Bessey K Body Revo Clamps

[Stone Message]

Years ago a local woodworking group made a group buy from Bessey. I was able to get in on it, and - like slcd_steve I picked up 8 of most clamps and even got 4 of the 8-footers. I love the fact that they hold everything absolutely square for flawless assembly.

The Besseys are one of those cases - like Festool - where the tool really does make you a better / more efficient professional.

Wow, I totally agree. Bessey, Festool, Veritas planes (and more if I think about it)

Peter

 

[SittingElf]

Years ago a local woodworking group made a group buy from Bessey. I was able to get in on it, and - like slcd_steve I picked up 8 of most clamps and even got 4 of the 8-footers. I love the fact that they hold everything absolutely square for flawless assembly.

The Besseys are one of those cases - like Festool - where the tool really does make you a better / more efficient professional.

Wow, I totally agree. Bessey, Festool, Veritas planes (and more if I think about it)

Peter

Apple products, Canon DSLR's and "L" lenses, Two Cherries Chisels, Felder/Hammer, Incra Tools, Grex pinners and nailers, Famag bits and forstners, and more! [thumbs up]

 

[GregBradley]

Don't get suckered into thinking that a brand name guarantees quality.

Bessey has been moving toward the bottom for some time now. At this point, their tradesman clamps are still made in Germany and are very good. The very good K-Body clamps were replaced by the K-Body Revos, which are a Gross-Stabil design cheapened after Bessey bought Gross-Stabil. NOT as good as the Gross-Stabil parallel clamps and NOT as good as the Bessey K-Bodys. Not bad but not great either. It is simply sad that Bessey bought Gross-Stabil in order to quash their competition. At this point the Gross-Stabil parallel clamps are long gone but Harry Epstein still has some of the excellent Gross-Stabil metalworking and heavy duty clamps available. This does not help a woodworker much.

Bessey is really a mixed bag of quality at this point. The good stuff is gradually being replaced by mostly stuff that relies on the good reputation of Bessey in order to sell. I would grab as much of the made-in-Germany tradesman clamps as you think you will ever need before they bring that line to the bottom. Lowes, in their infinite stupidity, is discontinuing Bessey products in most stores and some of it is available at good prices. You can pretty much tell the good stuff by looking where it is made.

Bessey vises have hit the absolute bottom, even while they have brought out a new line of Bessey Industrial vises. These are made in Germany but are not quite up to the standard of the Heurer Vises or the ones sold in the US under the Ridgid name. All of the above made in the same factory in Germany but made to different standards. Do not confuse a Ridgid F series vise with the junk sold under the Ridgid name by Home Depot.

Additionally, there are lots of junk Canon DSLRs and L-series lenses. Grex has a nice series of pinners in the P-6xx series but makes a bunch of crap also. Some of the Grex nailers have been complete junk. Grex makes nothing and some of their vendors have made products that are not even acceptable. OK, Famag only makes great stuff so I guess they are better than Festool, who has made a few, even if it is very few, turkeys........

 

[upscale]

Bessey has been moving toward the bottom for some time now. At this point, their tradesman clamps are still made in Germany and are very good. The very good K-Body clamps were replaced by the K-Body Revos, which are a Gross-Stabil design cheapened after Bessey bought Gross-Stabil.

Not the only reason, but partly why I started buying Jorgensen Cabinet Master clamps. And, I'm very impressed with them.

 

[RC]

Peter, if you ever make a second part to this or revisit the topic you might want to mention the K-body Revo Vario (KRV) (Link to Bessey) clamps which have a movable front face.

I bought four of the 1,5m variety and love them when you can centre the workpiece on the clamp by moving the front face down the rail and have perfect balance along the clamp.

 

[Stone Message]

Peter, if you ever make a second part to this or revisit the topic you might want to mention the K-body Revo Vario (KRV) (Link to Bessey) clamps which have a movable front face.

I bought four of the 1,5m variety and love them when you can centre the workpiece on the clamp by moving the front face down the rail and have perfect balance along the clamp.

I will keep it in mind. I have seen them but have never used them. I can see the advantage of balance.

I wonder whether it might (one day) be possible to buy (say) a 2m bar and, as it might be only used from time to time, one transfers the parts from a smaller clamp. I have several 1.5m K Body clamps and recently needed something about 1.8 m long - something that only happens about once a year.

Peter

 

[GregBradley]

Covering a complete range of sizes with a smaller inventory of pieces was a selling point for the Vario. A store could cover a range of sizes by stocking several of each bar length. A customer could buy one sliding end, one clamping end, and the bar of whatever length they wanted.

The only store I ever saw selling them that way stopped doing that. I think Bessey doesn't even mention that feature in their brochure: http://www.besseytools.com/pdfs/sales_sheets/en/BESSEYKBodyREVOVarioENGJan2012.pdf

Being able to center the jaws seems like a big advantage in balancing heavy clamps, particularly in the longer lengths.

 

[RC]

For an extension to the length you could buy the clamp bar connectors (Link to Bessey) and join your 1500mm one and an 600mm one to land at something long enough.

 

[Stone Message]

For an extension to the length you could buy the clamp bar connectors (Link to Bessey) and join your 1500mm one and an 600mm one to land at something long enough.

Thanks Reiska. I will look out for a couple the next time I am at my Axminster store.

Peter

 

[Cheese]

I've been doing some glue-ups recently and needed to purchase some additional Bessey K Body REVO clamps. I've used these for years dating back to the original wooden handle models.

However this new version is really nice, the moveable clamp head no longer travels down the bar by itself. You can open the clamp to the width desired and the clamp head stays in that position.

Here's the previous generation compared to the new gen. I opened up both clamps to the same width and as usual, the older one traveled down the bar while the new one stays in place. This makes clamp usage a lot easier task. This new style is terrific.

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[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

 

[festal]

I have the older ones and new ones as well and the self moving jaw on the older ones is annoying.  Another negative is its impossible to remove the jaw so hard to soak in vinegar to remove glue.

 

[DynaGlide]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] I have about 6 of the older one pictured in 24" and another 6 or so of the newer same size. I wish they were all the newer style but I just learn to work around the clamp head dropping on its own. I just last week cleaned all of mine up, waxed the bars, and lubricated the metal bits inside the clamp heads. They are smooooooth.

 

[festal]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] I have about 6 of the older one pictured in 24" and another 6 or so of the newer same size. I wish they were all the newer style but I just learn to work around the clamp head dropping on its own. I just last week cleaned all of mine up, waxed the bars, and lubricated the metal bits inside the clamp heads. They are smooooooth.

How do you clean them?  need to do the same for mine

 

[Crazyraceguy]

In the old shop, before the fire, I had a few year's worth of collection. I had the old style, which were thinner and didn't have the black sliding covers. They had the wooden handles too. Then the next version still had the same body, but plastic handles. After that were the Revo with the wider body, covers, and the stand-offs for the bar.
The problem that I ran into is that the extra width means they won't fit in a lot of the commercially made storage racks. The slots are too close together and they bind.
The only ones I have found that work are sold by WoodCraft stores under the brand WoodRiver.