Bessey K3.550 K-Body 50-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp

by Bessey

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Bessey K3.550 K-Body 50-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp provides the most advanced hand-clamping technology available. The revolutionary all-steel design, featuring jaws encased in nonmarring, glue-resistant material, ensures that the jaws remain parallel. This clamp is ideal for frameless construction, free-frame cabinet construction, furniture construction, and countertop fabrication. It's also great for face-to-face and edge-to-edge gluing applications.

Product Description

The K Body true parallel jaws, unique design and superior construction provide a lifetime of perfect glue-ups for the woodworker. Great for cabinet, door, and face frame construction. Both sliding and fixed jaws are all-steel construction for ultimate strength and stability. Jaws are encased in super polyamids, nonmarring and glue-resistant. Large, parallel rectangular jaws, distribute even pressure across the entire smooth surface of the jaw, elimiates bowing or lifting common with conventional pipe clamps and bar clamps. Bright zinc finished, drawn steel rail, prevents black marks on wood and won't ever rust. Bright-drawn, profiled rail, I-beam minimizes flexing and bending. Rail is serrated on 6 sides for extra positive-grip. Precision sliding arm mechanism, ensures arm is always at right angles to the rail. Oversized Acme thread, positive-grip with minimum turns. Ergonomically designed wood handle, comfortable for any hand and up to 1000 lb. of clamping pressure. Rail size: 1-1/8" x 3/8". 3-1/2 depth. No. K3.524: 24" opening No. K3.540: 40" opening No. K3.550: 50" opening No. K3.560: 60" opening

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7.6 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0000224B8
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: K3.550
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,140 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bessey K-Body Clamps Rock!, November 25, 1999

By 

Kevin Pera (Littleton, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bessey K3.550 K-Body 50-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp (Tools & Home Improvement)

These claps are perfect for cabinet and furniture assembly. They usually need no clamping blocks, unless you are clamping a very soft wood or a profiled edge. Although they only have a knob for a tightening handle, one can get a good amount of clamping pressure. Glue is easy to remove from the jaws as well as the bars once it has dried. All in all, these are a good value, even at their fairly high price.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clamp talk-Bessey K-Body, September 29, 2003

By 

Bob Feeser "MillCrafters.com" (Springfield, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bessey K3.550 K-Body 50-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp (Tools & Home Improvement)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Clamp, August 24, 2004

By 

David Naylor "Woodworking Guy" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bessey K3.550 K-Body 50-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp (Tools & Home Improvement)

Norm says, "You can never have too many clamps." After investing about a grand in clamps over the years, I think he is right. The K-Bodies are great for just about any application. The are study, solid, strong and provide a wide clamping surface with even pressure - what more can you ask for in a clamp? They are pricey, but you get what you pay for.