The Big Squeeze Pt. 2

And, at the point when you feel that there is enough pressure, the glue join is nice and tight. You realize that you could actually tighten it up even more if you want it to and, that is what I mean by satisfying. That is a major improvement over the old ones and I will tell you, these guides are actually finding their way into more and more projects everyday. Now, I just need to get a few different sizes and I will be set.

Now, the last type of clamp that I want to discuss is the parallel clamp. Now, parallel clamp is basically just to modify and bar clamp that got a nice, rigid, square throat that helps keep you working in line while clamping. Now, these are my go to clamps for almost every single project and if you stock up on anything, make it these guides. Now, they can be pricey but there are usually a few big sales a year on either Amazon or Rockler and that is the time to stock up.

Now, if you are frequent on some of the forums, you will not be able to miss these sales because someone always announces it. As you start looking around, you will soon find that there are three primary competitors in this market. Jorgensen, Bessy and Jet so which one should you buy? Now, price wise, it is usually a toss up. Sometimes I see the jets listed as the cheapest and sometimes the Jorgensen’s and sometimes the Bessy’s. But in reality, if you wait for big sale, it just really does not matter.

So, the real question is, do any of these clamps have something that the others do not? Now, the best season that Jorges they are pretty comparable. They are both quality products. There maybe a slight difference or two but nothing really worth noting and, from the longest time, those worthy only two options but not so long ago, Jet stepped into the market.

Now, the Jet’s have several notable features that in my opinion make it the best option out there. First, they got measurement right here on the bar. At first I saw it and I thought well that is great what the hell am I going to do with that. But then I realize that in certain glue ups, if you are trying to get all of your clamps open to the same amount, so while the glue is drying, you can quickly just throw the clamps on the project and you are good to go. These numbers really come in handy.

Another feature is this quick release lever. Out of how many times in a middle of glue up, I am trying to open up a clamp and I got it stocked, wiggling the finger around and shaking it and it is not bulging. This quick release lever actually makes our problem go away.

And, one other feature which is pretty cool but I will probably never use it is the ability to anchor the clamp into a bench using the bench dogs that come with it. Now these simply screw into the clamp in the bottom here and then drop down into the holes on your bench. It basically just holds the piece in position which is pretty cool for some applications.

Now, another important feature of the Jets is the size of the clamping head. You can actually see the difference between this Bessy and the jet. It is probably, I would say, I do not know, it is 20% larger than the Bessy and that is pretty significant for clamping.

And, the last thing which is a minor detail but a major improvement is the handle. Now, you can get a serious grip on this thing and really crank it down if you want to. In fact, there are times when I could tell that I can actually break the board quite easily if I crank down hard enough. Again, that is a satisfying feeling that I mentioned earlier.

Now, the best thing in Jorgensen is they got a simple cylindrical wooden handle that it kind of tends the slip in your hand when you really crank down. Now, I am not saying throw out all of your old Bessy’s and Jorgensen’s. Far from it, I know some of you guides have some pretty impressive collections but if you real buying some new clamps or if you are just starting out, do yourself a favor and take a look at these Jets.

So, the question comes up all the time, how may clamps should I buy? Well, it is like that you say, you can never have enough. And, let me clarify that you can never have enough of the right type. Now, I got enough sea clamps and spring clamps but I can always use more parallel clamps and F style clamps. At least for me, the ones that I typically need a lot are the small F clamps and the deep throat F clamps as well as the smallest parallel clamps. So, those are the ones that I recommend stocking up on.

Now, in general, I use my parallel clamps far more than any other style clamp in the shop and I absolutely recommend building up your collection over the course of a few years. It is kind of funny because people come into this shop and they think the clamp wall just looks ridiculous. They seem to have a look on their faces that says, “When are you ever going to need that many clamps?” but I can tell you numerous times when the wall was quickly empty by a single project. Now, having all those clamps on hand ensures that you are going to clamp properly and your work is going to improve as a result of it.

Now, if you are always scrounging for clamps and trying to figure out ways to rig up a clamping strategy, your work is going to suffer. Now, if you are really not sure what your needs are going to be, you just can be the starter kit. I got two in the Wood Whisperer store that I recommend, one is from Erwin and the other is from Bessy. It includes a pipe clamp fixture, a couple F style clamps, and a few other things that will help you jump start your collection. And once you start using them, then you quickly realize what you need more of and what you could live without.

And, once you have all these money invested in these clamps, it is extremely important to protect your investment. This means protecting your clamps from glue. Now, you can use things like wax paper or newspaper or even plastic wrap to protect your clamps stirring glue ups. But, honestly, that is just too much for me so what I would like to do is wax the clamps so that any dried glue will scrape off relatively easily.

Now, what are you going to do if you already have glue on your clamps? Well, there is no magic fix unfortunately. Prevention really is the key. But there are two methods that I know of that I get the job done. One is simply scarping off the glue. Now this works fine on the sides of the bar but can be tricky on the rude part of the bar. And those rids for a reason so I really do not like scraping across them. So if you have a heat gun or a small torch, you can heat the glue up and actually soften it to easily scrape it off of the surface.

Now, the second method involved the use of a brass wire wheel hooked up to a drill and the brass will not do any damage to the bar itself but it will do a fine job of not getting off the glue. And when the clamps are all nice and clean again, make sure you wax them. You do not want to have to do this heavy duty cleaning more than once a year if necessary. And, once you have a nice, clean set of clamps, you need a good way to store them.

Now, I have seen some pretty incredible storage systems posted on the forums. Mine is actually pretty simple. The main rock is made from 2 x 2 and poplar and it works great for most of my clamps. A parallel clamp rock is made from plywood and has slots cut out in the tab for each clamp to actually slide into and that is easy enough to make that on the bar also.

As far as you can see, clamps all pretty much do the same thing. We just do it in different ways. Now, it is important for you to determine which clamps work best for your style of woodworking. Once you do that, all that is left is to is stock up. Now remember, many of the items featured in this and every broadcast can be found in the Wood Whisperer store.

So, if you need some clamps and you want to help out the show, the Wood Whisperer store is a great way to do both. Just as an FYI, you might notice a little bit more time passing in between the videos over the next few weeks, I got a number of commissions coming due and they are all happening at the same time as our shop operates. So, things are going to be a little crazy for a while. But, if you are joined in for the Spagnolo which I completely understand, feel free to check out the newly installed webcam on the website. We are still ironing out the details but you should be able to get a peak into the workshop everyday. So until next time happy woodworking.



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