Buying Clamp Racks

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
I saw these racks on Lee Valley. My first thought was why would a woodworker buy a rack made out of wood?

Second look, with supplies, metal bits, the Baltic Birch and finishing, maybe it’s actually a reasonable thing to buy.

The design does look kind of good.

 

LeftyTom

Tom
Corporate Member
I like those for F clamps on the same length. All your 36" clamps together, and so forth.
 

thrt15nc

New User
Tom
I saw those too and laughed. $37? 9 pieces of plywood that we've all got laying around, 22 screws. Find three studs and up you go. Goodness sakes.

T
 

zapdafish

New User
Steve
to me clamp storage is like workbenches, on my 4th or 5th version and I still kinda want to redo it but its close enough now for me.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
In a very small shop you are tripping over clamps with only a few. I'm still looking for a place to hang more.
 

MarkE

Mark
Corporate Member
Quick and dirty works for me. 3/4" dowels in a piece of 2x6/8 lag screwed to the studs. A pair of 12" dowels holds 6 parallel clamps.
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bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Wall space gets precious. Those single racks look good at first, but considering the space that has to go between them, I think a solid board against the wall with a board at the top spaced for the clamps will give more clamps per foot of wall storage.
Below is one I made for some standard bar clamps and lighter pipe clamps. Just make the slot geometry to fit your existing clamps.
Put it high enough off the floor so you can reach up and get the bottom of the bar of the shortest clamp.

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Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
Seems kinda pricey for just 3 racks. I made something similar to Bob's rack above for my pipe clamps. I can put 4 clamps in each slot, which helps maximize wall space.
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
My clamps (at least part of them) reside on my version of the NYW roll around clamp cart. Based upon cost of clamps, it's the most expensive 4 square feet in my shop.
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
I saw these racks on Lee Valley. My first thought was why would a woodworker buy a rack made out of wood?

Second look, with supplies, metal bits, the Baltic Birch and finishing, maybe it’s actually a reasonable thing to buy.

The design does look kind of good.

Definitely a nice design. As for the cost, it's not bad. Let's say it takes an hour to make them, ignoring the time to order/ pickup the wood and hardware. $37/ hour for a skilled woodworker in a well-equipped, that's a great rate.

Of course if you make them yourself from scraps and if you were going to putter in the shop anyway, then $37 is very pricey. Personally, I'd rather spend the time building cutting boards you can buy cheaper online than building clamp racks you can buy cheaper online, but it's the same difference.
 

pcooper

Phillip Cooper
Corporate Member
This thread sparked an idea for rearranging my clamp storage, I can see how inefficient my system is, but it was put up just to get clamps off the floor 15 years ago. I think I'll make something along the lines of those that Bob shows, but I'm not spending money when I have scraps to do the job. Time for me is cheap, keep wondering who is getting $37 an hour... ;) I think I'm working for about $3.25 right now. At least it's fun!!
 

AllanD

Allan
Corporate Member
I know I posted this before but since this thread came up it shows another idea. I picked this old restaurant cart up at the local scrapyard. It was probably to hold trays, etc. I added the rack mostly from wood and metal scraps. I still have not made the wall rack for my pipe clamps yet. They will need to stand in the corner for a while longer.
 

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thrt15nc

New User
Tom
I don't have all that many, and I share shop with a car. I built this, again with scraps, from a design either off the web or a magazine. Just have to be a little careful rolling it, but it sits in small places.

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Alan in Little Washington

Alan Schaffter
Corporate Member
I mostly have a bunch of the original Bessey K-Body clamps but not a lot of wall space. Besides, many glue-ups require numerous clamps and that could require multiple trips to a clamp rack. My solution- a cart that I can roll up to my assembly table, but a cart with a twist. The clamps sit on the cart with head down. That really lowers the center of gravity so there is no danger the cart will tip over, and a big plus- I can pick up 2 to 3 clamps at a time in each hand by the bars and I don't need to worry about the head slipping down and pinching my fingers. The loaded cart is heavy because it holds a lot of clamps (50 12" to 60" now but can hold 60+) so good caster wheels are necessary. My MDF prototype worked so well I never made a finished version.

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zapdafish

New User
Steve
+1 for this design.

I ended up with a cart with them all upside down as well. Wish I had thought about ramping the base, lol. I see version 6 coming up for me. I have a rail around the top to attach all the misc clamps to while the heavy Bessys and Jets are stored upside down.

I mostly have a bunch of the original Bessey K-Body clamps but not a lot of wall space. Besides, many glue-ups require numerous clamps and that could require multiple trips to a clamp rack. My solution- a cart that I can roll up to my assembly table, but a cart with a twist. The clamps sit on the cart with head down. That really lowers the center of gravity so there is no danger the cart will tip over, and a big plus- I can pick up 2 to 3 clamps at a time in each hand by the bars and I don't need to worry about the head slipping down and pinching my fingers. The loaded cart is heavy because it holds a lot of clamps (50 12" to 60" now but can hold 60+) so good caster wheels are necessary. My MDF prototype worked so well I never made a finished version.

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