Virgin Bessey

[mailee]

Just bought my first Bessey clamp today and am impressed. I think I will buy some more but does anyone know who is the cheapest for these Uniclamps? Also are the Dakota clamps from Rutlands as good? I have read conflicting reports on these so am not too sure, but they are much cheaper. :?

 

[Mike.C]

Mailee IMHO the Uniklamps will be better then the Rutlands ones, as a lot of members who have received the Dakota's have had something wrong with them.

I don't know about now but these used to be the cheapest for the Uni's. http://www.xpressconstruction.com/defau ... oryID=1317

Cheers

Mike

 

[George_N]

Just bought my first Bessey clamp today and am impressed. I think I will buy some more but does anyone know who is the cheapest for these Uniclamps? Also are the Dakota clamps from Rutlands as good? I have read conflicting reports on these so am not too sure, but they are much cheaper. :?

I have four 1000 mm Bessey K bodies and I think they are the bee's knees. I bought that size for their versatility but they are big and heavy so when I needed some 600 mm clamps I jumped at the Rutlands special offer. They looked similar to K bodies but were, alas, part of a faulty batch so I sent them back. I needed a replacement quickly and was short of cash at the time so I ordered four 600 mm Uniklamps from Tooled-up.com. They are much lighter in weight than the K bodies and the head does not move nearly as freely, making them more fiddly to set up in my experience. I will probably buy K bodies in this size at some stage and keep the Uniklamps for lighter work (having said that the Unis work fine for kitchen cabinet assembly which is probably as big a project as I am likely to tackle).

 

[andycorleone]

Bessey K bodies are the best but the uni klam are also very handy for situation where you need a clamp not too heavy

 

[gidon]

Mailee
Can't comment on the Rutlands clamps but have both Uni and K body Besseys. If the Unis were available in longer sizes I'd probably sell the K bodies. Not that the K bodies aren't good - they are - but for what I'm usually using them for I like the lighter weight of the Unis. It's true the head doesn't move as freely on the Unis - but is a lot smoother if you completely open the thread.
DM tools are usually quite competitive on Bessey stuff.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[RogerS]

OK guys...'fess up....how do you get those Uniklamps heads to move? I've tried fully opening them and all stages in between and have yet to find the magic way to make them move...without wanting to hurl the damn things out of the window. For me the Uniklamps are the most abhorrent things in my workshop...I can feel my blood pressure rising..I'd beter stop now...I feel a rant coming on..deep breathing...

 

[Waka]

Roger

Open the screw thread fully then take it back about a turn then jiggle the head and it should slide back nicely, its the same principle as the K bodies.

Gidon, if you're thinking of parting with the K bodies I'll remove them from your hands at a reasonable price.

 

[George_N]

Roger

Open the screw thread fully then take it back about a turn then jiggle the head and it should slide back nicely, its the same principle as the K bodies.

I know that the principle is the same but the practice is somewhat different. I don't suffer the exterme reaction that Roger seems to suffer from but it rates somewhere above "mild irritation" at times. Do you think some form of lubricant on the bars would help?

Gidon, if you're thinking of parting with the K bodies I'll remove them from your hands at a reasonable price.

I think there would be enough of us to form a disorderly queue for them.

 

[gidon]

Glad they are such generous people here to "help" me out!


Cheers

Gidon

 

[Waka]

George
I've not used any lubrication on them to date, but you could always try it.

 

[OPJ]

The best deal I've come across is at D&M Tools' site, here, where you can buy pairs of either the 300mm or 600mm sizes for around £20. :wink:

The only downside to ordering from them, unless you live locally of course, is the delivery charge for any orders under £99, which seem to have risen quite steeply in recent years.

 

[Escudo]

One can always wait for Axminister to make another **** with their pricing and snap up some bessey bargains as one or two members may recall. :wink:

 

[mailee]

I am now puzzled as to the difference in the K body Besseys and the uniklamp ones?? To me they look the same and the description seems to be the same, but the price is much different? :?

 

[Waka]

I am now puzzled as to the difference in the K body Besseys and the uniklamp ones?? To me they look the same and the description seems to be the same, but the price is much different? :?

The uniklamps don't give you as much clamping force as the K bodies, also in some circles they wil tell you that the iniklamps are not as accurate in clamping the item up square, myself I use both types.

 

[Mike.C]

Mailee wrote,

I am now puzzled as to the difference in the K body Besseys and the uniklamp ones?? To me they look the same and the description seems to be the same, but the price is much different?

To be blunt the only thing the same about the Uni's and K- Bodys is the name "Bessey" The Uni's are no where near as smooth as the K-Bodys (unless you give the bar a rub with wax now and again) and the clamping power is no where near as good. BUT IMHO the Uni's are still better then a lot of other clamps and if you use them for lighter work there is nothing wrong with them at all.

I don't know if it would help but I could take some close up photos if you want?

IMHO the K-Bodys are well over priced for what they are, but on the other hand if you want a clamp that you can count on 100% of the time, the K-Body's are the ones to go for. In fact their like a drug, once you have bought some you want more. :lol:

Mind you in the USA theres a new kid on the block that some say are as good or even better then the K-Body, but Jet have no plans to bring them over here

http://www.internationaltool.com/jetclamps.htm

Cheers

Mike

 

[ivan]

The Axminster lookalikes are very good, IF you get ones with a straight bar. Quite a lot of people have posted about faulty ones, the bar is twisted aliong the length. If the manufacturer gets this sorted - was it just a one off batch?? - they'd save you a few quid. My straight ones seem as good as the Bessys I had to replace the twisted Axs.