue starvation by clamping. At that time opinion on rec.ww leaned the other way.)

John

[Leon]

Well Yeah. LOL

I tend to make do with the materials I get. Plywood seems to be hit or miss these days. A few years ago I had to clamp panels into submission. ;~) IIRC it was a 4', 3/4" thick panel that needed to fit into a groove On a 4' piece of oak. The panel had so much bow I had to clamp a straight edge to it so that it would be straight enough to go into the groove. I don't worry too much about a bowed board as long as I can cut it the correct length and it will lock into a straight edge at a 90 degree angle.

YES! Glue starvation is a thing, It is when there is not enough glue on the joint to begin with. But as you and I agree never because of clamping too much.