Customer Reviews

Bessey KBK2440 Cabinet Door Parallel Jaw Bar Clamp Kit

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Bessey kit is a good idea if you are planning on buying Bessey clamps. The quantity of 2 - 24" K-clamps, plus the quantity of 2 - 40" clamps are cheaper if you buy the kit. It cost a little more money to purchase them individually, and with this kit you also get the support pieces for no extra charge. The Bessey clamps are the best. Here is the review I posted on the individual K-Clamp listings.
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.

You'll find that these precision-made clamps are the best clamps you've ever used. Worth the money in saved time and effort. This four clamp kit with it's four holders are a joy to use. Obviously designed by people who do woodworking.

I've used numerous clamps in my furniture making in the past years from pipe clamps to 'Quick Grip' and even air operated. I would try all kinds of 'New and Improved' clamps whenever one would come out on the market. I have NOT found nor used better clamps then these and there's no need to keep looking. They're actually a pleasure to use and you can apply as much pressure as you would like with these and with others you canNot. You can use them with or without the 'K Blocks'they work equally well. I now own 25 of these clamps ranging in size from 16 inch opening to 60 inch openeing and plan to keep on purchasing these as needed. You canNot go wrong with these clamps!

This system works great. Glued up panels/doors are easy to position once you get the bars in the right slots. Then its just a matter of tweaking each clamp till you get 90's on all 4 corners. The only thng which can be a problem with Bessey clamps is that they sometime require two hands to tighten as the "head" must be held at a certain angle, otherwise while you are tightening, the screw will not grab on the bar and it will slip. However, once you find the "sweet spot", these clamps WILL NOT SLIP ON THE BAR and the clamps head and foot remain parallel to the work or "parallel to the jaw face" as they would say. Would get 5 stars but due to some extra time and care needed to "set the head", they get a 4.

I have been trying to make cabint doors for one week and have only frustrated myself. I saw the Bessey kbk2440 kit and went to my local dealer, who sells to the professional trade. I explained to him what i was looking for. I a not a professional and have a home shop, but he only carrries quality equipment and offers me much needed advice. He knew exactly what I wanted. I took them home, and after waiting about two hours I decided to try them out. (not having much conficence after my week of misery) I was shocked. Within five minutes I had my door glued and perfectly square. Trust me, the money spent, and they are not cheap, is very wisely spent. These clamps are fantastic. American made quality, ease of use and the fast setup will make the experience of making doors very rewarding. I paid ... to have doors made that today I made for under $10.00. As my Mom used to tell me: "He who buys cheap buys often" You will never use another clamp. And, with the money you save they will pay for themselves in a very short time.

i have a large assortment of bar and pipe clamps, i bought some besseys that where on sale wow!!! what a difference i had some raised panel doors that needed to be glued up and these besseys hold the door square just by applying a little pressure to the handle. after using the besseys i havent even looked at the other clamps, ill be buying more besseys in the future for sure.

I bought this clamp set to glue up some cabinet doors I built. These clamps are a dream to use. They produced a perfectly square and flat doors every time. I have plans on buying many more Bessey clamps. These are by far the best clamps money can buy. I'm getting rid of all my pipe clamps and getting these.

If you want precision and a square product when you are done clamping your work, these are the clamps to buy. I have used the pipe clamps most of my life and against the Bessey clamps they are just junk! The Bessey Clamps are made to last, they clean up easy, and are easy to use. It took me some time to decide to spend the extra on these clamps but they are worth it many times over. I don't think you can go wrong in purchasing these wonderful clamps !

These are simply the best clamps ever...a bit expensive, sure, but worth every penny. This set makes it so easy to glue up a cabinet door square. I wish I had bought em years earlier!

I finally decided to invest in some good clamps so I checked the price at Lowes and was dismayed at the price. Then I found this set and that I could get all four clamps for less than the price of just the two large ones so I ordered the set. I had never had any really good clamps and figured there really couldn't be much difference between the cheap bar clamps that I had been using and the Besseys. Boy, was I wrong!. I have gotten so that I don't want to use the old clamps and will wait overnight to glue up doors or drawers so that these clamps are available.

I don't know how they compare to the other premium parallel jaw clamps, but I do know that I am saving up so that I can buy some more of these.