Thread: Faulty Bessey clamps

I too would be taking up the offer of replacement. But I would not be inclined to pay for the freight of the replacements, or the faulty ones for that matter.

Having said that, maybe this is a good reason to see and touch before you buy, that is, buy local.

I do hope it works out, the issue is clearly a manufacturing fault and a fitness of use issue.

Cheers

I'm pretty certain that if you read the online Bessey specs you will find that the clamping faces are made slightly OFF parallel. The reason being, that under clamping pressure the bar will flex slightly which if the clamping faces were dead parallel then the flexing of the bar would result in heavier pressure clamping at the throat. None of my K Clamps are parallel and I've never had a problem with it. I stand corrected but I did read that sometime ago somewhere.

Are you sure that these are BESSY Clamps????

The Bessy label looks different!!

If they are genuine I would contact the company .

Jeff

Originally Posted by Shedhand

I'm pretty certain that if you read the online Bessey specs you will find that the clamping faces are made slightly OFF parallel. The reason being, that under clamping pressure the bar will flex slightly which if the clamping faces were dead parallel then the flexing of the bar would result in heavier pressure clamping at the throat. None of my K Clamps are parallel and I've never had a problem with it. I stand corrected but I did read that sometime ago somewhere.

I'm fairly sure, Shedhand , that the website actually brags about their parallel jaws...

BESSEY - Spanntechnik - Handwerkzeuge, Schere, ERDI, ERDI Schere, Spanntechnik, Spannwerkzeuge, Spannen, Schneidtechnik, Zwinge, Schraubzwinge, TempergußschraubzwingeKorpuszwinge, Einhandzwinge, Blechschere, Schneidwerkzeuge

I checked mine. Without the plastic, the jaw is not square but not as bad as yours. With the plastic the jaw are pretty much parallel. The K-body clamps are prefect.

I also checked the mini clamps (I have 60 of them ), and the jaw aren't square. Some of them are as bad as yours. I do more or less agree with Bernt. The bar will flex substantially when under pressure. So maybe they are made that way for a good reason.

Sorry can't help you there.

Originally Posted by Avery

I'm fairly sure, Shedhand , that the website actually brags about their parallel jaws...

BESSEY - Spanntechnik - Handwerkzeuge, Schere, ERDI, ERDI Schere, Spanntechnik, Spannwerkzeuge, Spannen, Schneidtechnik, Zwinge, Schraubzwinge, TempergußschraubzwingeKorpuszwinge, Einhandzwinge, Blechschere, Schneidwerkzeuge

I've got some printed specs somewhere amongst my stuff. I'll try and track it down. As I said I'm pretty sure that the "brag" about parallels is base around the slight offset. The parallel becomes apparent under clamping pressure..hence the brag. The same principle applies to benchdogs. It is recommended by many that they should be "set" in the holes at a 2 degree offset from the perpendicular to account for flexing of the benchdog metal under lateral pressure (if they protrude more than an inch or so above the bench). Can't remember where I read that but its how my dogs are fitted and they work perfectly. I have some chinese made Dawn brand clamps and the jaws in those are parallel at rest but I can turn clamped components under pressure because the bar flexes and creates a high point at the inside edge of the clamping faces. Is Jill saying the clamps are not parallel under pressure and what sort of pressure is she using. Could it be that her clamps are too heavy (pressure wise) and she should just use lighter clamps for the job at hand.
Cheers

Originally Posted by Wongo

I checked mine. Without the plastic, the jaw is not square but not as bad as yours. With the plastic the jaw are pretty much parallel. The K-body clamps are prefect.

I also checked the mini clamps (I have 60 of them ),

Sorry can't help you there.

Err..dare I ask why not 59 or 61???

Mate it could be 67. I was being conservative

Originally Posted by Shedhand

I've got some printed specs somewhere amongst my stuff. I'll try and track it down. As I said I'm pretty sure that the "brag" about parallels is base around the slight offset. The parallel becomes apparent under clamping pressure..hence the brag. The same principle applies to benchdogs. It is recommended by many that they should be "set" in the holes at a 2 degree offset from the perpendicular to account for flexing of the benchdog metal under lateral pressure (if they protrude more than an inch or so above the bench). Can't remember where I read that but its how my dogs are fitted and they work perfectly. I have some chinese made Dawn brand clamps and the jaws in those are parallel at rest but I can turn clamped components under pressure because the bar flexes and creates a high point at the inside edge of the clamping faces. Is Jill saying the clamps are not parallel under pressure and what sort of pressure is she using. Could it be that her clamps are too heavy (pressure wise) and she should just use lighter clamps for the job at hand.
Cheers

That all makes absolutely perfect sense. I have never, ever measured any of my clamps but i somehow just assumed that they would be angled in such away as to clamp up parallel. Thinking about it again , that would be very hard to achieve because there are so many variables.

I just don't know. but Bessey, the long time champion of good clamps, do say that the jaws are parallel. The jaws on Jill's clamps clearly are not. Bessey needs to explain.

Jiilb,

I really think that you should contact Bessey.

Bessey Tools Canada - Contact Us

Your explanation of the problem and the photos are more than enough to get a good explanation from the supplier.

Bessey seem to be the #1 supplier of good clamps. Let them sort it out.

I'll check my (similar to Jill's) tomorrow

But I think that if the suplier is happy to replace - then where is the problem

They cost $30 each.

Looks like it is a definite manufacturing fault, going by NCArcher's comments.

Amazon are going to replace them, and I don't have to send the faulty units back. Interesting that both items I purchased had this fault.

I will contact Bessey too

Good move Jill!!
Cheers

Make yourself a couple of wedges to stick on the jaws and you have 2 spare clamps.