Bessey K Body clamps?

[John Sincerbeaux]

I have several older K Body clamps which I bought at least ten years ago. They have the wooden handles.
When I buy tools, I usually buy the best. These clamps were no exception. However, I don't know if I have ever really been that happy with them. A problem with these has always been they often seem to "bind" rather than clamp. And that combined with a thin, smooth wooden handle makes it frustrating at times. The old handles make it very difficult to really get torque on the clamp. Even resetting or re-engaging the clamp and or handle position often would be no help.

I spent hours last night researching these clamps and found a few other similar complaints. However, generally most comments or reviews have been stellar.

I know there are newer, redesigned K body clamps now. I am just curious if any of you have had similar problems and opinions of these clamps? Any modifications? Are the newer clamps much better?
After using these clamps last night and finally realizing that (after many frustrating years using them) they are really NOT very good, I decided to start researching options.

Thanks in in advance for your thoughts

Happy Easter

[Mike Schuch]

If I do a good job of prepping very tight fitting joints the amount of pressure my K body clamps need to exert is quite minimal and they are more than capable of exerting enough pressure for a good glue up. If I have some unwieldy wood or just bad prep on my part a pipe clamp will allow my to exert much more force to pull a joint together. Obviously a well prepped joint is the way to go.... but situations where I have to force a joint to close do happen.

The amount of force a clamp is able to exert is directly related to the stiffness of the bar (the back bone) of the clamp. I do not believe the bar on K body clamps have changed that much over the years so I doubt the pressure they are able to exert has changed much. A big 3/4" pipe will be able to apply much more force than the bar on a K body clamp... but most joints should go together nicely with the force a K body is able to exert.

[mike mcilroy]

If you wrap some tennis racquet grip tape on the handles it makes them a lot easier to tighten.

[glenn bradley]

Hockey tape, Plastic-Dip or Rockler slip-ons. I have all of these. The tape is quickest and cheapest but, gathers dirt and can come loose in warmer weather. The plastic dip is inexpensive but requires a little effort. The Rockler slip-ons are the most expensive but slip on and stay put.

Hmm, I can't seem to find the Rockler version anymore. Probably a dead product with the newer Bessey's being out for so long. Glad I got a bunch cheap on clearance ;-)

[Lou Petrosino]

I have quite a few of the older ones also and have never had that problem. Are you pushing down on the handle before you start turning it? Pull up to slide it and push down to start to tighten.

I also have the older Jorgensen 'K Body' style and prefer the Besseys.

[Don Jarvie]

I have the older ones and love them. Once a year I try to hit the bar with a scotch brite pad and wax. Mine are 20 years old and still look new.

The new ones have a thicker handle and bigger clamp faces. Just have to make sure you find the non Chinese ones.

[ken masoumi]

I have a few of the old style K body clamps but there are 2 in particular that don't clamp as easily as the others,I have to unscrew them all the way first,then push down on the handle to make them grab but once they grab they stay tight .
I remember reading a thread about this problem and the solution was to dismantle the lower slider and file the worn out part( flange) but have not had the nerve to take these otherwise great clamps apart yet.

[Danny Thompson]

No problem. The bigger handles and faces on the new Bessey K body's allow me to apply enough torque to near-starve a joint. They've been up to every challenge I've thrown at them.

The Jet parallel clamps include some usability innovations which don't really improve torque and only kind-of work, so I find myself reaching for the Bessey's first.

[Harvey Miller]

One person replaced the old style wooden handles with the new Revo style:

First option:

The original Bessey K-bodies had handles that were pressed into a washer/socket that was never meant to be replacable. If you want to try some surgery (I will try it on one my old ones next weekend) and grind around the top of the washer so that the handle will pop out then you should be able to just replace it with a Bessey 3101370 ($12.99) handle that is what is on the newer K-Body clamps.

Just following up my earlier post. Yes you can replace the older wood handles with the newer ones, but it is probably more work than necessary. I took a small grinder to one of my older k-bodys and removed enough material around the inner socket washer and the old handle comes out. It took a while, but it came out. The new and old handles have the same exact threads. The difference between the two is the older k-body has a compression fit socket holding the ball on the end of the threaded handle and the newer ones have a more open socket with a inner retaining ring, that allows the hand to be removed easily.

[Frank Drew]

I've owned and used just about all of the various bar and pipe clamps available commercially since the mid-80s and consider the Bessey's K body to be a distinct improvement in the category, mainly because the pressure they apply is very even and they don't distort the orientation or placement of the boards you're gluing up (a major annoyance of pipe clamps). I haven't used the other brands of parallel clamps but I've read from others that they're also very good.

[glenn bradley]

I have a few of the old style K body clamps but there are 2 in particular that don't clamp as easily as the others,I have to unscrew them all the way first,then push down on the handle to make them grab but once they grab they stay tight .
I remember reading a thread about this problem and the solution was to dismantle the lower slider and file the worn out part( flange) but have not had the nerve to take these otherwise great clamps apart yet.

This could be from damaged threads on the grub screw. No dismantling required. Simply turn the hex screw a few degrees to expose new threads.

K-body-teeth-003.jpg

[Lewis Justis]

I put a couple of drops of 3-1 oil on the threads and that made a world of difference on mine. Also, a pair of "grips" gloves will give you a lot more grip for tightening.

[ken masoumi]

This could be from damaged threads on the grub screw. No dismantling required. Simply turn the hex screw a few degrees to expose new threads.

K-body-teeth-003.jpg

Thanks Glen,I'll give it a try,.

[John Sincerbeaux]

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely try the suggestions.

[Paul Snowden]

What I did with mine was drill a hole in the handle big enough for a screwdriver. When I really need to crank the clamps down I'll slide a screwdriver through the handle and torx it.