Thread: Faulty Bessey clamps

I honest have never checked if the jaw and the bar are square. Are they usable?

Hi Wongo, I bought them because I wanted some small parallel clamps for doing boxes like I saw here.

These clamps are not useable for this purpose because they only clamp at one point

I am pretty sure that is what they are supposed to be like. Mine are the same. They square up when some clamping pressure applied.
Good clamps!

I should have a look tonight. I know the plastic jaws on mine are parallel with or without clamping pressure.

I have to disagree with you on this, Bernt. When I tighten these up so that the jaws are touching under pressure, they meet at only one point - there is still a gap along the length of the jaws.

Jill, is the bar straight?

The metal jar is factory made so I can't think anything can go wrong with it.

Yes, Wongo, the bar is straight. The problem is in the head of the upper jaw, in the slot for the bar to go through - it is not at right angles with the clamping face of the head, as shown in my original pictures above.

I tried tapping the head a bit further on to the bar, but the error remained the same because of the incorrect angle.

the photo below shows the gap when the jaws are tightened ( refer Bernt's comments above)

From the picture the upper jaw actually looks fine. The lower one looks a bit funny. Interesting...

Very strange, especially since all the ones you bought are like that. Mine are about the same amount out of square when not under pressure but square up more then that.

I must say the UniKlamps can difficult to master in the begining. It does take a little bit of time to get used to. Could it be the plastic cover of the lower jaw?

I have another clamp of the same type and maker, which shows how it should be - that is in the first photo below.

Believe me gents, the upper jaw is not at right angles to the bar. The lower jaw is exactly spot on 90deg to the bar. This is shown in the two photos below, with the top jaw shown in the 2nd photo, and the lower jaw in the third.


So, back to the problem of how to fix the top jaw. Remove the bar, file the head out a bit, then re-insert the bar and pin it? If so, what pins do I use?

Bang it with a hammer and see if it squares up a little bit.

I just popped the cover off mine and checked. Both are square to the shaft.

How much do they cost you?