Reddit reviews Bessey GSCC2.524 2.5-Inch x 24-Inch Economy Clutch Style Bar Clamp

I don't think people realize how expensive it is for a company to build speakers. The general consensus is that there is a 1000% markup, meaning a $1000 pair of speakers only are $100 in parts. The company has to spend money to design and research the speakers. All of that is done in a building that they pay for. Next, they've got to build the speakers. Someone personally has to screw in each driver and apply every vinyl finish. They have to pay people to do that stuff. Next, they get shipped to a distributor. Speakers are big and heavy, so that isn't cheap. The distributor takes a cut of the money. They then send the speakers to a dealer. Once again, shipping costs. The dealer also needs some money, so they raise the price to make some money.

I'll throw out an example. The Buchardt S400 is a good one. It is made out of parts that anyone can buy. They use this $20 tweeter with a waveguilde attached, this $34 passive radiator, and this $71 woofer. So, they come out to about $125 per speaker, and $250 for the pair. They most likely get bulk discounts, but we can ignore that. Anyways, you get about $250 worth of parts in $1800 speakers.

Anyways, besides what comes when you order stuff, you've got to get some other parts.

You'll need a pair of binding posts for every pair of speakers you make. I use these ones, but really any of them should work.

You'll need polyfill to fill the speakers.

Screws to screw in the drivers.

Speaker wire, for inside of the speakers as well as to wire it all up when you're done. Since you're spending this much on the setup, banana plugs to plug in the wires might make you feel better. You won't need them, but it is definitely much easier to use them.

Alright, so that is really all of the stuff that you'll need inside the speakers. Now we can talk about the building stuff.

Clamps. You'll be gluing the speakers together, and need to hold them in place while the glue dries. Speaking of, wood glue.

You'll need a soldering iron for soldering everything together inside. That one comes with solder as well, as far as I can tell.

However, you want to finish the speakers would be last. Spray paint, vinyl wrap, whatever you want really. You could even get paint and a roller and paint them like that. You'll most likely want to sand and prime them first.

I think that's everything. Anyways, that Buchardt example is one of many examples. These Von Schweikerts are $35k and only have like $5k in parts, or something like that. I looked them all up once but I don't remember. Anyways, this is all to say, a pair of $400 speakers like the Monitor Audios don't have $400 in parts. It's much less than that.

These are solid: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-KR3-550-50-Inch-Parallel-2-Pack/dp/B001HSO6TU/ref=sr_1_50?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1519866448&sr=1-50&keywords=bar+clamps

You've probably heard the first law of clamps is that you can never have too many clamps.

The corollary to that is you can never have too many bar clamps of exactly the same model and dimensions because it is a massive pain to try to get panels aligned for glue-up when you you have two or more different sizes of clamps sitting at different heights from the workbench.

For light duty, I love these: https://www.amazon.com/IRWINQUICK-GRIPOne-Handed-Mini-Clamp-Pack-1964745/dp/B001NP9S7M/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1519866799&sr=1-4&keywords=irwin+quick+grip. Super fast and easy to apply even one-handed.

I made the mistake of buying a lot of this style clamp when I was starting out: https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-GSCC2-524-2-5-Inch-24-Inch-Economy/dp/B000FA0BMC/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1519866845&sr=1-4&keywords=bar+clamp

When you use them to span more than a couple of feet, they bow and that throws the jaws out of square with the work-piece. I eventually just threw them away.

Oh - I have never used these, but I've fiddled with them at the store and they seem solid and a bit better than pipe clamps: http://www.rockler.com/surefoot-aluminum-bar-clamps

I believe he/she is referring to the F-Style clamp, which is the only prime-deal for that amount I could find.
https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-GSCC2-524-2-5-Inch-24-Inch-Economy/dp/B000FA0BMC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1480108710&sr=8-4&keywords=bessey+clamp

I bought 12 of the 3/4 clamps for $8 each including prime shipping.So all 12 for under $100. I swear Amazon knows what I have searched for, but really would have bought more had I realized it was such a screaming deal!

Home Depot looks like the best current deal, I could use more!

No sooner am I looking and the 24" Bessey economy bar clamp shows up at $8.72. link

Home Depot shows it at $12.97

Hmm, so tempting

How about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Bessey-GSCC2-524-2-5-Inch-24-Inch-Economy/dp/B000FA0BMC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=113DXKNK8KG8X3D7E4CA

> Harbor Freight,

50 miles away. I could pay $6 shipping I guess.

$6 for a 24" clamp. Are these things any good?

The next closest I can find on Amazon is $10

https://www.amazon.com/Bessey-GSCC2-524-2-5-Inch-24-Inch-Economy/dp/B000FA0BMC/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1483331055&sr=8-33&keywords=bar+clamp+24%22

EDIT:

Also found these on ebay for $6.50 each.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-4-24-Inch-BAR-CLAMPS-Heavy-Duty-Woodworking-Wood-Carpenter-Tools-/311765298530?hash=item4896a8ed62:g:YGkAAOSwuTxV7dtW