Archive for the 'Bessey' Category
Monday, October 19th, 2009
While supplies last, Rockler has the large Bessey VarioClippix Spring Clamps on sale for $3.33 each (limit six per customer), a 67% reduction from their “regular” price. These high-impact plastic clamps have a 2″ throat depth, a 4″ maximum jaw opening, soft pivoting pads for work surface protection, and large ergonomic handles. If you fall into the you-can-never-have-enough-clamps camp, you may want to grab a few of these.
VarioClippix Spring Clamps [Rockler]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Posted in Bessey, Dealmonger, Rockler | 3 Comments »
Friday, August 28th, 2009

Bessey’s Maxis VarioPivot clamping system extends the versatility of your bar clamps by attaching them to your bench, somewhat like the previously covered VersaClamp. It works best with Bessey’s K-Body Clamps, but they claim the system works with other bar or pipe clamps too.
The two C-clamp-like ends attach to your bench top and capture any length of bar clamp between them. The clamps fit into rotating holders which can lock the bar clamp at any angle between 0 to 270°. The holders rest in an L-shaped track, which allows you to position the bar clamp along the side of the bench or over the work surface.
The Maxis VarioPivot Clamping system comes with the two c-clamp ends and runs about $50. You’ll need to provide your own bar clamp.
Bessey Tools [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Posted in Amazon, Bessey, Hartville Tool, Woodworking | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

It’s not slight of hand; it’s a magnet. Wave Bessey’s MagWand over your swarf (metal shavings and waste) and poof! It’s gone — well, at least from the work surface. Now it’s stuck to the MagWand.
This 22″ long magnetic wand attracts up to 12 lbs. of magnetic metal waste so you don’t have to pick it up by hand and risk cutting yourself. You can wave or roll the wand over your work surfaces. To dispose of the waste, pull back the sliding magnetic insert and the waste will fall into the scrap bin.
You’ll pay somewhere in the $30 to $45 range for Bessey’s MagWand. Has anyone tried a less-expensive homebrew model?
MagWand [Bessey Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Posted in Bessey, Magnets, Metalworking | 11 Comments »
Monday, May 11th, 2009
Ron’s Home and Hardware is selling this Bessey Ratchet Strap Clamp for $4.19. It’ll clamp all manner of work, with or without the supplied corner pieces.
Bessey Ratchet Strap Clamp [Ron's Home and Hardware]
Street Pricing [Google]
Posted in Bessey, Dealmonger | 7 Comments »
Monday, January 12th, 2009
OxArc is selling the Bessey WMS-3 Compact Magnetic Square for $5. With 55 lbs of pull, it’ll work for a variety of setups when welding — at this price there’s no reason to suffer with a cheap import when you can get a US-made one.
Bessey Compact Magnetic Square [OxArc]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Posted in Amazon, Bessey, Dealmonger, Welding | 2 Comments »
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
If you’re building fine furniture, you probably won’t want Bessey’s timber framing clamp — unless you’re really into the distressed look. See, in place of a fixed jaw these clamps have a spike you drive into the wood. They’re definitely meant for framing applications where a few gashes won’t be noticed.
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Posted in Bessey, Woodworking | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
If you thought one adjustable jaw on a spring clamp was good, does that mean two are better? Bessey must think so because they’re introducing a spring clamp in the VarioClippix line with two adjustable jaws.
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Posted in Bessey, Shop Tools | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
If you need to clamp something in a hard-to-reach place, Bessey’s got your back with their Clippix needle-nose spring clamps. The clamp’s long, tapered nose reaches into deep or confined spaces, and the soft-touch pads provide a firm grip without marring the workpiece.
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Posted in Bessey, Shop Tools | 3 Comments »
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Often times a vice just doesn’t cut it when you’re trying to machine an odd-shaped piece. If you’ve got T-slots in your table, you have a lot more options — for instance, you could slide in Bessey’s RiteHite hold-downs.
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Posted in Amazon, Bessey | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 29th, 2008
This neat little accessory from Bessey turns a bar clamp into an edge clamp, and it’s cheaper than buying one of their standalone edge clamps. You can even perform operations that you could never do with a standalone edge clamp, like clamp pieces off-center or attach multiple edge clamps to a single bar to distribute the force on wider pieces.
Made in Germany, Bessey’s single-spindle edge-clamp add-on secures to the bar of most bar clamps with a T-knob. Street pricing starts at $8.
Edge Clamps [Bessey]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Posted in Accessories, Amazon, Bessey, Shop Tools | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 7th, 2008
Riddle time: What do you get when you cross a set of vice-grips with a clamp? Answer: A clamp that strips the hell out of your workpiece — well, maybe if you don’t use the optional protective pads. But no, you get a kick-ass fast-action clamp with a throat depth of 2-1/2″ that can provide 660 lbs of clamping force.
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Posted in Amazon, Bessey, Hand Tools, Rockler | 11 Comments »
Friday, June 20th, 2008
Woodcraft is having what they dub a “blowout” on Bessey clamps. Sunday car-sales pitches aside, they’re knocking about ten bucks off the larger Bessey clamps they have in stock, like 24” and 40” K-body clamps.
The clamps feature steel jaws and a non-marring, glue-resistant casing. It’s a “while supplies last” type of thing, so either they’re trying to get rid of overstock or Bessey is coming out with a new model soon and they don’t want these hanging around taking up space. Either way you can save a few bucks on some big clamps and add to the collection in the shop.
Bessey K-Body Clamps Sale [Woodcraft]
Posted in Bessey, Camping, Dealmonger | No Comments »
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
The Bessey WS angle clamps differ quite a bit from your standard corner clamps. They’re designed to hold, fix, and align material at a 90° angle, and they adjust to variations in wood thickness. They also feature a slot in the clamp, so you can drive fasteners in the joint while the glue’s drying, without the entire piece shifting.
They look pretty handy for furniture assembly and framing, plus they’re pretty small so you can throw them in a drawer or toolbox when they aren’t needed. We can definitely see ourselves taking advantage of the added slot in the clamp. If you think you need these, you might have to hurry, though — we’ve heard a rumor that Bessey’s going to discontinue them soon.
WS Angle Clamp [Coastal Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon
[What's This?]
Posted in Accessories, Amazon, Bessey, Woodworking | 2 Comments »
Friday, April 20th, 2007
Bessey’s irregular angle clamp solves one of the most frustrating problems in building staircases: clamping two pieces of wood together when they’re not joined at a 90-degree angle. Standard bar clamps either can’t get a grip (or will mar the finish), and strap clamps don’t hold well enough. But the Bessey’s ball-and-socket clamping surface adjusts from 15 to 180 degrees to hold perfectly.
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Posted in Accessories, Bessey | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 2nd, 2007

