5:48 you said it right-on. I was never a fan of Harbor Freight until I gave them a fair chance, turns out, their stuff aren't so bad - it's not great but it sure gets the job done (I found out myself). So now I have tools from Harbor Freight along with name brand tools in my shop. Never thought I would ever do that but sometimes SITUATION justifies the purchase.
I've been happy with Harbor Freight F style clamps. When I was just getting started a few years ago, I was able to get many clamps for not a lot of money. Since then I've been slowly upgrading to higher quality parallel jaw clamps here and there as I find them on sale, Marketplace, etc., but still have a ton of the HF ones when I just need a lot of clamps for something.
One of the first things I do is make small wooden pads for my clamps and keep them in a box on the shelf. I never clamp to metal. I also noticed that when he put the wood in he had no trouble with the cammed end on the Harbor Freight. I bought a set of cheap pipe clamps (unfooted) and a set of footed. That way I can clamp up boards and then use the unfooted over the top to ensure a good clamp. All in all I would rather put my money into wood. so saving a little matters.
Thanks for creating and sharing the review. HF no longer has coupons and their prices have gone up. I have both the BESSEY and the HF clamps. Go buy the BESSEY...
HF clamps will get the job done for less money, they are rough in the beginning but after a few use they will become easier to work with, just a piece a metal with a pipe, no big deal. Thanks for the video.
4:12. The instructions say to install a wood block on the jaws. Helps with mitigation of the markings. Most wood workers have scrap on hand to do this. I made mine from scrap 2x4. I have the HF pipe clamps and have zero issues with them.
Here’s some some observations from myself. I broke 2 of 8 of my pipe clamps this morning when clamping together the laminated 2by top of the workbench build I was finishing up. I have been using smaller clamps until now, but I needed the force of pipe clamps to compress all 22 boards together. Which ones failed ? The bessey. Why? I don’t know yet. I am still going to try to take the ends off with a pipe wrench and see if it was weak pipe, but it was 2 different diameter pipe from different suppliers (both galvanized). Using them both repeatedly the last two weeks? I definitely prefer the finish of the Pittsburgh clamps from the clamp body to the smooth operating screw- even under extreme pressure
Just what I wanted...thanks! I am getting pretty well "done" with Harbor Freight stuff. The couple of "Central Machinery" power tools I have bought turned out to be crap, and their bar clamps are frequently slipping. And so on!!!
Thank you for this video. I've been debating between Bessey and the HF clamps. I love to save money by spending about half the price, but if the quality is that much better and less headache in the long run, sounds like the Bessey is the ones to go with. I always ask myself, if I buy the cheaper one(s) now, will I have to redo the project or rebuy something because the first choice was junk? Equaling why buy something twice. I think Bessey wins this for me. Thanks again.
Any harbor freight thread for things like this should have the threads gone over with a light file. Just take the file and hold it in the threads as you turn them. It cleans it up. Any cast sliding surface should also have the edges touched with a file. Apply some light paste wax and you are golden. You always need to touch up HF stuff but if you take the 5 minutes to do that you will not be disappointed too often.
I've been purchasing pipe clamps from Grizzly for about $13. But, I'm just as concerned about the price of piping in Home Depot or Lowes at $27 for 3 ft. 3/4" piping costs less than $2 per foot from local piping suppliers. Of course, then you have to thread the ends of the pipe.
I have the Pittsburgh's. Do NOT buy them. After awhile, they lose there "bite" on the pipe (as you tighten, the other end slips on the pipe). Makes for a very annoying glue-up
Thank you. Bought my first pipe clamp, Irwin 1/2 inch. Need a second and pipes. I'll take hf. Not a word worker and only limited need. But what 1/2 pipe? And where to get it cheapest? Subbed
is the clamp height the same between the two? like, if we started out with some HFs to save money, would they be able to stay in the fleet if we added Besseys?
You can see when you tighten down the Harbor Freights the make the would raise up in height off of the pipes. This would cause multiple wood stacked side by side to bow up and not give you a level surface top
haha yeah i just did this sunday bought all they had 8.80 each not bad they are also better then the ones used in the video i think they are made better now
One thing, those plastic covers are absolute garbage. Thing two, you could easily grind the HF surfaces flat where they engage the wood. Seems is comes down to what you are clamping. If you need light clamping, eg.. woodworking HF should be more than adequate. If you need very heavy clamping the Bessy might, might be worth the premium. I think you are way off on "will last a long time, or not". I'm sure the HF will last just as long for light to medium duty. I would expect to bend the cranks under heavy usage though. I've done this with pipe clamps in a work environment. I don't know what brand they were though. It was many years ago too, but I suspect they were a budget brand.
5:48 you said it right-on.
I was never a fan of Harbor Freight until I gave them a fair chance, turns out, their stuff aren't so bad - it's not great but it sure gets the job done (I found out myself). So now I have tools from Harbor Freight along with name brand tools in my shop.
Never thought I would ever do that but sometimes SITUATION justifies the purchase.
I've been happy with Harbor Freight F style clamps. When I was just getting started a few years ago, I was able to get many clamps for not a lot of money.
Since then I've been slowly upgrading to higher quality parallel jaw clamps here and there as I find them on sale, Marketplace, etc., but still have a ton of the HF ones when I just need a lot of clamps for something.
