Bessey auto adjust clamp uses - Kreg master

[NERemodeling]

I had a thought come to me and was hoping someone had all the parts to see if it is doable before i started buying stuff

can the clamp on the Kreg master Jig be swapped out for the Bessey auto adjust inline clamp?  would the bessey mounting plate attach to the kreg? also the bessey looks longer in pictures, would this cut into clamping capacity?  i would like to maintain 1 1/2" capacity

Like the adapters Erock made for using his Bessey clamps with the MFT, does anyone else have cool ideas, jigs or uses for these clamps?

 

[PeterK]

Just looking at your pictures, I wuld think the new Bessey clamp would have to be moved back around 1 1/2"s or so as it looks like the shaft is positioned farther forward. Could easily add a small block to the back if your main Kreg unit is mounted to a sheet of plywood. Don't know how you would do it otherwise. I will have to look into this as I have the Bessey and Kreg stuff to try it out. Maybe next week.

 

[TOOLTOWN]

I don't have any in line toggles in the shop, but I have some of the auto adjust vertical toggles.

You can see here that the holes don't match up perfectly front to back, but only minor modification should be needed.

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But side to side looks almost good...

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As I said, I don't have the in line ones, but here is how the vertical clamps look when extended

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Now I should say, I am assuming the base plates are identical between the two versions of the clamps.

Ken

 

[leakyroof]

I'm away from my shop right now, but I can check later today. I just bought the Lee Valley MFT kit, which has two of the in- line clamps. And, I just upgraded my Kreg gear to the larger Master kit. You're thinking ahead about using the Bessey clamp, and here I am with BOTH new kits a foot apart from each other on my workbench, never occurred to me to check this out as a work holding option... [embarassed] [embarassed] [embarassed]

 

[semenza]

Cool and useful idea. Maybe just extend the Kreg base so that it will fit?

Seth

 

[NERemodeling]

Tooltown, thanks for the pics!  shouldn't be difficult at all to modify them to work togther.

actually, based on the very likely chance that the bessey is way to long and a plywood extension base will have to be made anyway i highly doubt that the stock kreg holes will even come into play... maybe the front bessey holes can mount to the rear kreg holes and the rear of the bessey could be supported/bolted to the plywood base?

 

[NERemodeling]

I'm away from my shop right now, but I can check later today. I just bought the Lee Valley MFT kit, which has two of the in- line clamps. And, I just upgraded my Kreg gear to the larger Master kit. You're thinking ahead about using the Bessey clamp, and here I am with BOTH new kits a foot apart from each other on my workbench, never occurred to me to check this out as a work holding option... [embarassed] [embarassed] [embarassed]

haha  dont be too hard on yourself [big grin]  im just a geek that thinks way to much about this stuff

Seth and PeterK    it does seem necessary that a secondary plywood base will have to added, still should make this a quite simple swap

Leakyroof, if you and or PeterK could snap a few pictures when convenient of how far back the bessey would have to be mounted to still allow 1/2" - 1 1/2" clamping capabilities that would be awsome.    maybe even an overall length measurement to make sure that it would all fit in a systainer even with the new plywood base attached

Thanks a bunch guys

John

 

[PeterK]

I am working out of town and won't be back till mid week so if no pics by then, I will contribute.

 

[Samo]

Great idea!

John, you may already know, Kreg is coming out  with auto adjust clamps they call Automaxx.  Looks to be a very similar mechanism.

I wouldn't be surprised if the K4 gets updated.

Sam

 

[PeterK]

Yea I bet they end up offering the new Kreg clamp by it self as an upgrade for those of us with the Kreg systems.

 

[leakyroof]

Yea I bet they end up offering the new Kreg clamp by it self as an upgrade for those of us with the Kreg systems.

. Hmmm, the plot thickens. How long till Kreg introduces it?

 

[Samo]

I'm only speculating on the in line clamp K4 upgrade.

I ran across this Video and called Kreg tool.  I haven't seen any on the market but really like the Besseys.  They said middle of July.

 

[leakyroof]

I was mistaken, the Lee Valkey kit uses Vertical Bessey Clamps, not in-line. So, the other posters will have to help who have the actual clamp you're looking to work with. [embarassed]

 

[jmbfestool]

Im pretty sure both bessy clamps are same base I see no reason why Bessy would alter the holes location on the in-line clamps. 

This would cause problems for people who might have jigs or plates made to fit the clamps and might change from vertical clamps to in-line clamps etc.

JMB 

 

[NERemodeling]

I am working out of town and won't be back till mid week so if no pics by then, I will contribute.

thanks PeterK

Great idea!

John, you may already know, Kreg is coming out  with auto adjust clamps they call Automaxx.  Looks to be a very similar mechanism.

I wouldn't be surprised if the K4 gets updated.

Sam

i had seen that in another post actually.. i think Erock's about the bessey/mft    from the video it looks like it is only their hand clamps that have the auto adjust... you would think at that trade show (?) they would be showing off all the applications

hopefully i am wrong and like PeterK said, they offer it as a part for those of us who already have the kreg jig

JMB i have to agree with you.. base plates must be the same  wouldnt make sense otherwise

 

[Qwas]

I'm not exactly sure what picture everyone wants. My Kregg jig clamps from the front so I can't help you there.

Here are the 2 Bessey Clamps side-by-side. The bases are the same. With the adjustment screw turned in, the inline clamp is almost 3/4" long than the vertical clamp model.

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[NERemodeling]

Qwas, thanks for the pics   

it seems the plywood sub base will have to be substantially longer than the kreg jig.. ToolTown's pictures show the vertical clamp touching the drill guide when lined up with the holes.    with the inline clamp being about 3/4" longer, and the fact that the adjustment screw is all the way in i would suspect that the bessey clamp would have to be moved back about 2 1/4"  (maybe less because of the auto adjustibility of the clamp)

either way i think we have come up with the fact that it wont work on the kreg jig without any modifications...    it seems that a plywood sub base will have to be made

here is my last question before i pop for one...    would someone with the inline clamp please secure it in front of another fixed vertical surface (representing the drill guide) and see if it will self adjust to accommodate material from 1/2" to 1 1/2"

thanks everyone for all the help

 

[NERemodeling]

anyone else have unique uses including jigs for the bessey clamps??

 

[Qwas]

The self adjust range is about 1 inch. The adjustment screw/red swivel base has about 3/4" of travel. So the best you can do is 1 3/4" of space.

 

[erock]

anyone else have unique uses including jigs for the bessey clamps??

Check this out.....

           

Eric