Cheap clamp source

Not sure where you live but Harbor Freight sells some descent clamps. I use them all the time and they do fine.

Don’t forget Ebay. Many items can be clamped using wedges against blocks temporarily screwed down to the bench top.

I also use clamps made out of PVC pipe. Cut 3” or 4” PVC into split rings. The width of the ring determines the stiffness of the clamp. Works great.

You can even add handles like this one.

-- Garry, North Carolina woodworker and engineer - The journey you're preparing for has already begun.

I bought this set several years ago. I don’t use them a lot but they work just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/Denali-30-Piece-Bar-Clamp-Assortment/dp/B000NDMO94/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391427180&sr=8-1&keywords=denali+wood+clamps

-- Jim in Cushing Oklahoma

The HF F-style clamps are great buys in the 6” and 12” range. Anything longer and they don’t perform too well. See my review: http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/3645

Pipe clamps were my go-to in the 12+” range. I have both the Bessey-clone HF pipe clamp fixtures which are very affordable, as well as Jorgensen Pony pipe clamp fixtures.

As of this point, I’m sufficiently stocked on F-style and pipe clamps for my usage. My latest clamp acquisitions are a few Jet parallel clamps during their 50% off sale, and will probably wait for another sale before I get more.

-- paxorion

Good clamps aren’t cheap, look for sales, just buy a few at a time eventually you’ll have enough. Well maybe never enough but enough to get by.

-- Bondo Gaposis

The Harbor Freight Pittsburgh line of F bar clamps have been pretty decent. Avoid their quick clamp copies unless you are willing to fix the pivot pin with a rivet when they break, and they will. Although with a coupon at $1.99 each for the 12” quick clamps, it might be worth your time to look up the process and fix the pin on these to have some decent clamps…

Avoid their corner clamps like the plague. They might as well be tin foil…

The pipe clamps are pretty good for the price as well…

If you like / use handscrew clamps, the HF units are pretty good too. I have a couple and like using them…

For corner clamps, I like the Jorgenson Pony corner clamps. Not free, but certainly not super expensive when you buy them in multi packs on Amazon…

My Irwin Quick Grip 12” clamps came from Home Depot on a Black Friday sale and they weren’t much more than the HF cheapies. Might be worth your while to wait to buy them on sale…

Also check Craigsllist in your area frequently. I see folks selling out clamp collections from time to time for not a lot of money… Although you should be careful with that. I have seen a lot of garbage come up for sale too…

-- Please like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/daves-workshop

As with most tools, you get what you pay for. I would decide which clamps I thought were the best for my shop and then try to find the best price on them. Buy a couple at a time, or only what you need for the project. Next time, you buy a couple more.

I have found that buying something purely because of the price is not the way to go.

-- --Dale Page

Up here in Canada, Princess Auto is the place to go for clamps. When the go on sale, every couple of months or so you can get some really great bar clamps for cheap cheap cheap.

-- No craft is very far from the line beyond which is magic. -- Lord Dunsany — Instagram @grailwoodworks

Garry,
Took me a second to figure out what the hell you were making, some sort of UFO, S&M, thingy.
Then I Scrolled down a bit and saw the rest of the pic, Still have no idea. :~)

great ideas for PVC. Never would have thunk it.

Harbor Freight has several decent clamps as stated above.

Ratchet straps make good band clamps on the cheap.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

I find cheap to be expensive …

harbor has good c clamps, alum bar clamps, pipe clamps, and f clamps are ok not as rigid as the pony or bessey when you get over 24 inches but work ok…their quick clamps are mediocre if not requiring heavy clamping..this I would recommend Irwin or bessey…for the cheap.. harbor freight is good for the recreational wood worker anything for daily use I would buy the better a few at a time
mike

-- as technology progresses, wood workers seem to regress...all my power tools and my favorite is a chisel and a hand plane

Here's another idea for shop made clamps that work as good or better than store bought.

-- Garry, North Carolina woodworker and engineer - The journey you're preparing for has already begun.

dbhost already said it once, but I’ll add to it. The Harbor Freight quick clamps are absolute garbage. I bought several for $1/$2 each at a recent sidewalk sale and after using them a while, I’m realizing I would have made better use of my money had I just tossed it out the window of the car.

Even working as they’re supposed to, they don’t provide very much clamping force. After a few uses, half of them barely work at all. The release on them is awful too. Had to use a pair of pliers, or I’d risk cutting my finger.

My recent “best clamp value” purchase were these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_409558-281-1851480_0__?productId=4009979&Ntt=irwin+clamp&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dirwin%2Bclamp&facetInfo=

I picked up a bunch of those over Black Friday for $13.33/set, but even at $21 (it’s also very easy to find a Lowe’s 10% off coupon code), they’re still a pretty decent deal (about $3.50/clamp). I’ve got a bunch of nice parallel clamps and bar clamps and these will never compare to those, but I do really like them because they’re easy to use one-handed.

Garry, those corner clamps are great. Have to make me some.

-- "Man is the only animal which devours his own, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor." ~Thomas Jefferson