Clamps?

I went to the store today to look at clamps.  They had C clamps, and all sorts of modern clamps.  Light duty, medium duty, heavy duty, and extra heavy duty.

 

Any thoughts on what to get and how many?

 

I am so confused!!!  

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Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on September 20, 2013 at 6:05am

Chris, 

I bought several sets of these...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Irwin-Quick-Grip-Clamp-Set-8-Piece-49355...

They were all that I needed.

Good luck!

Guy

 

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on September 20, 2013 at 7:07am

Chris, I agree with Guy on the Irwin clamps. I also use a variety of clamps. Harbor Freight has some good c-clamps that are often cheap. Their Irwin copy clamps can't hold two pieces of paper together in my opinion.

As far as number of clamps it depends on what project you are doing. I obviously used quite a few here.

Rick N

Permalink Reply by Rojo on September 20, 2013 at 11:05am
Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on September 20, 2013 at 12:02pm

Cris:  I have been confused for most of my life.   My building experience  indicates 3" C  clamps do most of the work.  three dozen, then  4-6 6" clamps  and a few Irwins.  I think the "spring" clamps about 1-2" aren't much use.   Remember to use clamping pads to avoid beating up gunwales etc.- Saves a lot of sanding.

Good Luck 

Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on September 20, 2013 at 1:49pm

Hey Chris,

I typically use 18 3" c clamps and 18 5" c clamps (Harbor freight). I like to dry fit all the ribs before assembly. 2-4 Irwins are nice to have as well (6" is on sale right now at Ace hardware for 5 bucks).

Mike

Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on September 20, 2013 at 5:18pm

Christopher, 

C-Clamps are a necessary tool. in building a DB.  You can''t have too many.  You'll need at least 20 or more (see Rick's Pic).  I have about 40 4 inch clamps.  To avoid marking the Chine Logs, sheer Rails, etc on the boat use a thin piece of wood under the anvil and clamp contact surface and you will NOT mark the part you are trying to secure in place.  Paint stir sticks work well for that, but you can make your own longer ones.

I'll get 3-4 each time I go to Harbor Freight with their 20% off coupons or on sale they are a better deal than anywhere else I can find them here locally.

Harbor Freight has their 3" and 4" c-clamps on sale in their online ad.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=c-clamps

The Irwin Blue clamps from Home Depot are good too but a lot more costly.  Guy posted some pics in his build using a bunch of them.  They do work well, I have 4 of them.  As Rick testified, the Harbor Freight copy of them arn't worth the material they are made from.

G'Luck

Dorf

Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on September 23, 2013 at 8:40am

  "You can never have too many clamps"....that is one of the rules of boatbuilding...

  Really.  My favorite clamps, which I think are no longer sold new, are Wetzler. 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Carpentry-Woodworking-/13870/i.html?_fln=1&...

   Wetzlers are well worth searching out for ease of use and durability.  I have about a dozen in three sizes that are my most-used clamps, both in my shop and when I carpenter on house jobs.

    In my small shop I think I have about 60 clamps of various types and sizes....During one gunwhale project I had almost all of them on a boat at one time, laminating. 

  Nothing makes for a better joint than to dry-fit it first with clamps...then go back with the goo and then install some real screws or through bolts..  One should put something in each fastener hole, too,  if you are building a boat..

Permalink Reply by Tym Trefren on September 25, 2013 at 5:31pm

Try these, I saw them here awhile back and have made a few of various lengths and they work great.

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?150344-Lapstrake-clamps

Permalink Reply by twoblacklabs on September 25, 2013 at 6:57pm

Great link. The best part is the reply "Your clamps look better than my boat."

Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on September 25, 2013 at 6:22pm

Those Lapstrake clamps are cool. A slight variation on those would work great for clamping the ribs into place when driving in the nails.

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