Some of my Besseys DON'T clamp

[Brian Penning]

It's not due to glue on the bars either.
When I tighten them the handles get tough to turn quite quickly and no matter how much force I apply they don't clamp very tight.
I do see an Allen screw near the mechanism but no clue what it's for.
Any ideas?
TIA

[glenn bradley]

I assume you are talking K-body clamps. The allen set screw is what provides the teeth that grip the serrations on the bar. You can access this screw easily if you remove the plastic stop at the end of the bar and slip the lower jaw off. The screw is not tight on any of mine but is screwed in all the way; just not torqued. Before you go there though; are you saying if you unscrew the handle several turns, press the handle towards the bar to engage the teeth and turn the handle . . . it slips?

[Mark Woodmark]

I have the same problem with some of my Besseys also. Two of them eventually broke between the bar and the jaw face. I am slowly replacing my Besseys with Jet clamps

[Brian Penning]

Before you go there though; are you saying if you unscrew the handle several turns, press the handle towards the bar to engage the teeth and turn the handle . . . it slips?

No, I'm saying the clamp works normally - nothing slips, it simply requires a lot of force to clamp something and even at that it doesn't clamp all that tight.
Thks

[Andy McCormick]

I also have had problems with the K bodys. Andy

[Steve Orbine]

So let me guess, these were made in China ?

[Dan Bowman]

I had the same problem on a couple K bodies. I returned them to Woodcraft and after they convinced themselves the clamps didn't work, they credited the sale price to some new Revo's (one of the guys said "yeah, I've heard about that problem"). So far so good with the new ones.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

I had the same problem on a couple K bodies. I placed some lube on screw threads and socket head works great. Also added a rubber coating to wood handles great improvement over all. Tom

[Mike Conley]

I am having the same problem with two of my clamps.

[Steve Bagi]

Same here. Two of my K bodies just grind when I tighten them. Tried lube, didn't work. I called Bessey and they acted like they never heard of the problem. I was told it was probably due to sawdust in the threads. They also told me they no longer supply replacement part for the K boddies (I asked for a new threaded handle). I'll be buying Jets or Jorgies next time.

[Gary Herrmann]

Maybe I've been lucky. I've never had this problem with any of mine.

[Will Blick]

> I placed some lube on screw threads and socket head works great. Also added a rubber coating to wood handles great improvement over all.

.
This is great advise, for all parallel clamps.... I have tested many parallel clamps, and as much as I like K body bessies, (I have about 40) they simply are not well made clamps... you must keep the threads well lubricated, its almost mandatory you add a thicker, tackier grip, which will yield you about 150 - 200 lbs of extra force...and even then, an avg strength man will only achieve about 500 lbs of force, even though they are advertised at 1,000 lbs of force. The new Revo's are no better.... they actually slip worse than the K bodies. Most will drop from 600 lbs to 300 lbs of force within 4 minutes of clamping.... Jets slip even worse.... you should always re-tighten after clamps to hold the force you are trying to achieve. (of course, not all clamp jobs require max. force, consult your glue makers recommendations)

Remarkably, the best of the parallel clamps I have tested are the Stanley Baily's... they achieve the advertised amount of force without tearing your hands apart, or adding on to the handles, 1k lbs, the handles are better than all the big name clamps, no mods required, and they slip the least. I guess because they were late into the game, they never became very popular...

[Joe Jensen]

> I placed some lube on screw threads and socket head works great. Also added a rubber coating to wood handles great improvement over all.

.
This is great advise, for all parallel clamps.... I have tested many parallel clamps, and as much as I like K body bessies, (I have about 40) they simply are not well made clamps... you must keep the threads well lubricated, its almost mandatory you add a thicker, tackier grip, which will yield you about 150 - 200 lbs of extra force...and even then, an avg strength man will only achieve about 500 lbs of force, even though they are advertised at 1,000 lbs of force. The new Revo's are no better.... they actually slip worse than the K bodies. Most will drop from 600 lbs to 300 lbs of force within 4 minutes of clamping.... Jets slip even worse.... you should always re-tighten after clamps to hold the force you are trying to achieve. (of course, not all clamp jobs require max. force, consult your glue makers recommendations)

Remarkably, the best of the parallel clamps I have tested are the Stanley Baily's... they achieve the advertised amount of force without tearing your hands apart, or adding on to the handles, 1k lbs, the handles are better than all the big name clamps, no mods required, and they slip the least. I guess because they were late into the game, they never became very popular...

Cool, how are you measuring the force, do you have a strain guage or something?

[Alan Schaffter]

Cool, how are you measuring the force, do you have a strain guage or something?

Oh, grab the popcorn! I'll let someone else handle it this time

[Brian Penning]

Screw threads = the Handle threads?