# The Harbor Freight way of jump starting your clamp collection



## Tedstor

I used to think these clamps were the cat's meow, and that anyone that paid extra for brand name clamps was crazy. BUT, after 2-3 years of use, I realize that the brand name clamps are noticably better. 
-Many brand name clamps use a stainless steel/rust resistant bar. HF uses a thinly powder-coated bar. In a climate controlled setting, this might not matter. But in my garage, the powder-coated bars have quickly rusted. 
-The bar on the brand name clamps is more ridgis and less likely to flex. 
- As you mentioned, the rubber pads on the brand name clamps perform better and last longer. 
To be clear, my HF are still 100% usable, and for the price paid they were a good value. Definitely a great way to quickly accumulate clamps. But I don't see myself buying anymore moving forward. 
Just my observation.


----------



## MarkDavisson

These have performed well for me. As Tedstor said, at the price they represent good value HF's Pittsburg ratcheting clamps - the better ones - also represent good value.


----------



## Oldtool

paxorion,
While I can't argue against your "the bad / ugly" list, because I am a firm believer the you get what you pay for, I also believe in not over paying for something when taking into account it's intended use. By that I'm referring to the hobby or recreational wood worker versus the professional. If I made my living from woodworking, and the clamps were to receive very frequent use, then the more expensive brand name clamps would be my choice. However since I only do woodworking for family & friends, in my spare time, and a need for clamps can be weeks or even months apart, the HF Pittsburgh clamps are the absolute best bang for my buck.

Actually, now that I write this and re-read your review, I guess we are in agreement, and I'm wondering why I'm responding.

Maybe this review needs two ratings, Professional at 3 Stars, Hobby Guy at 5 Stars.

You know what, don't pay any attention to me, I'm just rambling.


----------



## Planeman40

I have a bunch of these HF clamps too and I find they work fine. I bought a bunch of the 36" clamps as my big Jorgenson bar clamps are too heavy for many applications and are very cumbersome to use. The HF 36" clamps do a nice job of light duty clamping. They are not made for squeezing a laminated 2" thick table top together!

And . . . always retract the screw all the way back to the cast iron head before clamping. Then slide the cast iron head snug up to the work before screwing down to apply pressure. You never want to have the screw extending very far from the head when clamping. To do so will cause "racking" of the clamp and that's not good. This applies to ALL screw clamps! Not just Harbor Freight clamps.

Planeman


----------



## rsharp

Paxorion,

If I were to write a review of these HF clamps, I would copy and paste your review verbatim. You are spot on in every detail.

I have about 40 of these clamps and use them primarily for gluing up leg blanks, or clamping small jigs to workstations.

Anyone starting out in woodworking can invest in these inexpensive clamps and use the savings for the purchase of quality machining tools.

Thanks for sharing an insightful and thorough review of these clamps. Great job!


----------



## paxorion

I think everyone is in agreement that the clamps will do a great job for a hobbyist (like me). For now, I have enough HF F-style clamps to suit my project needs, and these clamps have made their way into every project of mine.

Planeman40 - Great point there. I do make it a habit to follow those procedures, but can't say the same for anyone else who has been using my clamps.

Oldtool - We certainly are in agreement that for a hobbyist, this is a fantastic find (5-star worthy IF you get a good one). I'll summarize my rationale for 3 stars down to 2 reasons: 

Don't buy them sight unseen. For a hobbyist looking to maximize their money's worth, if you get a pre-bent bar or serious bubbling on the clamp pads. In short, don't just jam an online order full of all the clamps you think you'd need to maximize the $6.99 flat shopping.
Long-term heavy use will likely wear out the clamp, requiring multiple replacements that offsets the savings. For a professional, this would certainly be the case.


----------



## paxorion

Randy - Thanks, I've been meaning to write this review for over a year now, as I found the reviews that guided me to these clamps very optimistic and promising, but generally low on the cautionary points. To piggyback off of your comment, I'd also add - get some to start with, and if you need more clamps, spend the money on more task-appropriate clamps. I stopped buying these HF F-style clamps about a year ago and filled my inventory with 8 pipe clamp fixtures (4 HF, and 4 Jorgensens). They worked great to fill the 24"+ range in the past year, but the Jet sale over Black Friday kicked off my transitioned to (gradually) acquiring parallel clamps


----------



## whitebeast88

great review.i've got 6 of the 12" clamps that work fine,i tend to use them more as holding something down and tend to use my jorgensens for bigger jobs.for $3 each you can't beat it.


