Clamp Suggestion

[joe1086]

If the Bessey parallel clamp sales from years ago did not happen I would for sure have way more pipe clamps than parallels.

Those were the days....

One thing to remember is the pipe clamps can exert a lot more force than parallels.

[AHill]

Of your choices, pipe clamps are far more versatile.  The Rockler Sure-Foot Plus pipe clamps are very good.  You can purchase pipes in all different sizes, and even screw them together for long jobs. One drawback to pipe clamp, in addition to what's mentioned above, is they tend to stain the wood if they are in contact with the wood.  You can solve that pretty easily but putting some wax paper between the clamp and the wood where the glue joint is.

The two kinds of clamps I use the most are parallel clamps and f-style clamps.  As they say, you can't have enough clamps.

[JGrout]

Pipe clamps will yield the most pressure per square inch without breaking the bank. 

That said if you are very good at making edges straight and are not trying to pull tight joinery or lots of it together parallel camps are useful 

my basis for the position 

[Rob Young]

Depends on the scale of work, the joint and your precision in doing it.

I have pipe clamps, parallel jaw clamps, I-beam clamps and sash clamps as well as a motley collection of F-clamps in various sizes, C-clamps, band clamps, spring clamps, pinch dogs, handscrews, face frame clamps, blue tape, wedges for making oddly shaped clamps on the fly, piles of clamping cauls (that look suspiciously like scrap wood)...  It gets a little silly after a while.

Anywho, for making panels in the size of work I usually do (things smaller than a dining table) I find that using sash clamps works best for me.  Light weight and so if you put 3 or 5 on a panel, it doesn't suddenly weigh 60#.  And do a good job jointing the boards and you should only need 3.  And maybe a couple of handscrews at the ends to help with alignment.

Pipe clamps are good for doing damage to a joint.  Force it to fit!  If you need that kind of pressure, maybe reconsider how well the joint has been tuned up or the open time of the adhesive.

Parallel jaw clamps are nice for larger assemblies and pulling together multiple M&T joints simultaneously because the give me a combination of reasonably high force combined with a large clamp head to spread it out a bit.

[ez-duzit]

I prefer bar clamps to pipe clamps.

[Stwood_]

Sold all of my parallel clamps.
I use pipe and F-clamps now, + a few beam clamps.

[Steve N]

Gluing up for multiple applications.

Pipe clamps. Check at a metal salvage yards for pipe, needs to be straight, and heads can be had for pretty cheap at a HF sidewalk sale, to pretty expensive for brand name heads. After having used a lot of them I have to say they all work. The only advantage to buying pipe at the BORG is they will cut and thread it to your spec, for very low prices. Someone said the lightweight aluminum clamps from HF, they are good for a low cost "light" clamp, but will bend if you crank down on them on a big heavy glue up. A 3/4" pipe clamp is pretty rigid within normal clamp lengths, 2 to 8'. Obviously Bessey, Jet, Pony parallel head clamps will win the clamp contests for best of, but get out yer wallet.

[Rob Young]

Someone said the lightweight aluminum clamps from HF, they are good for a low cost "light" clamp, but will bend if you crank down on them on a big heavy glue up. 

The sash clamp design sold by HF is similar (but the Al castings used for the heads are of lower quality) to those sold at other places.  

Best ones I've used however are from Dubuque Clamp Works.  All of the "hollow" bar sash clamps benefit from adding a stick of wood to stiffen the bar.  

I have some of the HF ones and they do fine if your joinery closes up with hand pressure.  But I wouldn't use them as the primary clamp to bend things around forms, they don't have the guts.

[Bill Wilson]

I think that's hard to answer, definitively.  As you see by the replies, the preferences are all over the board.  Preference can be application specific.  It can be cost based.  It can just be a matter of what you've grown accustomed to.

Like many, when I first started woodworking, I had a small, motley collection of clamps.  I used pipe clamps a lot, because I was working on a limited budget and could get the pipe cheap and interchange the few heads I had to make clamps of varying lengths.  Over the years I've accumulated a lot more clamps, which include F style and parallel bar clamps.  I find myself reaching for the F style for most general applications.  I use the parallel clamps when doing casework.  The pipe clamps generally gather dust now, especially the shorter lengths.  About the only time I use them these days is when long length is needed or when I run out of the others.  That's just the way I work though.  Someone else could come into my shop, build the same thing and reach for the pipe clamps first.  I like having a variety.  While I don't use my pipe clamps as much these days, I would never get rid of them.

[Woodshop]

pipe clamps
  are my go to clamps. only time I use bars is for putting together rail and styles.