Customer Reviews

Bessey K3.531 K-Body 31-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For making square pieces (doors, frame panels, boxes, etc) these clamps are the best. The jaw faces stay parallel to each other, which helps keep everything lined-up and the plastic does not mar the wood.

Any wood glue that squeezes out of the joints does not stick to the plastic nor the metal.

These clamps will stand on the floor on their back without any other support. You can also clamp up panels and stand them up and the clamps are stable that way too!

They are a few dollars more, but definitely worth it. They are heavy, so get some small ones too.

Though costly in comparison to other clamps on the market, these are a joy to use. You don't need two thumbs to operate, just slide the head into place and crank the handle. The part I have to say I like the most is the square heads. You can lay a string of clamps across a bench for panel glue up and they all stay put. When the piece is clamped, you can set it aside and stand the whole thing up on edge out of your way. Rather than having to have a wall to lean it against, a little floor space can hold a great deal of panels while drying since they're all packed in together. The clamping mechanism is very effective, and the plastic seems to resist most everything I've spilled on it (glue, lacquer, etc.) and clean up easily.

The Bessey K-Body clamps are superior for multi-board and cabinet door glue-ups by keeping the pieces flat. Wish I could have purchased the K-Body clamps instead of all the pipe clamps I own.

I have several brands of clamps and finally settled on Bessey as the clamp of choice for the majority of applications. I have been buying K body clamps over the years and now have a total of 16. They are expensive and you are best to buy the cabinet kit as a starter set. I find it is best to have 4 of the same size when doing box type glue ups. If you shop for clamps you can buy these at discounts and occasionally amazon will have specials. These clamps are very powerful and do not bow like cheap clamps. They glue up square and clean up is easy. I guarantee you will fall in love with their performance.

Im a cabinet builder for several years. Used pipe clamps for most of my career untill some one let me borrow a k-body. Now I have 12 k-bodys and mipe vast collection of pipe clamps sits and rusts. Improves the quality and speed of your work.....big time.

I now own 30 of these babies. Great clamp. Great size for cabinet drawers. I like the serated bar clamp head does not slip. These also help square the work when doing frames, which is a nice feature.

These Bessey clamps take top honors in strength, weight, and ease of use. Definitely a top quality product. Every show including Norm, Woodworks, etc. all sport Bessey clamps. They are the best! Now let's get into the Nitty Gritty.
Even though I like these best out of all of the bar clamps, there is a limitation in bar clamps, in that the bar will bend when under pressure. Under normal gluing pressure, which is slight enough to mate the two surfaces firmly, but not enough so as to squeeze the glue out, their isn't a problem. Even if you need to exert more pressure to mate the surfaces, your final pressure should be slight. Why am I concerned about this? Well I first bought these clamps thinking they would create a perfectly flat bed to lay your project in. If you are using the longer version, this becomes especially apparent. When under more pressure, the bar of the clamp is no longer straight. They all do that, it is inherent in the design of a bar clamp. An I beam shape would solve it, but is impractical, even on a tiny scale.
Some ways back, when I was just getting back into woodworking, I bought a boatload of clamps that were so cheap, and made in China. The clamping mechanism is sometimes a hassle to deal with, which is not what you want, when glue is setting up. These Bessey's are hassle free and reliable. The cheap clamps are made with a square tube the clamp rides along. Consequently they take a great deal of pressure without showing any signs of bending. The limitation to them is that they only have a 1 3/4" throat depth, whereas the Bessey's have 3 1/2".
Then I looked at the Jorgensen's. They have their Cabinet Master Parallel steel line, which is aimed at competing with the Bessey K-Clamps. They have a wider face on them, so you can lay a clamp on its side, and get a longer clamping surface. With the Bessey's that is possible, albeit a slightly narrower surface. Myself, I choose to use a couple of inch thick straight oak piece as a wedge, giving me all the clamping surface I need.
I like Jorgensen clamps, I have several sets of their bar clamps, and their lighter standard clamps as well. All in all, the Bessey's are made out of more steel, and are more heavy duty. The Jorgensen?s you have a third bracket-clip that enables you to convert it into a spreader, and acts as a support, to prevent it from tipping, when using the clamp for a far smaller piece of material than the clamp was designed for. A great idea, but the Bessey's can easily solve the tilting problem, with a small piece of stock to support them. Better yet, having the proper size clamp eliminates the problem altogether. Pertaining to the spreader capacity, that is great, but I do have several of the Tru-Grip quick clamps, which have the spreader capability, which I rarely if ever have to use.
I guess I am getting wordy. Bessey's rock. They are stronger, (heard a crunching sound when I tightened one up against the edge of some fresh glued melamine, so go gently) heavier duty, precise (unless you over tighten and temporarily warp the bar, which causes a miniscule off angle. I know I am getting critical here.) And they look cool sitting on the rack.
I bought the Incra TSIII-32 table saw fence, installed it on my 10" old, circa 1950's cast iron table saw, and was amazed at getting instant accuracy to .002". A whole new world opened up to me, and I was amazed at how easy it was to automatically measure and cut without any slight off angles binding the wood. Put the first project together using this system, then I came to the glue up, and the cheap clamps did not do the job. All that perfection, so easily, and while under the gun of set up time, the clamps failed me, and I have a less than perfect edge. The dry fitted pieces fitted perfectly. Now I have to go back with a sander, and true up the pieces. That is what drove me to buy a bunch of these Bessey clamps. Smooth, easy mechanicals, great surface area that is flat, and if you get the knack of clamping them at the right pressure, they create a flat platform on the base of your project. All in all definitely 5 stars, I know I will be adding more to the collection. Highly recommended. Bite the bullet, and start or add onto your collection. They are worth it.

I ONLY BUY BESSEY K-BODY CLAMPS !! I HAVE TRIED OTHERS, MOST OF WHICH I WOULDN'T USE EVEN IF THEY WERE FREE !!! THE K-BODY CLAMPS ALWAYS STAY IN LINE & NEVER TWIST UNDER PRESSURE!! BUY AS MANY AS YOU CAN AFFORD !!!

These are just great clamps, a must for building cabinetry the price on amazon is as good as I have seen.

If you watch "The New Yankee Workshop", you'll notice Norm always grabs the Bessey clamps when it's time to start gluing. That's because they are the best. If you do a lot of woodworking that requires gluing panels together, you owe it to yourself to invest in a set of these.