----------



## Dusty56

Definitely not able to buy these online…must go to store and cherry pick each one, but, for the price and my intended use for these, worth the time spent if I'm in the area and they are on sale. Used mostly for holding things down or to fences, but I have real clamps for doing real work with; ie: Besseys and Jorgensen brand.
Honest and fair review by you : )


----------



## cabmaker

I paid about the same price for my jorgensons, oh wait,that was 35 yrs ago! Nevermind.


----------



## b2rtch

I agree with everything said above but I would like to add that I also like very much their larger size spring clamps that I use a lot. I have probably 20 of them.
I probably have more than 20 of the F clamps in various sizes and I also have the bar clamps that I also like.
I do not yet have any of the ratchet clamp


----------



## MarkDavisson

If you buy a ratchet clamp from them, b2rtch, be careful - they have two different versions and I understand that some stores might not keep the better ones in inventory.

The cheaper ones I can break by overclamping. The better ones I cannot, and they perform very well.

The better ones: http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-95027.html


----------



## paxorion

Mark - I think the store(s) close to me have the heavy duty ratchet bar clamps, but the may have the new blue and grey scheme similar to the F-style clamps.


----------



## MarkDavisson

paxorion, probably a good idea since it's easy to confuse the lower-quality clamps with the higher-quality clamps. They are (used to be?) both orange and black.


----------



## dbhost

I have a mess of the older models with the wooden handles, and a couple of the first gen plastic handled models with the blow molded blue / gray handles. They are fair to good clamps. No serious problems yet aside from one failed clamp out of 48. I have several big name clamps as well. These are better than some, worse than others…

I would avoid the HF ratcheting bar clamps unless you are wanting to drill out / replace the pin that breaks on them when you look at them…


----------



## paxorion

My tool stash is full of HF stuff. My personal philosophy with HF stuff is to 

For any products considered a HF gems, I'll believe the one I buy is a gem IF it passes a degree of inspection and scrutiny 
For consistent bad marks, I'll err on the side of caution and go with the original product they are imitating (e.g. Irwin Quick-Grips)


----------



## b2rtch

mark,

These are not the clamps I was thinking about.
They have another style of ratchet clamp.
The one reviewed here:

http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/3169

It looks like they no longer carry them


----------



## Hawaiilad

Since most of the items I make are smaller..boxes and such, I use allot of 6" and 12" clamps, and I mean allot. I have several different styles of clamps, and when I first saw the screw clamps on line at HF, I liked them and the price, but we do not have a HF store in Hawaii so every time my wife or I fly to the main land to visit Grandkids, we make a stop at HF and load up on at least a dozen clamps…most times the do look through our suit case wondering what they are I'm sure. I have about 60 of the HF clamps and I do not need allot of pressure on the pieces I have been making, so they work just fine. My shop front is all open,,warm weather all the time here, but rust can get to everything. I spray everything with WD 40, let it soak and wipe off in a few hours…this has not cause stains on the wood because of the rubber feet on the clamps. As long wordy way of saying I do like their clamps


----------



## NickyP

*Quote:*
"I stopped buying these HF F-style clamps about a year ago and . . . the Jet sale over Black Friday kicked off my transitioned to (gradually) acquiring parallel clamps-paxorion"

I too followed paxorion's route and began my "real" clamp collection on Black Friday. If you also walked this path this might help you out with storage:

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/93496


----------



## b2rtch

Years ago for Christ-mas my wife bought me some of these expensive parallel clamps I never used then once since, never.


----------



## garbonsai

Just thought I'd chime in to say the review is, indeed, spot on. For short clamps, these work fine. The longer ones are way too flexible and with any amount of pressure they tend to "bow".


----------



## todd1962

I have had no problems with them. In fact I just used them to clamp a glue up on a large cutting board. It turned out beautifully, no gaps whatsoever. If I have any doubts about clamping pressure I have two Jorgensens and two pipe clamps on standby. With regard to the bars and corrosion, my shop is heated and cooled so I don't have the environmental problems others may have, hence no corrosion on mine.


----------



## MarkDavisson

My shop is not cooled, and it is heated only when I'm out there. I'm in central Indiana. I don't spray or wipe my HF F-style clamps with anything. I have plenty of rust issues in my shop, but none of my clamps are showing any signs of rust.


----------



## NormG

You seem to perform your due diligence and it is working for you, I have these clamps and they preform well for me, I do have the older ones also


----------



## GoBlu

One of the best value in HF clamps is not in the woodworking section, but in welding. Their heavy duty f-style welding clamps are an excellent value, imho. I have several of these, and they are convenient because of the sliding head. This is for when you want to clamp something down good and make sure it doesn't move. 
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-heavy-duty-f-style-welding-clamp-65683.html They only have two sizes, though.


----------



## paxorion

GoBlu - great recommendation, they look Bessey knock-offs worth checking out


----------



## lj61673

*Years ago for Christ-mas my wife bought me some of these expensive parallel clamps I never used then once since, never.-Bert*

Kind of an odd statement. Care to expound on your reasons?


