There are several things that woodworkers never have enough of. Time,
money, wood, space, ideas, tools, etc. And clamps is way up there on the
list.

Wayne

"Bob Peterson" wrote in message
...
I have been cleaning up my workshop/garage lately. last night I counted
up
my clamps.

I have 50 spring type clamps of various sizes, but only about 30 clamps
of
other type. Amazing how one accumulates such things over time. i would
never have guessed I had more than 80 clamps.

"Michael Baglio" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 22:33:30 -0500, "Robert Rushing"
wrote:

I'm in need of some clamps. I was looking at pipe clamps and have a few
questions. I will be gluing up a small cabinet and need atleast six
clamps.
Working in the 36 to 48" range is 3/4 pipe clamp necessary are will a
1/2
work ok?

No disrespect intended to those who say 1/2 inch clamps bend under
use, but I've not had that experience.

The clamping force necessary to edge glue boards together isn't
anywhere near the amount exerted by 1/2" clamps, so in that
application 3/4" clamps are overkill.

I suppose it's possible to bend 1/2 inch clamps by yoinking hard
enough on them to try to straighten badly out-of-square casework
carcasses, but before I loaded up on 3/4 inch clamps I think I'd spend
the time adjusting my machinery and my technique so that the joints
I'm gluing up are square to begin with.

Fwiw, I've got a rack full of cheaper'n'dirt HF 1/2" clamps that have
done everything I've asked of them. Yeah, they can be frustrating at
times but you can't beat em for bang-for-the-buck.

Part of it's a space issue, too. Since my workbench/outfeed table/
table saw is also my "assembly table", anything I clamp up has to be
moved. Which means it needs to be picked up. By _me._ Know how much
8 pieces of 3/4" pipe, each 4' long, _weighs?_ Add to that the weight
of the project, and it's a lot of damn weight to be picking up and
carefully avoiding hitting things with. Just something to consider.

Michael