David (& All),
Please understand, I have more than 2800 lbs of clamps (cramps, as they used to call them on Old Blighty when I was a kid) of various types & sizes. The so-called toolmaker's clamps have their place in my repertoire, but I probably only pull my cache of them out on alternate leap years. When I do need them, they are the perfect answer to the problem at hand.
I probably use C (G) clamps 85% of the time. The half-C type of clamp (i.e. the screw half of a C clamp with a bolt-down part at the frame) is my second most used clamping device. Cam-operated bar clamps are probably my third most used clamping device. Etc.
Were you not using what works you might be a heretic. And yes, I made nearly all my toolmaker's clamps as an apprentice machinist. Making them was a very good exercise and teaching tool. But, as I said, I rarely use them.