Bessey K Body clamps?

[John Sincerbeaux]

I have several older K Body clamps which I bought at least ten years ago. They have the wooden handles.
When I buy tools, I usually buy the best. These clamps were no exception. However, I don't know if I have ever really been that happy with them. A problem with these has always been they often seem to "bind" rather than clamp. And that combined with a thin, smooth wooden handle makes it frustrating at times. The old handles make it very difficult to really get torque on the clamp. Even resetting or re-engaging the clamp and or handle position often would be no help.

I spent hours last night researching these clamps and found a few other similar complaints. However, generally most comments or reviews have been stellar.

I know there are newer, redesigned K body clamps now. I am just curious if any of you have had similar problems and opinions of these clamps? Any modifications? Are the newer clamps much better?
After using these clamps last night and finally realizing that (after many frustrating years using them) they are really NOT very good, I decided to start researching options.

Thanks in in advance for your thoughts

Happy Easter

[Mike Schuch]

If I do a good job of prepping very tight fitting joints the amount of pressure my K body clamps need to exert is quite minimal and they are more than capable of exerting enough pressure for a good glue up. If I have some unwieldy wood or just bad prep on my part a pipe clamp will allow my to exert much more force to pull a joint together. Obviously a well prepped joint is the way to go.... but situations where I have to force a joint to close do happen.

The amount of force a clamp is able to exert is directly related to the stiffness of the bar (the back bone) of the clamp. I do not believe the bar on K body clamps have changed that much over the years so I doubt the pressure they are able to exert has changed much. A big 3/4" pipe will be able to apply much more force than the bar on a K body clamp... but most joints should go together nicely with the force a K body is able to exert.

[mike mcilroy]

If you wrap some tennis racquet grip tape on the handles it makes them a lot easier to tighten.

[glenn bradley]

Hockey tape, Plastic-Dip or Rockler slip-ons. I have all of these. The tape is quickest and cheapest but, gathers dirt and can come loose in warmer weather. The plastic dip is inexpensive but requires a little effort. The Rockler slip-ons are the most expensive but slip on and stay put.

Hmm, I can't seem to find the Rockler version anymore. Probably a dead product with the newer Bessey's being out for so long. Glad I got a bunch cheap on clearance ;-)

[Lou Petrosino]

I have quite a few of the older ones also and have never had that problem. Are you pushing down on the handle before you start turning it? Pull up to slide it and push down to start to tighten.

I also have the older Jorgensen 'K Body' style and prefer the Besseys.

[Don Jarvie]

I have the older ones and love them. Once a year I try to hit the bar with a scotch brite pad and wax. Mine are 20 years old and still look new.

The new ones have a thicker handle and bigger clamp faces. Just have to make sure you find the non Chinese ones.

[ken masoumi]

I have a few of the old style K body clamps but there are 2 in particular that don't clamp as easily as the others,I have to unscrew them all the way first,then push down on the handle to make them grab but once they grab they stay tight .
I remember reading a thread about this problem and the solution was to dismantle the lower slider and file the worn out part( flange) but have not had the nerve to take these otherwise great clamps apart yet.

[Danny Thompson]

No problem. The bigger handles and faces on the new Bessey K body's allow me to apply enough torque to near-starve a joint. They've been up to every challenge I've thrown at them.

The Jet parallel clamps include some usability innovations which don't really improve torque and only kind-of work, so I find myself reaching for the Bessey's first.

[Harvey Miller]

One person replaced the old style wooden handles with the new Revo style:



First option:

The original Bessey K-bodies had handles that were pressed into a washer/socket that was never meant to be replacable. If you want to try some surgery (I will try it on one my old ones next weekend) and grind around the top of the washer so that the handle will pop out then you should be able to just replace it with a Bessey 3101370 ($12.99) handle that is what is on the newer K-Body clamps.


Just following up my earlier post. Yes you can replace the older wood handles with the newer ones, but it is probably more work than necessary. I took a small grinder to one of my older k-bodys and removed enough material around the inner socket washer and the old handle comes out. It took a while, but it came out. The new and old handles have the same exact threads. The difference between the two is the older k-body has a compression fit socket holding the ball on the end of the threaded handle and the newer ones have a more open socket with a inner retaining ring, that allows the hand to be removed easily.

[Frank Drew]

I've owned and used just about all of the various bar and pipe clamps available commercially since the mid-80s and consider the Bessey's K body to be a distinct improvement in the category, mainly because the pressure they apply is very even and they don't distort the orientation or placement of the boards you're gluing up (a major annoyance of pipe clamps). I haven't used the other brands of parallel clamps but I've read from others that they're also very good.

[glenn bradley]

I have a few of the old style K body clamps but there are 2 in particular that don't clamp as easily as the others,I have to unscrew them all the way first,then push down on the handle to make them grab but once they grab they stay tight .
I remember reading a thread about this problem and the solution was to dismantle the lower slider and file the worn out part( flange) but have not had the nerve to take these otherwise great clamps apart yet.

This could be from damaged threads on the grub screw. No dismantling required. Simply turn the hex screw a few degrees to expose new threads.

310763

[Lewis Justis]

I put a couple of drops of 3-1 oil on the threads and that made a world of difference on mine. Also, a pair of "grips" gloves will give you a lot more grip for tightening.

[ken masoumi]

This could be from damaged threads on the grub screw. No dismantling required. Simply turn the hex screw a few degrees to expose new threads.

310763
Thanks Glen,I'll give it a try,.

[John Sincerbeaux]

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely try the suggestions.

[Paul Snowden]

What I did with mine was drill a hole in the handle big enough for a screwdriver. When I really need to crank the clamps down I'll slide a screwdriver through the handle and torx it.

[ken masoumi]

John we both should try LV's high friction tape (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,110,43466&p=67792):
http://www.leevalley.com/en/images/item/Woodworking/Assorted/23k3011s2.jpg

[Larry Copas]

The best K body clamps that I've found are Stanley. Nice big handles, stout construction, and never a problem. For some reason they never sold and died an early death. I got my clamps on clearance from Big Lots. Next best is the Jorgensen Cabinet Masters.

After those two its Besseys with all the others. The Besseys are always my last choice.

One problem with K bodies is there not always the best clamp for the job. I often use Hargraves which are no longer available. Jorgensen 72's are almost as good, but they also seem to be disappearing.

[Bob Michaels]

I have about 60 of the 10 year old K's. 12" to 96" and most sizes in between. I wrapped all the wood handles with inexpensive old fashion friction tape. Solved any hand slippage issues. Search Amazon...that's where I purchased the tape.

[Mark Stutz]

I have a combination of older Besseys, Jorgensen, some yellow ones with Scott Phillips signature (the price was right on clearance at Woodcraft) and I prefer the Jorgy's. Just seem to work more smoothly. Has anyone used the ones from Lee Valley?

[John Sanford]

I did a big glue-up over the weekend, using both old and new K-Bodies. The handles on the new K-Bodies are light years better than the old. I actually toyed with the idea of simply replacing all my old ones with new ones, but the cost is prohibitive for such an upgrade, so if I do it it will be done very slowly.

[Alden Miller]

I have a bunch of the older K body Besseys and love them. I find myself searching ebay and craigslist for them to expand my stock of 24" and 40" clamps but so far to no avail. I find I can apply more than enough clamping pressure with them with no need for additional tape on the handles. When I glue up I just try and bring the joint together, I don't want to crush it so that it is glue starved.

-Alden

[Alan Schaffter]

I made a little jig for my router table so I could add flutes to the handles of my older Besseys. After I cut the first flute, I inserted an index pin in a slot in the jig at the 45° position so there would be 8 equally spaced flutes on each handle. It was fast and worked great!:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/Bessey_fluting_jig.jpg

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC230007.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC230008.JPG

[Mike Heidrick]

Awesome idea Allen, Submit that to Wood magazine or other publication. You will get paid for that one I bet.

[Frank Martin]

I made a little jig for my router table so I could add flutes to the handles of my older Besseys. After I cut the first flute, I inserted an index pin in a slot in the jig at the 45° position so there would be 8 equally spaced flutes on each handle. It was fast and worked great!:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/Bessey_fluting_jig.jpg

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC230007.JPG


http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC230008.JPG

This is the best idea I have seen. I have the Rockler
sleeves on mine but they sometimes slip. Never liked the tape idea. May give this one a try.

[John Sincerbeaux]

I put a couple of drops of 3-1 oil on the threads and that made a world of difference on mine. Also, a pair of "grips" gloves will give you a lot more grip for tightening.

I did exactly this yesterday with good results. ^^^^^^^^^

I turned the grub screws a bit but don't think that helped much?

I think I will try what Allen did. Great idea.

[Jim Matthews]

Why not drill a hole and glue in a bolt?

http://www.rockler.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Arthritis-Clamp-Modification.jpg

[John Gornall]

A fellow down the road asked me to help with a large bent lamination glue up - about 40 clamps. Some clamps so close it would be hard to grip the handles. He had removed all wooden handles and welded a nut in place. A couple of impact drivers with sockets on extensions made for a very smooth and panic free glue up. He does a lot of these and started using the drivers and a helper after he screwed one up a few years ago and wasted a lot of nice wood.

[Robert Engel]

I have both Besseys and Jets.

The Jets are my go to clamps because I like the release and the handles are "hands down" better than Bessey's.

I would try some bike handle grips or the grip gloves.

I read somewhere a guy put small lag bolts into end and uses impact driver to tighten. Think he had arthritis or something.

[Alan Schaffter]

You need to be careful putting a lag bolt in the handle- allows you to tighten (over-tighten?) for sure, but the bolt may back out when it is time to loosen the handle, so be sure to use a little epoxy. As was said earlier, if you need that much force, you may not have done a very good job jointing your edges in the first place.

I sent my handle modification tip to most of the usual suspects, none published it. I've had over 30 tips published, two in FWW, and of course there is the I-Box and Lock Miter Master, but adding flutes to Bessey handles didn't trip anyone's trigger.

[Clay Crocker]

I find myself searching ebay and craigslist for them to expand my stock of 24" and 40" clamps but so far to no avail.

Man, I find myself doing the same exact thing.....to no avail either!

[Allan Speers]

Why not drill a hole and glue in a bolt?

http://www.rockler.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Arthritis-Clamp-Modification.jpg

Oh man, that's good!

I'm gonna' do this to mine as son as I can find the time.

[Allan Speers]

Hmm, I can't seem to find the Rockler version anymore. Probably a dead product with the newer Bessey's being out for so long. Glad I got a bunch cheap on clearance ;-)

I assume you mean these?

http://www.rockler.com/clamp-handle-grips#

I just ordered a bunch.