Old Hargrave bar clamps??

[Strokes77]

I have an opportunity to pick up a whole bunch of Hargrave bar clamps from a fella. He isn't asking much money. My hope would be to buy them all, but only keep what I can hold(30 or so) and sell the rest.



Thanks.

[Strokes77]

Would there be enough value for me to sell the extras for somewhere around $15 for the 6footers?

[Steve N]

Some of them to collectors could be worth a lot more than 15 bux. As users the really valuable ones are old cast, and they aren't that great a clamp compared to modern day clamps. Newer ones, some had just too many gizmos. and something was always slipping. I had a huge pile of them way back in the 60's. When the modern day Besse's first hit the scene I found people who wanted them, and got free Besse's and some $$$$$$ for letting mine go. Having used the Besse's I wouldn't have any use in them as users. Some people go all gaga over Old anything, find them and they would be your target market.

[Bob Vaughan]

By "Hargrave", I'll assume you mean the standard 640 ratcheting I-beam type.  Hargrave made other models that were't quite as good.
Consider keeping them if you think the scale of work you'll want to do will require some actual compressive strength.  Modern clamps are light weight and rather wussy in comparison but do have distinct advantages of convenience when doing drawer box or edge banding type work that the Hargrave type clamps would crush.

The Hargrave 640s are sought after because they work.  Actually the Jorgensen I-beam clamps have a little more compression but they aren't as easy to use because of the smaller handle.

In later years the Hargrave clamps were made in India and didn't have the rigidity that the USA-made clamps had.  Below are some examples of the type of work that the Hargrave ( I-beam) type clamps excel at accomplishing.  If this is not the scale of woodworking projects you'll ever see yourself doing, then getting rid of those big heavy clamps is a good strategy.

   

   
The clamps in the foreground are Jorgensen I-beam clamps with the Hargrave 640 clamps in the background.

   

   

   

[Strokes77]

Well I bought em. Way too many of them for me to use. I'll clean them up and get the old glue off and use what I can, pass on the rest.

I bought about 50 of em, I had to pass on a bunch. The cabinet shop they were used in broke a bunch of the knobs off.

Several of them are the Jorgensen, old made in USA. I'll cleaned up and get pics up soon

Thanks for advice men.

[EricU]

i didn't know people collect clamps.  Have to check some of my pile of clamps.  Think they would go for the bent ones?

[Robert Adams]

Keep all of them, you can never have too many clamps. But if I were to sell some of them I'd sell everything under 3' in length. I have never had a use for 24" clamps and a 36 will do everything a 24 will. 


     Some of those were good clamps. I'm more familiar with the heavy Jorgensen clamps in the pics above. A friend of mine has some 12 footers I need to pick up one day.

[Steve N]

i didn't know people collect clamps.  Have to check some of my pile of clamps.  Think they would go for the bent ones?

If you can convince someone into hand tools that Uncle Roy, or Frank Klausz bent them, sure that may be a 2 Dollar clamp