[Mark.Louis]

Am just getting into the Speaker DIY hobby, and for Xmas the wife got me two 36" quick action clamps from Lowes for $28 each. I took them back knowing I could get them cheaper, but am not sure where to go.

My first project will be GR's AV-3s, requiring at least a 48" bar clamp for the sides. I know others have recommended either Harborfreight.com or pennstateindustries.com. They seem to be cheaper there, but will they do the trick? Are there certain features I need to look for/have in these clamps? I've done some wood working in the past, but have used mainly small and C-clamps...no experience with large bar clamps. Any recs on a spec brand would be helpful.

Mark

[Frank Carter]

I bought a whole bunch of ebay pretty cheap.

I started a thread a while back on clamps, I got a lot of recommendations. You might want to search to see if you can find the thread.

[Allen Ross]

ebay, a bunch of people do those dutch auctions and you can score them for about 3 bucks for a clamp 36". but remember they are what you pay for. I get by with mine.

[Patrick Sun]

I think I got in on a Penn Industries clamp sale and got a boatload of clamps for under $50 (of course, by then, I haven't found a project to work on, go figure).

[MattD]

HarborFreight - I picked up 2 24 inch bar clamps (@$3.49) 2 30 inch bar clamps (@$3.99) and 4 corner clamps (@1.99). Quality was good enough to get the job done. I glued up my sub this weekend with them and am almost done with the paint job.