Parallel clamps are widely relied on by woodworkers for applying strong and even pressure to glue-ups.
They are superior to most other types to common woodworking clamps in nearly every way, but there’s a big downside – they’re expensive.
This time of year is the BEST type time to pick up your first parallel clamps, or add to your kit. We usually see strong discounts for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and then that’s pretty much it for the year.
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Look at the Bessey and Jet deals first. I’m a huge Bessey fan, but have heard food things about Jet over the years, although that could have changed recently.
Yes, I recently posted about some of these deals before Black Friday, but wanted to make sure everyone that was interested had a chance to get in on the deals while they’re still around.
Plus, one retailer doubled up on their discounts for Cyber Monday, whether intentional or not, warranting renewed attention to clamp promos in a broader sense.
Bessey K Body REVO Clamping Kit – $179.99 at Rockler
This Bessey deal bundle gives you 2x 50″ and 2x 24″ clamps, plus 2x extenders. It’s a great price, especially taking into account the free shipping – it’s not cheap to ship 50″ clamps around the country.
JET Parallel Clamps – Buy One Get One FREE at Acme tools
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Acme still has their BOGO deal on Jet clamps, although they sold out of the 24″ size already.
Bessey Clamps – 15% off AND Cyber Monday Coupon at Acme Tools
This deal does not only apply to parallel clamps – it looks to apply to a wide range of Bessey clamps and accessories!
Acme has been offering a 15% discount on these clamps, but today’s CYBER “buy more, save more” coupon can save you even more money.
The deal includes parallel clamps, bar clamps, and more.
All of my Bessey purchases have been “buy it for life” types of products. They’re high quality clamps at proportionally high prices. Any and every opportunity to save money on them is much-appreciated.
I might take this opportunity to pick up a couple of smaller clamps.
Bora Parallel Clamp 4pc Set – $109.99 at Acme Tools
If you’re tight on cash, this Bora set gives you 2x 24″ and 2x 31″ clamps at a more manageable price.
Jorgensen 24″ Parallel Clamp 2-Pack – $69.99 at Amazon
Jorgensen 30″ Parallel Clamp 2-Pack – $75.99 at Amazon
Jorgensen 36″ Parallel Clamp 2-Pack – $83.99 at Amazon
I haven’t tried these Jorgensen clamps yet, but recent user reviews seem to be positive.
Lowe’s has single 24″ clamps priced at $30 each, and single 48″ clamps at $40 each. Thank you Ben for the heads-up!
Ben
Lowe’s has the Jorgensen 48” for $39.98. 24” are $29.98.
Stuart
Thanks! I added links to the post.
Rich
I bought a pair of the Jorgensen a couple of years ago and promptly returned them. They were not that well made and had a lot of play. The bar did not have ridges, but rather the locking mechanism dug in and made marks wherever the jaw was set.
While I like the Bessey K body Revo the best, the Bessey Revo Jrs are the best ‘mid range’ option. They are well made and provide more than enough clamping force for the vast majority of tasks. They are also a lot lighter; I often reach for those on smaller tasks.
Jet clamps on a BOGO deal are definitely worth considering.
As Stuart says, the Bessey or Jet will last you for years, especially if you protect the bars from glue drips.
Stuart
I have found that Bessey is in a league of their own, and have long heard others saying the same about Jet.
Laurence
I find Bessey and Jet to be roughly similar quality, each with their own pros and cons. But I find the Semble HD parallel clamps from Woodpecker tools to be the best, although at a premium to be sure. It’s usually the expensive shipping at woodpecker on top of the already expensive product that keeps me from buying more.
Shobeir
ACME also has this great deal on JET Parallel Clamp Framing Kit for $199, which qualifies for free shipping. Same kit on HD as a Special buy item is listed for $297.
https://www.acmetools.com/jet-parallel-clamp-framing-kit-70411/662755880278.html
Gary
I bought the Rockler set last week and it was delivered Friday or Saturday. My hat is off to the person who designed the packaging for it. That outer box was big and heavy but held the inner boxes quite well. I had bought a set of two 40″ and two 24″ clamps in a Black Friday deal last year or the year before. They are stout clamps, to be sure.
MM
I was really trying to minimize my spending on tools this year but Rockler’s deal on the K-body clamps was just too good to pass up so I ordered a set.
Acme’s stackable deals on Bessey had my interest: I was hoping to pick up some EHK XL series 600lb trigger clamps if I could get a deal on them, however the only EHK’s I could find in Acme’s catalog were a compact 100lb size.
James+C
Here’s a great deal that I think runs through the 29th. Rockler has 25% off a single, regularly-priced item. Their Clamp-It cabinet makers bundle already reflects the sale prices of the individual items. The discount code works on the bundle for an extra 25% off! It comes to a bit over $100 for four sets of the clamp bracket, square, and clip.
MM
Amazon has some new deals up on the 4-pc Bessey K-body clamp kits with a clickable coupon offering about $32-35 off depending on exactly which set you are looking at. This seems to apply to four separate kits. All have 2x 24″ clamps. The 2x long clamps are either 40″ or 50″, and the accessory item is either extensions or KP blocks to stand the clamps vertically on a table. With the coupon applied the cost is a little under $200 for any of the sets. This is not as good as the Rockler deal but it’s not bad at all, and you have the flexibility to choose 40″ clamps and/or the KP blocks if you prefer them.
J. Newell
Belated thanks for the earlier tip on the Rockler deal on the Bessey clamps. They were backordered but could still be purchased when I purchased them a couple of weeks ago. They showed up earlier this week and that was a really great deal. My other parallel clamps are all Jet, but these are at least as good and I like the option to combine the bars to extend the capacity.
The UPS was not thrilled about that package – it was quite large and quite heavy!
Drew M
I wonder why no one has “copied” the features unique to the Jet parallel clamps…
TBH, I haven’t looked to see if it is patented or anything.