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Box builders what clamps do u suggest?


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Im sure any clamps better than no clamp.  But what type of clamps do you use? What type of clamps do u avoid?

ive been searching amazon and the ones that look well built and have long bars 18/24/36/48 inches are super expensive and are mostly just one clamp, a couple with two clamps per pack but mostly just one. Anyone know of a decent quality, decent length set of clamps for building boxes? 

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I like soft rubber end caps also look for that or you get hard plastic shit that can fall off or you have have to clamp so tight you dent the box. U get what you pay for not a fan of anything harbor freight.

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Over the years I've used a lot of different clamps.  First off what I would recommend you do NOT get are any of the clamps where you buy the ends and then put them on a piece of pipe.  They end up costing more than you would think, they have very shallow throats, and they are just heavy and awkward.  I have a set and I almost never use them.  

The clamps I like the best are my Bessey parallel clamps.
https://www.amazon.com/BESSEY-KRE3524-Parallel-Clamp-Clamping/dp/B07C9R1NDF/
They have deep throats, they are easy to use, and you can REALLY put some clamp force on with them.  However they are VERY expensive.  There are lots of other brands of them (Jet, Jorgensen, Irwin), I think they are all pretty good.  If you are going to use them a lot they are worth the cost.  

On the other end of the spectrum,  I've got a bunch of Harbor Freight F-style clamps:
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-quick-release-bar-clamp-62237.html
They are cheap and actually work really well, they come in all kinds of sizes.  

In the middle are the Yost brand bar clamps and F-clamps:
https://www.amazon.com/Yost-13006-HD-6-Bar-Clamp/dp/B079HGZZ8S/
https://www.amazon.com/Yost-Tools-F118-18-F-Clamp/dp/B078VLK2GB/
These are significantly better than the Harbor Freight clamps and reasonably priced.  I've been very happy with mine.  If I had to buy all my clamps over again I would mostly get these and the Bessey parallel clamps.  

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Ive mostly used the harbor freight style like triticum suggested....but you cant yard on them too much or the rubber handle will strip its threads and start free spinning. Has happened to me on a couple of them. Sometimes hitting up garage sales/yard sales for them is the best. they can be expensive if new, but a lot of people are trying to offload them, just gotta look out.

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8 hours ago, reedal said:

Parts express thats where i havent looked yet, forgot about them thanks for the link, those look decent and  priced well. 

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5 hours ago, Triticum Agricolam said:

Over the years I've used a lot of different clamps.  First off what I would recommend you do NOT get are any of the clamps where you buy the ends and then put them on a piece of pipe.  They end up costing more than you would think, they have very shallow throats, and they are just heavy and awkward.  I have a set and I almost never use them.  

The clamps I like the best are my Bessey parallel clamps.
https://www.amazon.com/BESSEY-KRE3524-Parallel-Clamp-Clamping/dp/B07C9R1NDF/
They have deep throats, they are easy to use, and you can REALLY put some clamp force on with them.  However they are VERY expensive.  There are lots of other brands of them (Jet, Jorgensen, Irwin), I think they are all pretty good.  If you are going to use them a lot they are worth the cost.  

On the other end of the spectrum,  I've got a bunch of Harbor Freight F-style clamps:
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-quick-release-bar-clamp-62237.html
They are cheap and actually work really well, they come in all kinds of sizes.  

In the middle are the Yost brand bar clamps and F-clamps:
https://www.amazon.com/Yost-13006-HD-6-Bar-Clamp/dp/B079HGZZ8S/
https://www.amazon.com/Yost-Tools-F118-18-F-Clamp/dp/B078VLK2GB/
These are significantly better than the Harbor Freight clamps and reasonably priced.  I've been very happy with mine.  If I had to buy all my clamps over again I would mostly get these and the Bessey parallel clamps.  

The bessey jorgensen and bora parallel clamps are the ones i was looking at. I liked how the feet or claws or jaws whatever its called has a wider surface area so theres not alot of pressure in a small point. 

What would you say is the minimum amount of clamps you would need for a box build? Could 4 of those parallels get the job done? 

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When I clamp I clamp like crazy... I wouldnt say you need the best clamps you can get by with many slightly cheaper clamps that will cost less but still put out more than enough clamping force.

I agree with the tube style clamps.. They are just cumbersome to use, and heavy. Especially if you will be moving the enclosure around a little once you got something clamped then they will scratch up your build table. 

I prefer something with rubber on the ends so it doesnt damage the wood much. 
Those Yost Tool clamps with the ball screw tension thing aint too bad and cheap, I used similar Irwin style ones fro a while and they do good, but too much pressure the bar will start to bend.

Id stay away from those chincy corner clamps, Ive tried a few different kinds now and none of them will hold a true 90 degree corner once pressure is applie, I found some hefty duty ones now that work good.

Try to buy as long of a clamp as you can!!

Currently my gotos are masterforce clamps for everything, and they can be changed around to apply outward pressure too if you need to spread something apart.
I also got a lot of little Irwin style F clamps as well that come in handy for doing small panel build ups before marrying those parts to the enclosure.

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