Bessey K-Body v Bessey Uniklamp ?

[Lord Nibbo]

Bessey K-body 600 x 85 £26.52
Bessey UniKlamp 600 x 80mm £11.80

Is the K-body twice as good as the Uniklamp?
Are the Uniklamp a better buy at the above price?

Or me being a tight arse am I better off buying these 815mm at £4.76 and spending the saved money on some more timber ?

 

[Barry Burgess]

If muscle is required the K body is your clamp. If loads of points need to be clamped the cheapies are great as you can own loads of them. I have found that I have one K body to about 6 cheap clamps. I resisted spending the money but in a weak moment I bought two K100 clamps and I was converted.
Barry

 

[Lord Nibbo]

If muscle is required the K body is your clamp. If loads of points need to be clamped the cheapies are great as you can own loads of them. I have found that I have one K body to about 6 cheap clamps. I resisted spending the money but in a weak moment I bought two K100 clamps and I was converted.
Barry

So Barry are you saying in your moment of weakness you found the K's are worth double the price?

 

[Barry Burgess]

I did not consider the UniKlamp - I has fixated on the K clamp having seen all the comments on their price - got a show special and left clutching my heavy expensive purchase.
Barry

 

[Barry Burgess]

Lord Nibbo I must confess that I have had more moments of madness and bought two duoKlamps and four X5-100 spring clamps from Bessey.
Barry

 

[Shadowfax]

I think there is no real comparison. I hate my UniKlamps. They work OK but the heads do not run well along the bars and glue affects them and stops them moving smoothly. I don't have this with the K Bodies.
Mind you, I have found that the Axminster clamps that resemble the K Bodies are very good. I am convinced that some of the parts come out of the same factory.
10% off at the mo.

Cheers.

SF

 

[Lord Nibbo]

I think there is no real comparison. I hate my UniKlamps. They work OK but the heads do not run well along the bars and glue affects them and stops them moving smoothly. I don't have this with the K Bodies.
Mind you, I have found that the Axminster clamps that resemble the K Bodies are very good. I am convinced that some of the parts come out of the same factory.
10% off at the mo.

Cheers.

SF

Ah so the Uniklamps have problems, interesting about the Axminster lookalikes. I shall have to give it more thought. :?

 

[Nick W]

When are Jet going to start importing their new clamps?

 

[BrianD]

I likewise have K body and Uni clamps.

The Unis are just a waste of time. I know they are cheaper and cannot deliver the same power but is IS really frustrating when you need to clamp and the bl***y clamp does not move, especially when you are clamping one handed.

I will never buy the Unis again.

Cheers.

 

[gidon]

LN - this has been discussed before but I like my Uniklamps. The sticking people refer doesn't happen if you open the thread up fully I find. They apply plenty of pressure for my requirements. Main problem is they only go to 600mm in length. Their lighter weight I generally find an advantage.
Of course if money was no objective I'd probably get the K bodies but it is!
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Freetochat]

I have both, and have no trouble with the uni adjustment provided the thread is fully opened. The uni has it's place, and I use them often, but the K exerts far more pressure. If I was to but again, I would buy a few more small K's and forget the uni's.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Does the Uniklamp come any bigger than the range Axminster sell or is that it?

The Axminster clone! or more precisely Axminster Parallel Jaw Clamps, I see that range only go to 790mm, Perhaps the three sizes up to 790mm would be a good buy, then anything bigger buy the Bessey k's.... or should I?

 

[Shadowfax]

Lord Nibbo
That's exactly what I would do. The Axminster ones are very good but the range is limited, much like the UniKlamps.
Anything bigger go for the K Bodies.

Cheers.

SF

 

[The Welsh Workshop]

I see that Axminster are now doing their Parallel Jaw Clamps with a 1m capacity and all for a price of £27.67.
Seems pretty good to me. Are they identical to the Bessey K-Body???
Cheers Matt.

 

[Shadowfax]

Matt
They are not identical but they are very, very close.
I reckon the main differences are:
Plastic not wooden handles.
Serrations on the bars are on two edges whereas the Besseys have three serrated faces on each edge.

The rest of the mechanism is so similar I can't see significant differences at all.
The plastic foot on the end of the bar is identical apart from the markings on it. It could have come from the same machine.
In use they are strong and do not slip. Just as heavy as the Besseys and unless I need some long ones I will be continuing to use the Axminsters.
Hope that helps.

SF