Everyone new to woodworking is asking: “what clamps do I need for woodworking?” We’ll show you the tools every carpenter must have.
Your tool
Clamping tools are the most common and widely used instrument for securing materials or pieces. They’re also known as the carpenter’s third hand.
You can employ clamps everywhere in the workshop: gluing components, grinding, sawing, drilling, welding, gluing corner sections, and so on. And the more tools you have, the more things you can complete at once.
You may wonder: “what clamps do I need for woodworking?” Let’s have a look at the many sorts of tools in this article!
Related post:
- How To Store Woodworking Clamps? DIY Design For Storing Clamps At Home
- How To Use Woodworking Clamps To Secure Glue Joint (Detailed Explanation)
What Clamps Do I Need For Woodworking?
If you are new to carpentry, you are probably confused with the question “how many clamps for woodworking?” There are never too many tools, and this is not an exaggeration.
For example, I need to glue a chest. For this, I need to glue six shields (4 walls, a lid, a bottom); three tools are necessary for each shield. That is, to glue the shields all at once, you need at least 18 clamps.
The list below will answer the question, “what kind of clamps do I need for woodworking?”
F-Clamps
F-Clamps
These tools are the most popular and commonly used, so I decided to start with them. F-shaped clamps consist of two jaws, fixed and movable.
Despite the low cost, you can glue such tools with the great effort up to 10,000 N. There are various designs and sizes. You can use the F-clamp to secure workpieces of different thicknesses.
The most obvious disadvantage of such tools is that you clamp the part with such a clamp. It would be best if you used both hands. There are two more common types of F-shaped clamping tools: body and lever.
Lever F-Clamps
Lever F-Clamps
Traditional F-clamps are high-quality structural medium-alloy carbon steel (AISI 1045), with high hardness and special chrome plating. These tools have the advantage of hardening and, therefore, higher wear and load resistance.
Additional clamp processing significantly increases the strength, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance of rubbing parts. They stand out by their particular ease and ease of handling, while the tools retain their shape at high tensile forces and are resistant to torsional deformation.
G-Shaped Clamps
G-Shaped
The center plate, bottom, and top jaws form a one-piece construction. Outwardly, the design resembles a bracket.
It is the most versatile and common type of clamp. You will need it when you want to apply the same amount of compression on parallel surfaces.
- Pros: no backlash, ease of use, lightweight.
- Cons: Limited range of workpiece thickness.
End Clamps
As it is already clear from the name of this clamp, its purpose is to clamp the edges. This type of clamping tool is similar to the G-shaped clamping tool, but it has two additional screws.
The design comes with a cast or forged body. Externally, the tool is similar to the G-shaped model, but there are two screws installed on it.
- Pros: simple device and application.
- Cons: Despite its narrow profile, it is not easy to use the tool (at the same time, you need to hold the clamping tool and adjust the three screws).
Keyless Clamp
They have different designs. A common version has a metal rail with fixed plastic sponges.
The movable element moves under the influence of the linkage mechanism. In such designs, it is possible to reposition the stationary element to the opposite edge of the axial plate, which converts the tool into a spacer.
- Pros: convenience, ergonomics, huge downforce.
- Cons: budget options are unreliable, expensive ones are of higher quality, but not everyone can afford them.
Corner Clamps
Corner Clamp
The design ensures that you can strictly clamping tool the workpiece at right angles. The fixture components are the body, screw clamps (1 or 2), clamping heels.
- Pros: simple device, compactness, the ability to attach to a workbench.
- Cons: not be suitable for processing large parts.
Quick-Clamping Tools
Quick-Clamping Tools
It is the most convenient clamping tool for carpentry but less popular than F-shaped clamping tools because they are more expensive.
It is not a big difference when buying one clamp, but provided that there are dozens of tools in the workshop, this difference is already noticeable.
Thanks to the mechanisms, the main advantage over the F-shaped clamp is that you can use the quick-clamping tool with one hand. Unlike F-shaped, quick-clamping ones can also work on unclamping.
When buying quick-clamping tools, it is worth buying only high-quality tools from well-known manufacturers. Since this tool is not iron, the quality of the mechanism directly affects the service life.
Spring Clamps
DIY Spring Clamp
An ordinary clothespin of a large size can press a piece of wood and sand it, for example, but a rather weak compression. It is good, but you don’t use it as a full-fledged clamp, just a little helper.
Band Clamps
DIY Band Clamp
Such a clamp consists of a band and a tensioning mechanism. The pulling force of these tools is not very large. But you can use such a clamping tool where the usual one usually does not work, for example, round, large, or polygonal ones.
The construction is a tape made of metal or synthetic materials. The clamping screw is responsible for tightening the tape. The scope of the device is an assembly or gluing of polygonal, round, and oval blanks.
- Pros: reliable clamping without distortions, the ability to work with workpieces of different sizes, uniform pressure over the entire fixed plane.
- Cons: high price.
Pipe Clamps
Pipe Clamp
The design consists of 3 units: a steel pipe, a fixed stop, a movable element equipped with a stopper. This clamping tool is a metal pipe with two jaws, one motionlessly fixed jaw, and the second moves.
The fixed jaw has a small screw with a stroke to tighten the part more tightly.
You can use the pipe clamp for gluing large items such as backboards or countertops. To obtain a tool of the required length, you need to shift the moving part, fix the stop.
- Pros: high compression force, the ability to use for processing large parts, adjustable tool length.
- Cons: narrow specialization of the device.
The video below will show you how many clamping tools do you really need?
Conclusion
The list we mentioned does not include all clamping tools. But it guarantees to provide must-have tools for newbies.
When starting, you should not buy too many things because they will take up your workshop space. Please make a list of the things you need for your current project and buy them.
Finally, the most important thing is to buy products from reputable manufacturers as they will last a long time. Or, you can also find how to make DIY tools with our article How To Make Clamps For Woodworking.
Thank you for reading!
