Official Luthiers Forum!

...well I added a couple more to the collection tonight, got a nice deal. Any Canadian friends out there who need C-clamps you better hustle out to Crappy Tire before closing (sale ends today).
Anyone care to take a guess what they cost?

I'd rather not because there's a Canadian Tire down the street from me and if the cost was puny, I'll be upset

$50 USD

Probably about 29 bucks ... unfortunately, they are OK clamps .. I have some older 6 inch CT verisons, and the screws got all well, screwed up .... I prefer Record (blue) or similar from England .. about 5-7 bucks each for a 3 or 4 inch, I have some that are 15 years old and work the same as the day I bought them ... finer threads, and the casting is better ...

its the old you got what you paid for ....

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

ah! but you can have too many cast iorn C-clamps on a singel guitar

Nice score Edward!

You know though when I started out I was looking for lots of clamps too but as soon as I built a go-bar deck I found that I could get away with far fewer clamps for the methods that I build with.

Just a thought.

I've got an awful lot of 6" ones: Busy Bee was having a sale on 'em right when I needed them so I got about 30 of them for $3.50 apiece!

I use those for neck laminations and any glue-ups I can't do in a vacuum bag or a Kurt vise . I grabbed some of the 'Bessey style' clamps from there for gluing tops, as well, on a sale day. Only use them for that one process, but they are the ticket for it!

This type: http://toolsforcabinetmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/bessey-krk-k-body-revo-parallel-clamp-kit1.jpg

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Luke, about $60 in USD. Got them half price which works for me.

Tony, I really dont think their that bad. Lots of good reviews from woodworkers and boatbuilders on crappy tire.com and they have a life time warranty against defects.

Hesh, I do have a go-bar deck as well but you know what they say about clamps....

Bob, thats a good deal you got on 6"s, in retrospect I really should of got fewer small ones and more larger ones for laminating necks.

Another place where screw clamps are invaluable is in holding anything subject to vibration - like router guides/jigs or workpieces when you are using the router or jigsaw, auxiliary tables on the drill press, etc. . The bar and cam clamps 'self-loosen' pretty easily, which can make life exciting.

I like screw clamps for laminating (headstock veneers, etc). Better to have a bunch 'just tight' than 2-3 cranked 'overtight'.

You do need to watch the weight, though, and think about leverage on the workpiece.
The Cdn Tire ones are quite a bit heavier than my old Brink & Cotton clamps - see pic. Same capacity, B&C 112g, Cdn Tire 214g.
Hesh: Please ignore the boatbuilding epoxy on the old clamp!

Ed- I grabbed a few of those at CdnTire last week, too. Now I can throw out a few old ones where the pads are jammed....

Cheers
John