Trying not to bore all to tears by dragging across my LJ posts, the projects may be an ego trip, but these hints/tips may actually help someone and give them ideas.
Next to my Fe$tool addiction, I tend to have a sweet spot for my Bessey parallel jaw clamps. When they released their REVO clamps, I was blown away and all new purchases were that style, even though they were a few shekels more. Then I found out that you could just get the "movable top jaw" and my next move was to dig out my VISA card, check my balance, have a vino and settle for a who cares, further debt attitude.
This was first published at LJ on 27th. October, 2020 and transferred ad nauseam here. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Boys and Girls,
If you are an egg connoisseur, you've just landed a double-yolker… you get a tip and a review completion in one.
Having just completed my review of the Bessey Vario Revo Clamp Jaw (and follow the bouncing ball for the real thing), where I addressed modification but not this full customisation. Not happy with loose ends, I thought I'd go full hog and remove the original fixed jaw.
Closer inspection revealed the jaws were held in place by some sort of solid rivets,
... more on this later.
My first line of attack was to grind the heads of the rivets off… the plastic covering proved a bit resistant so I thought that a hacksaw was a better weapon,
Hmm, maybe for the optimists, but for me it was bloody hard work. Fired up the compressor and loaded with a thin cutting blade and subsequently launched a frontal attack on the jaw with bravado,
the mongrel fought back and refused to concede and while I managed to remove the jaw, the rivets refused to budge… I whacked it with a sledge but feared spreading the end making removal impossible so it was off to the drill press to drill it out. While I complained profusely… I should have kept my cool, held back on the cussing and admired the rugged Bessey construction.
Suddenly I discovered a new use for these new adjustable jaws….
as an adjustable outfeed rest for the long clamp's bar… pretend you didn't read that as I'm going to use this as another workshop tip blog (shhh!).
It was quite a pathetic attempt, however, I eventually extricated the rivet and had a new Vario clamp,
the two jaws may not be colour co-ordinated, but they worked. Hell that was hard work and prompted me to go to the trouble of taking my cordless bandsaw out of its cradle,
and tackle the jaw on the next clamp,
Took less than 10 seconds to cut through both ends of the rivets, however, I still had to drill down the centre of the rivets to weaken it for easier extraction,
While the black jaws (on top) had an "observation" hole to guide cutting, the red (below the black) were enclosed,
forcing me to cut blind,
and making another dogs breakfast. Nevertheless the redheads made an equally impressive colour co-ordinated Vario clamps,
Then I had a closer look… those bloody solid rivets weren't rivets but metal rods with domed/Pinned ends,
all I had to do was, select an appropriate sized bold and simply hammer it out, leaving the second red jaw in pristine condition. Not that it mattered as they were still destined for the bin, however, if I discovered this with the first clamp, I would have saved a lot of stuffing around.
So for all you thrill-seekers choosing to upgrade, just pop the rods and enjoy the new Vario clamps.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
My "originals" are suffering from arthritis in the threads on the working ends. Too much cranking down tight and too little lube over the years. Seems I recall being able to buy the business ends of the Revos somewhere as well?
I'm a great fan and have been surprised by the number of people not aware of their main feature.
Still waiting for Martin to set up a review topic (if he intends to as hinted to earlier) so I can start posting some reviews imported from "across the road".
For people with the long old Besseys, they're a great upgrade to permit use on smaller items... won't decrease the number of clamps one MUST have, however, they can minimise the extra number of small ones needed.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
SplinterGroup commented about 6 hours ago My "originals" are suffering from arthritis in the threads on the working ends. Too much cranking down tight and too little lube over the years. Seems I recall being able to buy the business ends of the Revos somewhere as well?
I loved the original and didn't hold back when building my clamp empire. When the REVO was released, I bought a few long ones, but when I found out about just the jaws, I upgraded all my long ones, except for the short ones that were never an issue.
You a (ex-) plumber? I'd be scared of over "glue squeeze out" when I apply the "plumber white knuckled force" on my clamps. I've found that unless the work is distorted and needs to be aligned, I just apply small force and let the glue do it's thing.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
I tend to cut mortise/tenon joints on the tight side and use the clamps to force the parts together.
These shelves I made when setting up my gallery booth with the 40 through tenons were a killer.
Add on to that that the original Bessys handles are slick as snot on a door knob, I used some channel locks to get a better grip. The softer metal where the clamp screw threads into was not to happy about that.
Ducky I forgot to mention I did buy another one of these type clamps. Now I have two. Like you said. “Why would you buy just one? You are my clamp guru. Would you like to see my other one?
I'm far from a clamp guru... I'm just a man of convenience... but now you've got me worked up
When anyone sees me in action, they fully appreciate my dependence on props, to make whatever I undertake to not fully fail. I will buy whatever I think will make my life easier... it's too bloody short to root around trying to make do and discover workarounds... though I do like the challenge brought about by jigs.
I'm always on the lookout for novel clamps.... so if you have any weirdos I'd love to see them.
I have a great diversity of them... some quite gimmicky like these Jack clamps, no idea what spurred me on to buying them... but I remember seeing some promos where they can be configured better than a double jointed circus performer.
I rate these Besseys fairly highly and have a few different lengths, and are great for those quick one handed operations... they also spread.
These Torquata are also brilliant when compared to other ratchet clamps (even the Fe$tool), all have their adjusters fully forward. You can see that the two below stick out forward while the Torquata is flush with the imaginary "surface".
Hate these bloody things, and no sooner I toss them out or give them away, a few more seem to appear in the workshop.
The most useless clamps in the world are these Kregpocket hole clamps, well most useless until I modified them to work like "normal" clamps.
A few more gimmicky that I keep forgetting I had even if I actually needed them,
this latter one I use to hold my tapes and small dead-blow mallet.
... and lets not get into hold downs,
Still waiting on a review topic here so I can start my rant about the TSO lock dogs that I now use instead of clamps,
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
I think I am getting clamp just looking at all these tools! ... or is a bar instead ! tee hee Is that another buffing machine I see there Alex or arepaint? I am pleased to see you have gone with a tapered shaft instead of the complicated L & RH nuts Even melamine cannot escape these jaws!
Hell RC, next they'll be posting that photo at the local cop shop about stolen vehicles... remember, I'm the son of a bloody poor Hungarian Fern Cutter!
BTW... I could use that hair pin. to clean my ears.. as they're banning cotton buds from 1st Feb.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
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