Dubuque (Universal) clamps

Yes, you discovered  many of their advantages

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

These could be the most under appreciated tools available to woodworkers. They are marketed ineffectively.

I too have discovered these...

Henry (Raleigh NC)

I too took Bill and Barry's recommendation and bought a set of 4 4' clamps, as these were needed for a specific project; they also filled a gap in my clamp collection - not many clamps over 3'.

These are not cheap - (certainly not over priced either!), but well worth what I spent. Easy to use and relatively light weight and strong. Available at Lee Valley in case anyone cares.

Henry

Hopefully...

David Weaver

..the fact that they haven't gotten wrapped up in a zillion mail order catalogs has something to do with their longevity ...

....edit - never mind. I see they're on amazon and at woodcraft now, but have apparently decided to not engage in the race to the bottom. Good for them.

They look like a sensible simple design.

Glad that worked for you....

Barry Irby

and Henry. I use mine on nearly every glue up. I still thank Bill for putting me onto them. A clear win for me. They do exactly what they are supposed to do.

Shop around, I got mine from Harry J Epstein, who ever that is, but they delivered exactly as promised.

Re: Dubuque (Universal) clamps

Barry W. Larson

I've been getting mine from Lee Valley. As easy as adding a half a dozen to each small order and picking them up at the store. I find the 24 inch are good for most of my panel glue-ups as these clamps will actually clamp a 24 inch wide panel - an additional bonus over my old "24 inch" clamps. I also find they are stiff enough to double as cauls for panels that tend to bow, but have also found that by playing with the pressure I can avoid bowed panels in the first place. The jaws on these clamps seem to be square enough that they don't introduce bow into the panel -

the pressure is applied parallel to the panel.

Again - the best clamps I've ever used. Just glad I arrived here without a side trip into Bessey K-body clampland🙄😁!

Cheers. Be safe and stay well.

Barry W. Larson

Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

Re: Hopefully...

Mark Nowicki

The Dubuque clamps sold by LeeValley are described as made by:

"Dubuque Clamp Company" and "Made in USA"

(would be nice if LeeValley disclosed the country of manufacture of all the stuff they sell)

The Dubuque clamps listed on Amazon.com are by:

"Dubuque Clamp Works" and "Made in USA"

Woodcraft's are by "Dubuque Clamp Works" with no country of origin given.

In some cases they are sold as made by " Universal Clamp Company"

Bill is right, their marketing strategy sucks.

History

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

The clamps were developed for the furniture industry by a family business in CA. They were sold under the name "Universal". I discovered the clamps years ago and set up an account to buy them wholesale. Bought hundreds for our club members. They were delightful folks to deal with.

The foundry that cast the jaws went out of business leaving Universal scurrying for some place to source parts. In the midst of this situation Universal sold out to Dubuque. It seemed to me that Dubuque treats these clamps as a step child of whatever else they do.

I have asked repeatedly to offer pads with these clamps. Not interested.

Re: History

David Weaver

More than once, I've gotten something newly offered with stock pictures showing "made in USA", and in the description, too, only to receive something made in China (high cost plumbing fixtures, etc).

I guess the only way to be sure that what WC or other retailers are selling (or origin) is to call and confirm as well as confirming that you'll be able to send back for full refund and shipping if you find otherwise.

Re: Yes, you discovered  many of their advantages

Barry W. Larson

This article makes it sound like the owners want to keep things manageable, which is likely great for maintaining quality and not getting driven into "value engineering" due to demand. Only issue is what happens when these owners decide to retire. Hopefully they can find like-minded persons to take the business over and maintain the quality. The clamps might be a little more money than the competition, but the advantages far outweigh the extra cost in MHO!

https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/business/article_4c1b143a-bff2-5dd4-869c-47c8a63cff52.html

Cheers. Be safe and stay well.

Barry W. Larson

Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

Pads

John in NM

McMaster Carr offers a large variety of adhesive backed rubber sheets, easy enough to make your own pads. They go up to about 90A durometer, which is probably hard enough for pads. I don't think I'd go below 70A.

https://www.mcmaster.com/rubber-sheets/backing-type~adhesive/texture~smooth/hardness-rating~hard/

Re: Dubuque (Universal) clamps

AZ in Colorado Springs

I got several of the Dubuque clamps from woodcraft after reading about them on woodcentral. They're wonderful!

I then saw some real knockoffs at harbor freight. The bits and pieces making up their clamps were much chinsier than the Dubuque clamps.

The next time I was at woodcraft I noticed the wood river knockoff copies of the Dubuque clamps. I was surprised to see that they were much closer to the harbor freight model than to the ones they were copying. Wood river is usually pretty good stuff.

Anyway, I too am grateful for hearing about the Dubuque clamps on this channel.

Re: Dubuque (Universal) clamps

William Duffield

Yes, thanks to Bill Tindall for his recommendations, I also now have some Dubuques, and I will probably be ordering some more. But, I'm keeping my Besseys, even if they're heavy, and the aluminum bar clamps just don't look right in the clamp rack I built for the K-body clamps. At least I most likely will not need to make another trip to the emergency room for stitches if I accidentally knock the incredibly light Dubuque clamps down on my head.

BTW, the spelling of the Horror Fright adjective is chintzier, as in covered in cheap chintz fabric. That one puzzled me for a bit.