I love the “compactness” of folding lockback utility knives — I’ve been carrying a Superknife model for some time now — but they’re often missing one feature common on standard utility knives: spare blade storage. Luckily, a number of manufacturers offer blade storage without overly enlarging the knife, including clamp-maker Bessey. Yep, we were surprised, too.
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Posted in Bessey, Knives | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
Bessey claims these are “America’s favorite woodworking clamp,” and indeed we have seen a number of these clamps appear on various woodworking shows. We don’t have any personal experience with them (yet), but they look pretty slick Their large, flat jaws are encased in “super-polyamid” — a plastic-like material that’s supposedly non-marring and glue resistant, yet strong enough to prove durable. A cold-drawn, profiled steel rail makes holds those jaws together, and a set-screw-based locking system locks them down.
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Posted in Bessey, Hand Tools, Woodworking | 1 Comment »
Sunday, July 23rd, 2006
We’ve got a ton of spring clamps in the clamp drawer, but when we saw Bessey’s VarioClippix today it caught our attention. It’s a spring clamp, but one jaw is adjustable, moving up and down a support bar that’s angled to keep the jaws parallel throughout the adjustable range.
Bessey also notes that unlike other spring clamps, the VarioClippix can clamp with varying force; By setting the jaw opening larger than the item to be clamped, you reduce the clamping force.
The VarioClippix has soft jaws to avoid marring your clamped object, and soft handles to go easier on your hands. Street pricing starts around $10 for individual clips, and we found some 8-piece sets via Froogle for around $50.
The VarioClippix [Bessey Tools North America]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Posted in Bessey, Hand Tools | No Comments »