Customer Reviews

Bessey K3.560 K-Body 60-Inch Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Clamps are essential in the woodshop, and you can't ever seem to have enough of them. There are some clamps that are better when you need a fast operation in a tight spot (like Quick Clamps). But the Bessey "K"-Body clamps are absolutely the best for strength and design.

The mechanism designed by Bessey is terrific. The shoe slides easily until it is snug against the wood, then you turn the tightener and the shoe moves in a kind of bottom-to-top fashion that locks the wood together very nicely without damaging the surface.

These clamps really excel when you're glueing up boards for a table top. The reason is simple. With these clamps, you can form a great work surface to lay your boards out on. The clamps themselves become the work surface. You just stand three or four of these clamps on their backs, with the clamping mouths facing up, spacing them out equally in alternating directions. They stand securely in place, forming a surface on which to lay your pieces. Place your boards down inside the clamps, on the rods. Just close up the clamping mouths, and your board is ready for the glue to set. Because the clamps stay put wherever you place them, you have a free hand to make other adjustments if necessary without having to worry about the clamps sliding. Because the shoes are plastic and the rod is metal, glue from your project won't stick to the clamp, and because the boards are lifted off your work surface, the extra glue drips away from the boards.

It is a great feeling to clamp something in these clamps. These are top-of-the-line clamps.

The Bessey K-Body clamps are--bare none--the finest woodworking clamps that one can buy. The beefy serrated steel bars ensure both clamping power and rigidity, while the unique clamping mechanism guarantees that the clamp faces remain parallel at all times.

What this means for the user is quicker setup, tighter joints, and less problems with racking. As an added benefit, the shape of these clamps allow them to be used standing up, or on their side; certainly an improvement over standard pipe clamps--try getting one of those to stay upright at all! When you need a clamp that can deliver accuracy and versatility, Bessey is it.

If they're good enough for Norm Abram, they ought to be more than enough for the rest of us. They are.

The k-body clamps are just great. I have used them for years now and am greatful I got the habit early on. I moved to the larger clamps to avid exclusive use of pipe clamps in large sizes. Now I use the K-body clamps for my critical location needs and then supplement the clamping pressure with the pipe clamps (usually in the middle of the clamping span.

The shipping for the 60" clamps was great. It came in a rigid cardboard tube which protected them from the outside. Inside the tube through they were free to flop all over the place. These things are tough so no worries. Overall though the shipping could be better. My review of the 50" clamps taks about the really crappy shipping packaging I got with those. They even managed to break the end clip which Bessey customer service is replacing via mail. Good for Bessey.

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY THEM: These are best clamps for squaring up a cabinet side/face frame ever. They work great standing up on a workbench. I consider them an invaluable part of my woodworking shop. The 60" clamp is great for cabinetry since it handles most of your larger clamping needs.

THE OTHER STUFF: These are not the end all. I still use my jorgenson clamps a lot. They apply point pressure (versus even pressure across the face of the clamp) which can be useful for truing up some jobs and clamping some irregular surfaces. The Bessey clamps are pretty heavy which can be ackward when clamping with one hand (and using the other hand to hold the project together).

THE BOTTOM LINE: You can never have too many clamps. I would not have less than a pair of the Bessey clamps in my shop. Four are better.

If you can afford them, you'll Love them. They are solid. Tons of pressure, Impossible to bend, non-marring. They're perfect. Just about 4 times as expensive as pipe clamps.

I've only recently been able to afford these clamps, but I wish that I could trade in all the cheap pipe clamps that i've broken for another pair of these. These are the best clamps in the world period. I know Norm uses them on his show, and I've always admired them, and I know why he uses them. They are easy to set up and stronger than the day is long. If you spend any money on clamps at all, save your money, collect cans, sell some small children, do anything to get these clamps

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.

Be careful when purchasing this product on - line. There are small plastic clips on each clamp and they break easy during shipping.

The entire line of Bessey K-Body clamps is superb in my experience. Unfortunately, Amazon ships them in inadequate boxes that do not protect them. In my first Amazon clamp order, there were two 60" clamps, each packed in a separate triangular box that Amazon had taped together from pieces of cardboard. There was no other protective material. The black plastic foot of one arrived broken into three pieces. Customer Service politely told me that they could not send a replacement (? 1/2 ounce) foot; I'd have to ship the entire clamp back to them & they'd send a replacement. Just a couple of days later, the replacement clamp arrived! (Quick service, I must acknowledge!) However, this one was packaged the same way and was even more seriously damaged in shipping. The orange, nonmarring, glue-resistant material encasing the fixed end of the K-Body was cracked in a "wrap-around" fashion for about three inches on three surfaces, with the underlying metal visble. Given the expense of two-way shipping, I can't understand why Amazon hasn't responded to similar problems by using some padding.

Great...really great clamps. I will always have a supply of Bessey's in my shop. The do everything I ask of them and are easy to adjust and clamp.

Amazon has a real tough time with shipping on these, but they follow through and make sure you get what you paid for them. A++++