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Thread: Anyone compared jorgensen to bessey I-beams

  1. #31
    Kind of a tangent, but does anyone use pneumatic or hydraulic clamping jigs for frequent edge-glue-up clamping? I like the idea of something that is wall-mounted and uses pneumatics. A 4" diameter pneumatic cylinder at 120PSI puts out 1500 pounds of force. One of these every 2 feet, with a rigid member to distribute force along the whole edge, could apply more force than putting a pipe clamp every 6 inches.

    Go up to a 6" bore pneumatic cylinder and your force shoots up to 3300lbs. If you have cylinders that are rated for 250 PSI you could run the cylinders at that and get 7068lbs of force out of one 6" bore cylinder.

    The reaction I expect to this post would be, "oh but that costs a lot of money to make", well, really, it doesn't. Pneumatic parts are dirt-cheap on ebay, and steel or lots of wood for a jig is not that expensive either. Pipe clamps end up at about $25/ea and many of the longer bar or i-beam clamps are $30-50/ea. So your huge rack of clamps that are used mostly for edge-gluing end up costing more.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Ouray Colorado
    Posts
    1,391
    We have pneumatic and hydraulic frame and edge presses. They work very well but still find we need bar clamps for many things. I think the portability and versatile of bar clamps makes them a must have item in most shops.

  3. #33
    I have a bunch of the Jorgensen/Pony I-beam clamps. I had a few for years, and when I heard about the company closing I quickly ordered a few more sizes while they were still in stock. I don't have the new I-beam Bessey's, but I have a lot of Bessey metalworking/welding clamps.

    One thing that annoyed me about the Jorgensens is that the rail on my brand new sets got rusty with any water exposure. It just has a black oxide (?) coating that is not very rust resistant. The Bessey I-beams are nickel-plated like my Bessey welding clamps, which is a much more rust-resistant finish.

    The clamp pressure ratings are the same between the two brands and greater than pretty much anything else on the market, including Bessey's welding clamps (this is also partly because of the very small throat needed on this type of clamp).

    If the Besseys are made in Germany, then based on what I see I would expect them to be excellent.

  4. #34
    About 20 years ago, I bit the bullet and bought about 20 Jorgensen I-Beam Clamps 36" Long. They were about $40 each back then, but I am glad I have them. I then bought the standard 5" Bessey clamps when they were made in Germany and I have about 40 of those. I'm not sure about the Bessey I-Beam whether they are still made on Germany or China. I love stuff made in the USA, England, Germany and Japan...

  5. #35
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    N Illinois
    Posts
    4,602
    Clamps end up a personal matter/choice...One man's meat is another man's poison....
    Jerry

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