Bessey UniKlamp Anybody Have Any? Please Rate...?

[richard poitras]

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Does anyone have any of these clamps and if so what are your thoughts?

Thanks

[David Wadstrup]

Hi Richard,

I have 4 of them, and really enjoy using them. Of course, they're not going to give you the clamping power of a full sized parallel clamp, but they certainly give enough for most smaller scale clamping situations. At a fraction of the weight. And they're much better than your average F-clamp.

I only had one hang up with them -- opening and closing them took some getting used to. There is a diagram embossed on the jaw, though, that serves as a handy reminder.

Overall, I really recommend them.

David

[mike holden]

I have twelve of them, started with two. I really, really like them for the lightness, the ability to sit square on their heads (helps in setting up glue ups), and their seeming imperviousness to glue (titebond 2 and hot hide pop right off when dry).

HIGHLY Recommended!

Mike

[Jim Becker]

I have a bunch of them and they are very nice for general clamping. Do note that they are not precision "parallel" clamps like their big brothers, the K-body or whatever the equivalent is these days. (I haven't looked in catalogs in a couple of years...) But I do like their lighter weight for when I want to use a clamp with a nice wide surface in contact with the material.

[glenn bradley]

Disclaimer; your favorite clamp or the usefulness thereof is directly related to what you do and how you do it . . .

I have bunches. My favorite and most used clamp. Amazon has a package deal on 2 x 6", 2 x 12" and 2 x 18" (http://www.amazon.com/Bessey-UNIK-6S-Multi-Purpose-Parallel-UniKlamp/dp/B00065WPYI/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1376793768&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=uniklamp) that comes and goes. IIRC, I paid about $105 with free shipping. As mentioned, these are medium-duty clamps but, they cover a wider range of uses in my shop than any others.

[richard poitras]

Thanks for the feed back, The reason I asked, is I can get some uesd 18’’s for $10.00 a piece (have not seen them but supposable in good shape) I do know the regular K’s are better, but for $10.00 I thought they would be worth it as long as they clamp well for light work.

[Mort Stevens]

When I was setting up my shop I bought a 16" surface planer and thought an 18" clamp would be useful for board glue-ups. So, I ended up with a bunch of the Bessey 18-in UniKlamps. For the only reason being because the K-Body style doesn't come in an 18" size. I have 12" and 24" K-Bodys and these 18" UniKlamps fill the gap, but they're a bit on the light-duty side for serious work. I often find myself reaching for the 24" K-Bodys even in situations where an 18" clamp would be more appropriate to use - that's not to say they're a bad clamp, it's just a little lightweight for my tastes and I think you may find the same thing. Were I starting my shop from scratch today, I'd skip the UniKlamps completely. http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/126/bxka.jpg Excuse the pile, I gave my clamp cart away in hopes of it motivating me to building a better one... well, that's the plan anyway! ;)

[Sam Murdoch]

Except Mort - Richard can buy these for $10.00 each :eek:. Sounds like a deal too good to pass up even if these clamps some day get back benched in favor of something more rugged.

[Loren Woirhaye]

They're ok. They don't weigh much and the jaws sort of imitate the parallelism of k-body clamps, but under real pressure they are not even close to the same thing.

[Loren Woirhaye]

At $10 a pop they are a steal. Super clamps for that kind of cash.