----------



## paxorion

Bert - I'm also curious about your comment. I just used my parallel clamps to repair a Craigslist drawer find, and I have to say that they made the repair a whole lot easier. I'm certainly now a firm believer that most of my future clamp acquisitions will be parallel clamps.


----------



## Dal300

Really enjoying the "Man - Love" going on here. It is heartwarming to say the least. The very least.

A couple of points to cover here:
A clamp is a clamp.
How much pressure you exert on it is up to you.

Another question: how accurate it your milling if you have to apply enough force to make any clamp flex?
If you have to crank down the pressure enough to draw in an arced set, you did something wrong.

*Many years ago I learned a phrase: It's a Poor Workman who blames his tools. That seems to fit here.*

Why are you causing any clamp to flex? How much pressure are you using to draw the pieces together?
I have about 12 36" HF clamps and a couple of the older chinese clamps and 4 Jorgy F clamps.
If my millining is correct I don't need to put much pressure on the wood with the clamps.
Awhile back I did a test with both my Jorgies and my HF clamps. I got out the trusty fat boy scale and using a pair of boards on top and bottom being held with a hex bolt and nut, I added a clamp on the other end. A jorgy clamp from contact to the end of 4 complete turns was 230 lbs.
The HF clamps read 218 lbs. 
How much tighter do you need the clamping pressure if you are making good joints?

As for flexing on long clamps…. so what? 
If it becomes a problem you are either A.) doing something wrong with your glue up or B.) you can add a block under the clamp to keep it level, or C.) why would it matter anyway if your milling is good? You would never need to get enough pressure to make the bars flex if you have clean, straight joints.

One last point…. A set of rubber bands will clamp certain pieces of wood to other pieces as long as they are straight and clean.


----------



## paxorion

Dallas - to answer your question, I think it's best to say "it depends…" Let me clarify

For the projects that I've done on my own, and I took the opportunity to go to a shop with the equipment to mill rough lumber, I've made sure that my I mill my material so that when laid flat, there is zero gap to close up.

For a long term project that I have been working with a friend (we were crazy to start the project over year ago…the year we both first became parents), we used both MDF and skip-planed white oak material. Given that I didn't have a planer (at the time) or jointer (still don't have one), more pressure was needed to close up gaps.


----------



## lj61673

Cheap clamps flex under less pressure than well made clamps do. When the bar flexes the clamp faces twist off of 90 degrees, possibly forcing well milled and square pieces out of square. So it may have nothing to do with how well your pieces are milled. Thats why bar clamps are so effective. The rigid pipes as less likely to flex index pressure.


----------



## Dal300

*lj61673*

*paxorion*

To answer both at the same time, you are expecting tools and pressure to make up for poor workmanship and blaming it for a poor outcome?
That is something that Leroy Jethro Gibbs would put a flat spot on the back of Tony Dinozzo's head for.

*Cheap clamps flex under less pressure than well made clamps do. When the bar flexes the clamp faces twist off of 90 degrees, possibly forcing well milled and square pieces out of square.*

Why would you need that much pressure if the pieces were well milled?
It all leads back to a lack of quality workmanship, which will eventually come back to bite you in the butt.


----------



## paxorion

Dallas - not to berate the point, but are you implying that I am blaming HF clamps for poor woodworking? That is not my intent, as I do not consider myself anywhere close to a good woodworker. And being self-taught woodworker, I certainly am not clamping away valuable learning experiences. For example, I left wood to sit in my basement for a few days before clamping it up (big mistake).

If I were to use a car analogy to describe what I think you are saying, it sounds very similar to a person being angry at their Toyota Yaris for not being a 6 second car, or having the cargo capacity to haul a few hundred bfdt of hardwood or 4×8 plywood (to keep it woodworking related).

While I may not be a good woodworker (yet), i am a pretty good engineer. As such, I also don't think i'm wrong in my assessment that there is a materials quality difference between these HF clamps and the Jorgensen's I've used. I'm inclined to believe that softer/less resilient material is one of the reasons why the HF clamps are more inclined to flex.


----------



## paxorion

PS: I accept your feedback as man-love Dallas


----------



## lj61673

No, not at all, in fact I made it quite clear a problem caused by junk clamps could happen REGARDLESS of well milled pieces. Part of a clamps job is to hold a WELL MILLED SQUARE assembly square during glue up.

A clamp whose faces are not parallel MAY cause a square assembly to be pulled out of square. Even with light pressure.


----------



## Dal300

Heh, Heh, *paxorion*, I am truly flattered.

I never implied anything about the tools. I stated outright that it is a poor workman that blames his tools.
A workman, (whether a mechanic, a woodworker, a painter, a potter, or any other discipline), who blames sub par tools for a lack of workmanship is living in a fools paradise..

In the case of the HF clamps, if the clamp flexes, the obvious answer to me is that there is way too much pressure, most likely because the workman doesn't have the edges coplaner, (Not Always). 
For instance, my first project here, (I think), was a small cabinet for my wife. I made it using my $99 Ryobi BTS10S table saw cutting Osage Orange with a cheap Irwin blade.
I needed to clamp the panel together and had NO clamps. 
Instead I used a couple of 2' x3/8" threaded rods, (talk about flex), and a piece of wood nailed to my little work table.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/53522

If I had ever tried to blame the tools I was using when growing up my grandfather would have smacked me and then he would have told my dad who would have smacked me a lot more.


----------



## Dal300

*lj61673*

Even well made clamps will cause a glue up to bow if there is enough pressure applied. 
Well milled, square, straight and true wood requires less pressure than poorly milled bowed wood.

I have a board I made of a bunch of Bodark (Osage Orange), slices.
I used my Jorgy clamps on it as those were the only ones I owned at the time.
I built it as a practice piece but keep it around to remind me of my mistakes.

It wasn't the clamp flexing that caused the bow…. It was poor workmanship.

Now that I think about it, I may see if I can use it as a curved top for a pie-rat chest for one of my grand daughters.


----------



## shelly_b

I have a ton of these clamps and I love them! They work great, and I really like the rubber handle. I buy a few extra everytime they go on sale. I have them up to 36in, while they do flex, I have not had any issues from that. They still have more than enough clamping pressure. I also have bessy clamps. I tend to use the HF more b/c of the grip. I have had 1 that the handle grip came loose, but i can still get it tight enough to use. I also notice the greasy marks by the pads…but didn't realize it was the clamps causing it. I haven't had any issues sanding it out though. I have ordered them online and bought them in the store and have never had issues with QC. In the store I grab the first ones I see and have never had an issue. I did notice the new ones I got seem to have cheaper circle pads than the first ones I got though.


----------



## shelly_b

The orange and black ratchet clamps suck. I think all the ones I had broke. I also have some of the bar clamps which are awesome and also work great. I keep saying I'm going to get more, but am waiting on a good sale. Not sure what ones I have but they are blue with red pads, and are like 48in long.


----------



## MarkDavisson

shelly_b, Pittsburgh makes two different kinds of ratchet clamps. Both are orange and black, which is unfortunate. I believe I read (perhaps earlier in this thread) that Pittsburgh is changing the color scheme of the better ones.

I can easily break the cheaper ones by applying too much pressure (grip). I cannot break the better ones no matter how hard I try.

Better ones: http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-95027.html


----------



## b2rtch

The reason I never used these clamps is that I find them too cumbersome and I never had a use for them. 
I rather use my cheap HF clamps, either F clamps or pipe clamps.
M<ark the clamps you keep speaking about which break are not the ratchets clamps, the are speed clamps.
To my great chagrin, HF no longer carry the ratchet clamps


----------



## MarkDavisson

"To my great chagrin, HF no longer carry the ratchet clamps."

They still show them on their website: http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-95027.html

EDIT: Apparently you edited that statement out of your post, so don't you give my comment no nevermind.


----------



## b2rtch

Mark,
as I ALREADY TOLD YOU, THE CLAMPS YOU SPEAKINGS ABOUT ARE SPEED CLAMPS, NOT RATCHET CLAMPS. RATCHET CLAMPS ARE THESE ONE:










HF CARRIED THEM FOR A SHORT TIME BUT NOT ANYMORE.


----------



## MarkDavisson

b2rtch, HF calls them ratchet clamps.

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-95027.html

I'll try to start calling them speed clamps, but I'm not making any promises.

I have never seen the clamp for which you provided the picture, but dang, I wish I had seen them when HF carried them - I would have bought several!


----------



## b2rtch

Me too, there is a review about them


----------



## BAKTHA

I agree on erratic quality standards and need to check for any defects and buy, but I look at this way, you can throw away and buy new ones, after checking of course. I know that at HF prices, I should not expect the clamps to last for a long time.

Other way of looking is pick up a set of clamps of all sizes from HF and after few months, one would know, what size clamps are most needed for the kind of work being done, then buy only those sizes of branded ones and other HF stuff of infrequent use, keep it as stand buy for a rare use.

same goes with power tools, in the beginning, when not sure of which, which tools would be essential for the kind of work. Pick up a circular saw, jig saw, bench band saw and bench press router etc, from HF and learn the skills and narrow down the products range you wish to work with, pick up branded quality ones


----------

