Home Depot liquidating Irwin Clamps


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That's what happens when you stay off woodtalk for a few weeks...

 

I literally walked away from this thread as soon as I saw it to see what the local Home Depot and Lowes had. I've actually been quite happy with my harbor freight F-style clamps, but figured if I could get some parallel at a good price... 

 

And I did. 2 24" (all they had and they were actually the least discounted.) 2 40" and 4 50". Basically cleared Lowes out of the Bessey. Neither HD had Irwin parallel clamps left. The 40" were $26 each and the 50" were only $32.

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That's what happens when you stay off woodtalk for a few weeks...

 

I literally walked away from this thread as soon as I saw it to see what the local Home Depot and Lowes had. I've actually been quite happy with my harbor freight F-style clamps, but figured if I could get some parallel at a good price... 

 

And I did. 2 24" (all they had and they were actually the least discounted.) 2 40" and 4 50". Basically cleared Lowes out of the Bessey. Neither HD had Irwin parallel clamps left. The 40" were $26 each and the 50" were only $32.

 

I have never seen any brand of parallel clamps at any of my local Home Depot's, except for the wooden ones.

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Just checked out one of the two local HD's... nothing was on sale. They had 2 pairs of Jorgy parrallel clamps avail total.

 

Glad I picked up my new bessey k-body's at a Lowe's near my in-laws. We don't have a Lowe's within a half hour of here. Pretty interesting to see how these closeouts are being treated in different spots around the country. 

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You guys are all making me jealous! HD and the two Lowes stores near me haven't had any of their clamps discounted more than about $3. The regional discounting around the country is kind of strange.

 

The Lowes I went to only had one of the clamps I purchased discounted by $5, so don't feel bad.  (They also were just about sold out of everything... I only picked up 3... one each in 36", 40" split, and 24".

 

Haven't had a chance to get to Home Depot yet... but did pick up a pair of 48" from Harbor Freight that were $10 (with membership to their Inside Track Club) of the aluminum frame version.  (not the F type I like, but long enough to work on the next two projects...)

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If anyone is in need of F-Style clamps and their local HD is out of these good deals, Harbor Freight has their 6in down to 2.99 a piece and the 12in is 3.99. It might be due to the HD liquidation. 

 

Mark, those are the prices I pay all day at HF. Perhaps your HF is lowering the price to match other HFs? I know they're not top of the line, but I can't bring myself to pay for anyone else's f-style clamps. I've never had an HF clamp fail on me, and the price is just too good.

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Mark, those are the prices I pay all day at HF. Perhaps your HF is lowering the price to match other HFs? I know they're not top of the line, but I can't bring myself to pay for anyone else's f-style clamps. I've never had an HF clamp fail on me, and the price is just too good.

I like the "short" HF f-style clamps but anything over 24" the bar tends to flex. I have noticed once the bar flexes it is more dificult to keep things square. Does anyone have any experiance with the clamp tool guides from HF?

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My Lowes had Irwin at regular price, but Bessey on 'yellow tag'.  There was no rhyme or reason to the discount.  A $30 clamp was marked down to $29, and a $15 clamp was $10.

That said, I bought a Bessey bar clamp, a few C clamps, and two more 4 corner strap clamps (love those things!).

 

The Bessey vices were also on sale.

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I like the "short" HF f-style clamps but anything over 24" the bar tends to flex. I have noticed once the bar flexes it is more dificult to keep things square. Does anyone have any experiance with the clamp tool guides from HF?

I have seen some of that flexing you mentioned. And I have had to use cauls, etc to try to keep wider panels flat. I did like some of the heavier f-style clamps Irwin had at He Depot, but they didn't have any longer ones.

I have both the longer and shorter clamping tool guides from HF. They do work. I try to make sure I don't put too much lateral pressure on them just in case. Do make sure they work in the store though. I found one that had a broken clamp on the shelf. I have no experience with other clamping tool guides, so I can't say how they compare.

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Mark, those are the prices I pay all day at HF. Perhaps your HF is lowering the price to match other HFs? I know they're not top of the line, but I can't bring myself to pay for anyone else's f-style clamps. I've never had an HF clamp fail on me, and the price is just too good.

 

I bought a bunch of both those types last year at some point. They have been working great in my shop, not one single complaint.

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If your store had Irwin clamps they are being replaced with the Bessey's but if your local store has the Jorgensons they will not change out to the Bessey's (at least not yet).

If the items are yellow tagged but only discounted a few dollars, come back in a week or 2. When an item goes to clearance it is put on a schedule that will reduce the price very couple weeks until they are sold. Items that are not sold at the end of the schedule are reduced to $0.01 and written off at which point the store either throws the items away or they can be donated to a charity.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dropped by HD near me (Austin, TX) on 25 May, sales rep cleverly "did not confirm" anything about Irwin, while walking me to the discount display at the end of the aisle and discussing abstractly how relationships between HD and "vendors" can change and what happens when they do.  This abstract info was consistent with what I've read earlier in this thread.  All the parallel clamps were gone, a bunch of welding-specific vice clamps were on clearance.  The quick-grips were still in the normal display area, at normal prices - both the silver and the yellow variants.  I think there were F-styles too, but I have not yet looked at Irwin for those (figure I'd go with Bessey when I get there, been working my way through HF f-styles so far: 3 of ~12 have failed during their first ~50 uses).

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I cleaned out the Besseys from nearly every Lowe's in the St. Louis area during these sales and completed my F-style collection.  I found what someone else said to be true, that the prices would vary from store to store on exactly the same item.  But they would price match their own lowest price if I showed them a receipt, so I got the sweetest deal on almost all of them.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't need any more clamps.  Not F-styles or parallels anyway.  It feels weird to be fully stocked.

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hey, I see a hole that needs a clamp.... don't tell me you're fully stocked!

 

 

(i've actually taken to driving around with two 48" clamps in the back of the car.  Rattles almost as loud as the car over bumps, and the kids used to look at me wierd(er), but they've gotten over it.  And now, I can handle those odd jobs that need holding while on the road.  Like purchasing lumber and having to bring it home.  The clamps fit under the luggage rack rails, and the moving blankets keep the paint from scratching.)

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If this thread proves anything it is that woodworkers love a deal on clamps.  47 replies (and counting) about a sale that may or may not exist at your local Home Depot and, even if it did, surely does not any more.

Actually, the sale is still going on at my local lowes. I just picked up 6 Bessel revo's at quite the discount. The 50"ers were $29. I think they typically retail for mid $50s so that's a solid discount. Like some other guys said, the discount varied by store.

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