# first set of parallel clamps - 50" or 40"?



## jimmyjj (Nov 20, 2011)

they seem to be the same price at HD (and cheaper than the Rockler sales price). which size would you get? i know it depends upon what i plan to make, but who knows.


----------



## devann (Jan 11, 2011)

Same price? Get the big ones. You can use the 50" on a 40" project. You can't use the 40" on a 50" project.


----------



## RichardHillius (Oct 19, 2013)

I have to many long clamps and not near enough short ones. Whenever I clamp something up I spend the next hour dodging the longer bars. The lengths I tend to reach for the most are 24" and 30" since they fit well on my workbench.


----------



## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

Same here. I love having long clamps, but I end up using 24" clamps 75% of the time.


----------



## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Get a pair of each, you'll use em.


----------



## TimberMagic (Mar 4, 2015)

Rockler has a sale of the Bessey Revo Clamp Set. You get two 40", two 24", and 4 KP blocks for $164.95. And they have free shipping thru 4/7 on a $25 purchase. Even on sale, those items total about $213.


----------



## Ghidrah (Jan 20, 2015)

Better to have and not need. Plenty of times I end up using longer clamps to make up for not enough shorter ones. Can't do that with short ones.


----------



## Yonak (Mar 27, 2014)

> Same here. I love having long clamps, but I end up using 24" clamps 75% of the time.
> 
> - CharlesA


I agree. I use my 24" and 18" clamps more than anything.


----------



## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Guess it really depends on the type of work you're doing but for the average person, I wouldn't spend the coin on long clamps.

In my experience, they'll spend 90% of their time on the rack while you're wishing you had just 2 more 24" ones.

I use 60" pipe clamps for my long glue ups. You can even put two together for really long ones.

For the price of one long clamp you can probably have 4 pipe clamps.

The advice is good - save your money and focus on 18 and 24" clamps.

I bought a bunch of 24" clamps on sale and wish I had some 18's and even 12's.


----------



## DaveHaughs (Mar 23, 2015)

Buy them both 

You'll get a million (maybe a few less) opinions on this. For me I used them all pretty equally. It really depends on what you are building.

I ran into a problem last night that even my long clamps were not long enough  I'm not a fan of pipe clamps but they work, I should probably get a couple or more for big glue ups. I use parallel clamps for everything.

Bottom line you will NEVER have enough clamps. But you can get creative


----------



## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

> Same here. I love having long clamps, but I end up using 24" clamps 75% of the time.
> 
> - CharlesA


Ditto….


----------



## JayT (May 6, 2012)

Totally agree with the others. I have a couple 50 inch parallel clamps, but always reach for (and run out of) the 24 inchers first. If you plan on doing a lot of large projects that require 50 inch clamps, then get them. Otherwise, it's better to focus on shorter ones.


----------



## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

Depends on the projects you do. Longer will give you more options, but parallel clamps are very heavy. I bought my first set (2×24" and 2×40") and found out the hard way just how heavy and tippy long parallel clamps can be. I find that 80% of my projects call for 24-31" parallel clamps, which makes up more than half of my collection.

Now with all that being said. if you're just starting your collection, the 50" from HD are a better bargain than the 40". However, I've found more uses for my 40" than my 50"/60" parallel clamps. That is…I have yet to use my 50"/60".


----------



## frosty50 (Dec 22, 2011)

There an old saying "you can never have enough clamps, you always need on more." That said, I have over 150 bar clamps, F style and parallels. There have been several times that I had to use everyone to get the job done. Buy what you can afford, look for good deals at the stores, yard sales, etc., and build your collection. The major of mine are 24" and 36" bar clamps, but there are times when having F and parallel are needed. Storage does become a problem with a large collection, something movable works well so the clamps can be close to your working area.


----------



## daddywoofdawg (Feb 1, 2014)

I just bought some 12" because the 24' get in the way if I need to clamp to the bench.
If your building large case goods or tables get some 50" and if they are at a hard to walk away from price get a few.
I would go with the herd here and get lots of 18"-30" clamps.
I grew up on bar clamps ,C clamps and wooden clamps in wood shop,I like pony bar clamps! I like the crank handle as I don't have that great of a grip.
I like bar clamps because you can get some 12" pipe,18,24,60' pipe and you just take the fittings off one and put it on what ever size you need.


----------



## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

The long ones can always be made into shorter, if they cost the same you don't lose anything. I recently turned a couple of 24" Besseys into 12" ones.


----------



## CharlesA (Jun 24, 2013)

But like Richard said above, when I use 50" clamps on smaller glue ups, the dang things are in the way. I've ended up making some 50" clamps and then I have some 48" pipe clams with extensions for really long clamping. I'd traid a couple of my 50" for 24" or 30"-I never thought I'd write that b/c I was so excited when I got them. But they are heavy and cumbersome.


----------

