While playing around looking for a piece of board for my latest project (no relation to this post, just spruiking my stuff), a few of my Bessey clamps got dislodged on my foot (metric of course) and after some cussing decided that they were worthy of a review here.
While many options may influence your choice of brands parallel clamps, however, I feel that the Bessey “Vario”clamp raises the bar just that bit more
They say (who the hell are "they"?) one can never have enough clamps, this post may help in minimising the number of particular clamps.
If properly planned, you may get away with using some of the larger clamps instead of forking out those extra shekels for shorter ones.
This may not be much chop for those that have raised that second/third mortgage on the house to buy more clamps, however, it may be worth considering if you are just starting to build your clamping empire… and for those already at the head of that Empire and you have the Bessey brand, I plan another review for an upgrade.
This review was ported from LJ that was published on Jan 9, 2020, so please forgive any lies it contains as I had no conscience back then.
Before you venture further, some of the following text may be questionable to some… If you are sensitive, please exit now and don't go crying to Cricket because of your forthcoming curiosity.
Initially, I was anxious to pass on my brainwashing, however, was concerned about my tenure here at LJ due to some blaspheming about sideways picture… Staying on top, and determined not to be under turd… I am pressing on… though it may earn a "go to jail" from the publishers.
If your base your measurements on your man-hood (preferably blokes… how's that for gender equality… oh PIC [Political InCorrectness]), don't make the mistake I did and when I thought I was ordering 3' long clamps, I finished up with 6' ones… and 'cording to the missus, using that philosophy, I would been lucky to be able to clamp two matchsticks together with my order.
I purchase 4 of these Bessey Revo KREV clamps…
The "V" stands for moVable head in Hungarian, and there's no English translation for it… so don't develop piles looking up your thesaurus. One (the personal one and not the numeric one) should always order clamps in pairs (now numeric, not personal) and as I bought a pair… well do the sums.
The first thing you may notice about Bessey clamps is that they are much (well a tad) more expensive than other branded ones, however, before you make accusation of off the same production lines, consider the notches in the shaft. Not all are the same… Be$$ey (and maybe the better other $) wrap around the sides.
and then the cheap German imports…
c'mon… just gagging about German... my compensation for my prior "Jap" reference somewhere else. Would people be less offended if I replaced German with Indian... the Germans probably! You get what you pay for… Be$$ey clamps.
What struck me with these clamps was the option to move ahead (or was it to move the head)… damn English.. the next review (if I manage) will be in Hungry-Swahilly… Oh while on the topic of moving the head… emblaze two tenets in your brain, 1. Don't forget to push that button ALL the way in…
neglect may result in a few broken mallets as the headstock will refuse to move… if only to prove the Be$$ey are robust. 2. Remove all packaging residue… especially those bleeding sticky tapes on the shaft used to secure the items for shipping. (No pictures as it has been removed and I refuse to put more back on just for your edification… sorry.)
A lot of this review now boils down to your efficiency in glue-ups. If you never panic, get in a tiz or have Titebond dripping from your hair, waste no more time here…. a pause for all the exiters and Titebond's comission postage. Cheeze, call them Tite...
If you are like me and go to great extents for premature set-up and eventually be faced with freckles when the ******************** hits the fan and everything falls apart as you setup totally disintegrates while dabbing on that ever quick "slow-drying" glue dries, takes centre stage. C'mon… I'll play Friday on any day of the week… as I'm certainly not Robinson Crusoe here.
Let's analyse. You set up your clamps, measure the anticipated sizes and start to apply glue..
That bloody clamp drops, moves, goes walkabouts or whatever Polatis position it prefers other than what it was instructed to,
exacerbated by the addition of another clamp (and yet there's two more to come),
now all the smartie pants out there will say, the duck has all sized clamps… The Duck has all sized clamps!... au contraire mes amis et ennemis … I am always short of the size I NEED!... HAVE and NEED are spelt different… even in the poor Hungarian fern cutter's dictionary (long story)!
Move the clamp, cuss as it will remember its last position, and kick the poor dog only cause it didn't buy you a Be$$ey KREV clamp for Christmas.
Now that same canine, traded in his bones, to get his "bitch" of a master some better clamps.
Set it up by centering the jaws… they are balanced… do the other direction… still in place…
Now all good reviews should stop here, however, this is a better review…
The clamps function great, however, if you are a Bessey addict, those cheap skates did not imprint directions on any of their REVO clamps and you MUST familiarise yourself with movement in order to not finish up red faced while closing during final glue up… Also the movable head allows the shaft to extrude and it will not sit flat on the floor… much like an alcohol infected duck!
Hey, I've only had them for a few hours and they've fallen over twice as many times as I have… They have this propensity to gravitate… with a BANG!
And for hell's sake… protect your midriff from those, now long extrusive, shafts… both ends (depending on setup)...
they're like a warm knife through an ample belly!
Damn, I need more clamp racks to store the blasted things.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Have a pile of them with most of them being the older issue, the few newer ones I have seem harder to move up and down the bar. I think about it right before I fall asleep, and it doesn't keep me awake, so never mind.
ALWAYS keep your eyes open. On more than one occasion I have picked some up at yard sales, and auctions, for peanutz.