One of the first things I do is make small wooden pads for my clamps and keep them in a box on the shelf. I never clamp to metal. I also noticed that when he put the wood in he had no trouble with the cammed end on the Harbor Freight. I bought a set of cheap pipe clamps (unfooted) and a set of footed. That way I can clamp up boards and then use the unfooted over the top to ensure a good clamp. All in all I would rather put my money into wood. so saving a little matters.
Thanks for creating and sharing the review. HF no longer has coupons and their prices have gone up. I have both the BESSEY and the HF clamps. Go buy the BESSEY...
HF clamps will get the job done for less money, they are rough in the beginning but after a few use they will become easier to work with, just a piece a metal with a pipe, no big deal. Thanks for the video.
If you have a Mills Fleet Farm their clamps are only a little more money but way better.
Thanks for the review. That squeak on the Harbor Freight is like nails on a chalkboard.
4:12. The instructions say to install a wood block on the jaws. Helps with mitigation of the markings. Most wood workers have scrap on hand to do this. I made mine from scrap 2x4. I have the HF pipe clamps and have zero issues with them.
Here’s some some observations from myself. I broke 2 of 8 of my pipe clamps this morning when clamping together the laminated 2by top of the workbench build I was finishing up. I have been using smaller clamps until now, but I needed the force of pipe clamps to compress all 22 boards together. Which ones failed ? The bessey. Why? I don’t know yet. I am still going to try to take the ends off with a pipe wrench and see if it was weak pipe, but it was 2 different diameter pipe from different suppliers (both galvanized). Using them both repeatedly the last two weeks? I definitely prefer the finish of the Pittsburgh clamps from the clamp body to the smooth operating screw- even under extreme pressure
I have the harbor freight clamps and found then difficult also UNTIL... I squeezed the clamp from the bottom tang. Easy peasy.
Hey, I noticed the same thing after fiddling with them a bit. Thanks for the tip.
Just what I wanted...thanks! I am getting pretty well "done" with Harbor Freight stuff. The couple of "Central Machinery" power tools I have bought turned out to be crap, and their bar clamps are frequently slipping. And so on!!!
Thank you for this video. I've been debating between Bessey and the HF clamps. I love to save money by spending about half the price, but if the quality is that much better and less headache in the long run, sounds like the Bessey is the ones to go with. I always ask myself, if I buy the cheaper one(s) now, will I have to redo the project or rebuy something because the first choice was junk? Equaling why buy something twice. I think Bessey wins this for me. Thanks again.
Any harbor freight thread for things like this should have the threads gone over with a light file. Just take the file and hold it in the threads as you turn them. It cleans it up. Any cast sliding surface should also have the edges touched with a file. Apply some light paste wax and you are golden. You always need to touch up HF stuff but if you take the 5 minutes to do that you will not be disappointed too often.
Awesome tip, thanks Andrew
I've been purchasing pipe clamps from Grizzly for about $13. But, I'm just as concerned about the price of piping in Home Depot or Lowes at $27 for 3 ft. 3/4" piping costs less than $2 per foot from local piping suppliers. Of course, then you have to thread the ends of the pipe.
You should use calls, whether or not the clamps have pads
I have the Pittsburgh's. Do NOT buy them. After awhile, they lose there "bite" on the pipe (as you tighten, the other end slips on the pipe). Makes for a very annoying glue-up
I think I see some Pony clamps off to the side there. Why didn't you include those in the comparison?
Thank you. Bought my first pipe clamp, Irwin 1/2 inch. Need a second and pipes. I'll take hf. Not a word worker and only limited need.
But what 1/2 pipe? And where to get it cheapest? Subbed
Glad the video was helpful. Check out my video on pipe clamp assembly for tips on buying pipe. ua-cam.com/video/hY7Btm_fHKM/v-deo.html
is the clamp height the same between the two? like, if we started out with some HFs to save money, would they be able to stay in the fleet if we added Besseys?
The Bessey base is a bit taller, but I have some of both and haven't had any issues.
very fair assessment 👍
You can see when you tighten down the Harbor Freights the make the would raise up in height off of the pipes. This would cause multiple wood stacked side by side to bow up and not give you a level surface top
30 percent off now for items under 10 dollars (20 for inside track members). So I'm going to use it to buy some clamps today.
haha yeah i just did this sunday bought all they had 8.80 each not bad they are also better then the ones used in the video i think they are made better now
Thank you very much
I have a Bessey clamp that I have to unlock with channel locks
One thing, those plastic covers are absolute garbage.
Thing two, you could easily grind the HF surfaces flat where they engage the wood.
Seems is comes down to what you are clamping. If you need light clamping, eg.. woodworking HF should be more than adequate. If you need very heavy clamping the Bessy might, might be worth the premium.
I think you are way off on "will last a long time, or not". I'm sure the HF will last just as long for light to medium duty. I would expect to bend the cranks under heavy usage though. I've done this with pipe clamps in a work environment. I don't know what brand they were though. It was many years ago too, but I suspect they were a budget brand.
I don't see that much difference when you can save that much money especially if you buy Several I would just go with the harbor freight
whaat 16 bucks? hell in germany i pay around 30
Wild, I just checked Amazon and the 3/4 is $15.08. 😁
The Bessie has a lifetime warranty
The Pittsburgh one does too.
I DIDNT KNOW ALEXANDER SKARGARD DID PRODUCT REVIEWS IN HIS OFF TIME.
Side hustle
Harbor Freight sells cheap Chinese copies of the originals. (You get what you pay for)
While i agree with your statement i have both Bessey and HF bar clamps and they produce the same results.
Harbor Freight….
𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴?
I did something like this a month ago with plans from Woodprix.