Dodgy axminster/ bessey k body clamps

[ByronBlack]

Woody

Personaly, I don't think the twist is that bad, and shouldn't take too long to rectify it. I would weigh up the time involved to fix the twist to the hassle of packing them up, sending them back, and getting replacements/refund.

I would view them as the same as a cheaper plane - you'll have to do a little bit of tuning to get it up to standard, if you want the real quality, then you spend a little more and don't have to do the tuning nessacary, I don't think it's a real mission to get them back straight again.

I've used a lot of axminsters cheap sach cramps, even the ally ones, and they have always been good enough to get a good glue up despite the cheap finish and lack of perfect straightness.

 

[Woody Alan]

I don't think the twist is that bad, and shouldn't take too long to rectify it

I though that until I had a go at doing one of them, quite a lot of force is required to twist that bar round past the point where it will bend and then spring back to what would be a reasonable line. Then to try and bend the bow out of it (as I have said hard to photo)bearing in mind the whole point of these clamps is to resist bowing in the first place. I think if you had a go and then had another 7 lined up you may consider like I did it was quicker to stick them back in the box ring axmister and order some more. I'd be surprised if many people have a vice on a bench that would cope with the amount of force required.

Alan

 

[Mdotflorida]

I can't believe anyones advocating "tuning" them or just using them as is and accepting them as ok because they were cheap

What happened to quality control and getting what you paid for. How do you send a message back to these companies that they are producing sub standard goods !!!

Where do you draw the line about what's acceptable and what isn't

Send them right back.

Jeff

 

[Jake]

I would reject that, even it had cost a fiver.

 

[Colin C]

I would reject that, even it had cost a fiver.

Now seeing how bad they are I would do the same and would not try to straighten them.

I will have to think now as I was thinking of trying some of them :roll:

 

[ByronBlack]

Woody - in all fairness, I didn't realise you had 7 of them and they were all the same, and of course, not trying to rectify them myself, I don't know how difficult they are, so in your case your right to send them back.

However, I need to defend my comment about tuning cheap tools. There is a saying that is true to almost all fields of purchasing "You get what you pay for"

For example. I bought a festool TS55 - it's amazing, its great quality and I love it. I also bought a Ferm Pillar Drill which was absolutely shocking (it was sent back, but I could have 'tuned' it myself).

SO, buying cheap means your almost always going to make a sacrifice in the build quality somewhere along the line, i'm not saying this is preciseily the case in Woody's situation as i've explained in my first paragraph.

The best way to show these companies that you won't tolerate cheap badly made tools is to not buy them in the first place, why should we keep going through the cycle of buying cheap stuff, sending it back, hoping for a better one or a refund and finally buying the decent quality tool afterall.

The reason why we all buy cheaper tools, is because most of us can't afford to always have top of the range goods, therefore we should buy these cheap tools with the knowledge that we may have to tweak them or tune them to our satisfaction, afterall it's the consumers ever growing need and want for cheap tools that has seen most of the tool manufacturers setup far eastern factories where they tools themselves are banged out as quick and as cheap as possible..

 

[Anonymous]

Alan

With the twist you show in the photo, I'd send them back. That is intolerable

 

[engineer one]

no one can seriously expect to be able to straighten such a thing, and it should not have escaped the factory, let alone been sent by axminster.

however as i have said before, ikea no longer seem to inspect anything, all they do is throw the returns away since there is no money in rectification. :roll:

steel or ally when bent to this extent will never be strong enough when fettled, and may well fail more quickly than is acceptable because of the
fettling.

maybe another way to go is buy a few expensive clamps for the basic set up work, and then use some cheapos for holding it afterwards, when you know it can't move.

after seeing so many tips about jigs to hold your sash or other clamps flat and square to the workbench in magazines, i found that the real advantage to the bessey is its ability to stand and clamp upright on the work surface without jigs to hold it in place. in addition, i find them easy to use one handed even at 1500 long.
\/
paul :wink:

 

[engineer one]

quick other thought, i have some of the lidl f clamps longest is about 300,
but they are strong and cheap.

i find that although lidl stuff is cheap, they seem to have some quality and quality control.

paul :wink:

 

[Colin C]

On engineer one's point

I have also got the packet that Aldi have done before and they hace not let me down plus I think it was about £6 for five.

 

[engineer one]

gee colin such extravagance 6 quid.

hope that is reflected in your prices :lol: :twisted: :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[Colin C]

gee colin such extravagance 6 quid.

hope that is reflected in your prices :lol: :twisted: :roll:

paul :wink:

[-( [-X :roll:

 

[engineer one]

well you can't blame me for trying

paul :wink:

 

[Corset]

Just received axminster green clamp today. Mine too is bent exactly the same as the photo. Makes you wonder why the axminster come in a white box and the besseys in clear plastic. Back to axminster ho hum.
Owen

 

[ivan]

I have had 4 of the Axminster 600 mm jobs for some months, these are OK, and appear pretty identical to the Bessey. I'd definitely send the bent ones back, it will be at their expense, too.

OK they are a little less than the Bessey, but not what I'd call cheap clamps.

 

[Woody Alan]

Hi all

Update on the cramps/clamps:- I returned the axminster ones, had to say they were faulty or they wanted to charge £10 for return postage, tried saying that I thought they weren't good enough quality but apparently that didn't matter, so it seems they aren't interested in them being poor quality.
Anyway at the time of organising the return I placed another order for the besseys 4x600 & 4x1000 and they were delivered at the same time as the others collected this morning. They are in a different league, each of them is straight and true in all planes the bar is a stronger different piece of stock, so my feedback would be if you only want very short parallel clamps then you might want to risk the axminsters but for the price difference go for the besseys. I intend these to be my primary use cramps but will probably supplement with the sets of cramps heads I already have and if required one or two of the sash type that Tony picked out from Machinemart, unless I have a lottery win

Alan

 

[engineer one]

alan,
send them back freight forward, or use their return address.

if the goods are not fit for the purpose, then they have to pay the returns.

paul :wink:

 

[Woody Alan]

Paul

Sorry I didn't make that very clear did I? They did pay for the return it's just according to the girl on the phone it would seem the correct code words are neccessary e.g. "these are not satisfactory quality" didn't cut any ice. She encouraged me to say they were faulty which I don't think they were, I think they were made to a shoddy standard in the first place. It's all a moot point I guess, who cares as long as they paid.

As a bonus my missus is going around smugly saying I should have bought the Besseys in the first place, and being ever so humble I have to agree and promise that I have learned my lesson and only buyy the best from now on. Now, I know there's going to be a catch at some point, and being a mere male I haven't spotted it yet, but I like to think for however short a time, I have somehow gained the edge here, feeling all warm and cosy.

Alan

 

[engineer one]

you are right, but the actual wording should be "not fit for purpose"

paul :wink:

and beware the warm feeling it will bite you in the bum :roll:

 

[Shadowfax]

Just arranged for Axminster to pick up a couple of 600mm clamps I bought in their Sittingbourne shop in January. I only used one of them once and it would not pull a joint square. When I looked at the bar it was not quite straight. The other one was much the same. I have others of this type and they are fine.
I rang Axminster who were fine about it. They suspect a bad batch. Going by the other ones I have I suspect they might be right but it does not say too much for the QC, does it?
By the way, I replaced these two with proper K Bodies. I'm not taking any chances!
Cheers.

SF