Woodcraft clamps vs. Bessey?

[JD Dolan]

Have any of you guys used the Woodcraft parallel clamps (made by Bessey), and do you know how they compare to the regular Bessey K-Body clamps? Thanks in advance. J.D.

[Jason Scott]

My wife bought me a set for Christmas...They are excellent, and it is my understanding they are the "exact" same clamps, Bessey just paints them green and adds the woodcraft logo...I have read they are the best choice price wise and one the "best choice" award in some wood magazine...Not sure why they are less expensive, maybe someone else knows, but like I said I love them.

[Dennis Hatchett]

They are cheaper than Besseya and they were on sale last month which made them a great buy. The grips are much better and they seem to bite better than the Besseys. The Jaws seem a little bit lighter but it hasn't affected clamping pressure while building a set of cabinets. I only got four of them but I'll be getting more.

By the way, I bought a couple of the new Jets to compare them and they are by far the best clamps I've ever used. I reach for them first every time, but they are also very expensive. So I'll probably buy a few of those and they will be my main clamps. Then I'd use the woodcrafts for the big glue-ups when a lot of clamps are needed.

[Greg Muller]

I apologize that this isnt a direct answer to your question, but I have to second Dennis' opinion here. The Jet's are awesome!

I received a set of these for my birthday (dec 21st)

Jet 70411 Parallel Clamp Cabinet Door Set
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&rlz=&q=Jet+70411+Parallel+Clamp+Cabinet+Door+Set&um=1&ie=UTF-8

and then I bought myself 3 more sets for Christmas and then 2 more sets for New Years. I plan on buying myself another set for celebrating February 2nd and maybe another couple sets for other random celebrations. :D

Sometimes Amazon puts them on sale for only $109.00 a set!

Cool!!!!

Greg

[John Newell]

The local Rockler was clearing that Jet set out of inventory at $99 and I couldn't resist. Got them home and was blown away.

[Dennis Hatchett]

Sometimes Amazon puts them on sale for only $109.00 a set!

Cool!!!!

Greg


Do a brother a favor Greg and post an alert here when you see that special price on Amazon. That's a good deal because it's usually free shipping on orders over 25 dollars. They are great clamps.

[Lance Norris]

Woodsmith no.169 Feb-March 2007 has an article about parallel clamps and mentions the Woodcraft ones. They say they are made for Woodcraft to Besseys specifications in India. Woodsmith claims the steel in the bar and lead screw are different than the Besseys and that manufacturing differences can allow Woodcraft to sell them for 20% less. They dont say the steel is lighter, just different. They also say its a good clamp. Then they go on to say the Jets are the best and I have to agree, I only have Jets and I love them. I have used all the others.

[Joe Chritz]

I have both also and there isn't any real difference I can tell besides cosmetic differences. The handles are a plastic of some kind and they are green.

Beyond that I don't notice any real problems in interchanging them with the K-bodies.

Joe

[Jim Broestler]

I bought a couple 24" Woodcraft clamps at the Atlanta store, and I don't find any appreciable difference.

Jessem has a similar arrangement with Rockler and their router lifts, where Jessem makes a copy of their Mast-R-Lift and Routr-Lift LX that's painted blue and marketed through Rockler. Essentially the same lift. So apparently this kind of this isn't unheard of.