Bessey or Sash?

[paulc]

Hello forum,
I have two Bessey K-body clamps - 800mm, which are great but I need to get a couple of bigger clamps for the lengths of frames, carcasses, joining boards etc., Would a pair of long sash cramps be better than another longer set of Besseys, would they have greater clamping pressure?
The sash cramps on axminster are certainly cheaper , but are they any good, which would be better the sash bar cramps or the t-bar cramps?

Thanks a million , paulc.

 

[Mdotflorida]

Hi Paul

I've got a couple of 2000 x 85 Bessey K's and they are just as good as the shorter ones.

Expensive though, think I paid about £60 each. Wouldn't go back to sashes now although I only have experience of the cheap aluminium ones which just seem to flex under load.

Jeff

 

[Anonymous]

Sash (record)

 

[engineer one]

bessey, all the time they just make life so much easier.
paul :wink:

 

[paulm]

Depends on your budget Paul.

Bit like the difference between a basic Ford/Vauxhall and a BMW/Merc, either will do the job more than adequately but some are more satisfying to use but at a higher price.......depends on your priorities and overall budget I guess.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[engineer one]

yes, but no but. :lol:

what most forget is that the more expensive fords/vauxhalls
are generally more expensive than mid range bmw's audi's etc.

but you are right. i think though the difference for the amateur is the
ease of use. some how the bessey seems easier to use and set up. :twisted:

paul :wink:

 

[woodbloke]

Sash cramp, T bars if allot of pressure needed but definitely Record, clones don't work nearly as well - Rob

 

[jasonB]

I'm a Pony(Jorgensen) pipe clamp man, whatever length you like provided you have enough pipe and the No56's will spread as well as clamp which is handy for adjusting diagonals

Jason

 

[Alf]

I'm a clamp-head woman myself (no jokes, please) - the now defunct Paramo ones are better than the Records in this case IMO. Need a longer one? Ooo look, there's some wood and off you go. Quite an interesting thread on various persons' favoured clamps here fwiw.

Cheers, Alf

 

[ivan]

Tilgear have some really nice ali sash (got a good clapometer rating from Fine Woodworking too) which handle comfortably. Axminster does a Bessy clone which looks identical. They do their own label all steel sash made by Groz which are very strong, very heavy, and long ones are clumsy to handle without a bit of help; not very carefully made, some jaws need packing, but affordable. Wouldn't like these to be my only sash, use the ali ones most.

 

[whybob71]

I only have Bessey and Pony pipe clamps. I never used a sash cramp. However some friends of mine bought almost all type of (cheap) sash cramp from AX: some of them are now broken after few times. I have no experience with them.

 

[Anonymous]

Sash

 

[SimonA]

I'm a Gross Stabil man myself......love them.

SimonA

 

[nickson71]

I've got record clamp heads and some cheap aluminium sash clamps but home improvements at 3 different houses has ment no woodtime resently.
But the latest job include some workshop time as I need a new fire surround

 

[paulc]

Well seems like the 'to Bessey or not to Bessey' issue has been a point of some controversy. (thanks for the link Alf)

As I find the Bessey k-bodies I have easy to use I'm tempted to get a few more, but do they exert enough clamping pressure on bigger jobs?, and can anyone tell me of an online store that does record sash cramps (or equivalent quality) so I could have a look and compare prices? Thanks , paulc.

 

[engineer one]

interesting thought about cramping pressure. what is enough?????

actually all you are really doing in most cases is holding the items together whilst the glue goes off. too much pressure will in fact cause the joing to starve of glue, by tending to hydraulic out of the joint.

i have seen some recent reports in a forgotten yankee mag, probably fww or american woodworker, or even pop wood where they tested various clamps and found the pressure from besseys more accurate and a sensible torque because of the restrictions of tightening by hand in this way.

when you see the pressure that some people put on nuts, for instance wheel nuts using b great bars to hold them on, you see that few people understand the impact of too much pressure. :twisted:

all you need your clamps to do is draw the two surfaces together so that they abut closely.

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Try laminating up 120mm square posts or bigger and you soon realise that theres no such thing as to much pressure.

I glue up my 900mm long posts, 2 at a time with 9 sash clamps, with as much pressure as i can physically exert.

Believe me the pieces are flat, everything goes through a speed sander.
If you want tight joints, on laminated material, I recommend as much pressure as you can get

 

[engineer one]

i can see your point, but i would consider whether there would be any squeeze out, or voiding of the joint by the glue due to the over pressure.

the other point is that mechanically you would if you put the items under a microscopic inspection find that where the clamps were attached, unless and even if you use "cauls" the areas where the clamps are not would be
infinitessimally higher than the pieces compressed.

not sure how bad it would be, but do wonder whether sometimes less is more?

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

We'll have to disagree on this one, in this circumstance more is better. :lol:

 

[engineer one]

who's disagreeing obviously it works for you and that is all we need to know :twisted:

just that sometimes you think "well what if""" :roll:
paul :wink: