Thread: Torquata parallel clamps

Aldav, I liked the idea for the edge clip. The drying glue onto the serrations irritates me badly!

Can fully agree with you Aldav regarding the the bar protector pads, they do so little and just get in the way. When i first got my besseys i though cool just spent loads of money on clamps better take care of them, used the bar protectors for two glue ups got fed up with it and now they all sit in a box somewhere in the shed.

Have also tried masking tape, but also got annoyed with the tape as you need to set it up every time as the sliding end doesn't slide over the tape very well.

Now all I do is before each glue up give the bars a quick rub with some wax and find that any excess on the bars comes off fairly easily.

Originally Posted by aldav

advantage over Irwin Quick Grip clamp

I'm also after some parallel clamps and are looking at the Torquata's (900mm) but I also looked at the heavy duty Irwin's and they look OK as well for my limited needs. They were straight with no noticeable flex and the pads remained reasonably parallel. I've read the above posts and I've heard from many that are happy with the Torqauta's but how do the heavy duty Irwin's compare? I also noted some of the new useful accessories you can buy eg miter clamp, hold downs etc.

Hi Barri,
I have some heavy duty Irwin trigger clamps I bought when they were on special at Trade Tools for aprox half the normal cost. They are only the 600mm size although bigger versions are available. They do have a black plastic insert that fills the space inside the jaws making them "sort of parallel" and even though the mechanism is not like the parallel clamps I can not see any reason they would not be perfectly OK for the occasional panel glue up, where the joints are fitted properly and are being used only to bring the joint together while the glue sets. There is the added bonus that they are a really versatile clamp for other stuff. The parallel clamps I have are only pulled out when there is a panel to be done or some case that needs them, the rest of the time they just sit there. Probably not the best use of my limited funds.
Really anything can be used to glue up a panel, before I had any big clamps I used to put a sheet of ply in a narrow passage, at my father in laws, with brick walls on each side and use wedges to hold the joints together, lay on my stomach and use my version of winding sticks to check for flatness and give a couple of carefully placed whacks to bring everything into alignment and then hammer the wedges home. An off cut of laminate and a few cement blocks on top to act as caules until the glue set.. The only real down side was the comments from my father in law about me blocking access to "his" downstairs toilet. All the best.

Hello Aldav, I was not trying to put people off the Torqueta clamps as apart from that one issue they are working well. I am still making the pads for my Torqueta clamps from some fairly soft Asian plywood which still need to have the mortices routed to fit over the bar and will be held in place with some of the excellent Aldi double sided tape.
As an interim step I have used some of that really thick stiff clear packing tape on the jaws and it seems to have fixed the problem and although I will continue to fit the ply jaws I now don't think I really need to as this quick fix has worked so well and the tape has not fallen off. All the best.

Hi Barri,

I have both Irwins and Besseys.

I purchased the Irwins (varying lengths) when i started woodworking and made a king size bed with them so they are definitely capable for large panel glueups.

I've had my Besseys for about a year now, and have wondered why i didnt get them earlier. They make glueups that much easier, but you need to plan your glueups as they can also be very frustrating to use.

Having said that there are a number of times when using parallel clamps is simply impossible/not feasible.

So the notion of you can never have enough clamps is still valid and buy both. However if you can only have one type i wouldn't know what I'd choose...

i get paid for my timber work and have many many clamps, i’ve got jets, irwin’s , besseys and Aldavs are the best value for money i’ve found.
I have only picked up and examined the Torquata (not used in my work) but found them not as substantial as Aldavs.

Paid Timbecon a visit today and picked up a couple of the 915mm parallel clamps and did a glue up when I got back to my shed with three 19mm boards. I was impressed. There was none of the oily residue mentioned above and there was no noticeable bar flex. The pads remained parallel and at 90 deg. to the bar and their overall weight was easily manageable and while the bar is similar to the Irwin's in quality and solidness it definitely has a place in my workshop and is great value for what it does, however, I wouldn't use them in a much "heavier" or larger situation. Great for boxes and cabinets.

Hi barri,
I'm glad you did not have any issues with oily marks on your timber when you used the clamps.
I was glueing an over sized base for a rocker recliner that is around 115mm higher than the original and about 250mm longer. It was made of NG rosewood which is a quiet dry and brittle timber. I was clamping a wide boards that was morticed into the sides so used two clamps for each board all clamps left the oily residue. Perhaps it is just my clamp pads that are the issue or something to do with the sponge like qualities of NG rosewood drawing the oily stuff out. all the best

Originally Posted by aldav

I'll send you a PM. Too much risk of getting in to trouble with the Mod's if I post anything here.

Cheers,
David

pm sent... cheers David

Yes there are obvious vested interests, bias and willingness to put down rival brands coming through loud and clear in this thread.

I thought it was a fair comparison and assessment of different brands of clamps from a number of people. I for one, like the fact that various users of clamps are willing to states pros and cons so I have some idea of what brands to buy and what to look for.
JMO

Originally Posted by barri

Yes there are obvious vested interests, bias and willingness to put down rival brands coming through loud and clear in this thread.

For goodness sake... Stop reading things into what is obviously intended as helpful information.
Some people just want to help with the knowledge they've gleaned from use and experience this doesn't mean they have a vested interest in a product or a willingness to put down another brand or product.

Pointing out factual differences between products should be considered as helpful or at its worst creative criticism not vested interests, bias and a willingness to put down rival brands.

perhaps i should have mentioned how many thousands of dollars i have paid for my clamps and how they are pretty much in daily use and that i have no vested interest in any of the companies whom i have bought from.