Bessey Variable Jaw for Body Clamp Quick Action Revo

Boys and Girls,

 

If you don’t own any Bessey parallel clamps you may leave, however, if you want to regret your possession, read on.

I have been a fan of  Bessey clamps and I’ll try not to mention that they were the only ones available at the time.

 

When making boxes/cabinets/drawers we (most) tend to use a combination of short and long pairs.  Oftyen it’s nnot because of supply, but rather the inconvenience of balancing a long clamp over the short dimension.  And often if we don’t have the shorties, we buy some as using the big ones just pisses us off.

 

These little jems, though unfortunately at a cost, but fortunately less than a new clamp, will let you convert a long clamp into a manageable one over “short spans”.

 

Originally posted at LJ on Oct 25, 2020 and re-posted here for anyone that is thinking of building/upgrading their clamping empire.

PS.  Just a word of warning.  Besseys are well built and removing the original jaw was no "walk in the park"... a link to the blog at the bottom of the post explains the issue I faced.

Bessey Upgrade... cause I can!

 

Bessey - Revo KREV (Rating: 5)

Boys and Girls,

If you happen to be a Bessey clamp tragic or pay homage to the quality gods, this may be of interest and just skip to the next paragraph, otherwise you can save me time by not wasting the review and force me to translate into "Philistineese"… and may I bid you French Moses.

I had the pleasure of spending a few+ shekels in buying and eventually reviewing Bessey K-Body Revo Vario Clamps... If you read the review, you may be under the apprehension that I love them and if you haven't read the review, I'm telling you I love them.

Now I don't baulk at parting with my shekels when it comes to quality tools… compromise for quality is not in my vocabulary.

In the past, I only purchased 4 of these Varios 

and when I had the opportunity to put them to use, I found that the other Bessey clamps I had,

with the fixed heads

were sadly lacking in comparison… they were still good but the desire for more Varios kept dogging my glue up process. Like a true little battler, I persevered and after the project, vowed to forgo some casks of vino to save up for more Vario clamps…

After the not so prolonged drought, sacrificing drinking a lot of vino, dramatically shortened the overall potential cost accumulation duration. Armed with an abundance of shekels, I hit my favourite clamp suppliers only to be floored by the lack of stock. I found 2 suppliers… both with a single clamp in stock… hell, who buys a single clamp… or even an un-even number… DOH!...
Damn, I should have, one from each and I'd have at least two extra ones… I surrendered to the notion of paying the double shipping costs (from 2 separate suppliers) and while surfing for their WEB site, I came across the Bessey 95mm Quick Action Vario Revo Clamp Jaw KRE-VO which was about 1/3 the price of the full clamp… don't freak out, that link is $Aust… and Yankees complain about costs.

It was not as much the cost as availability, determined to arm myself with more Vario clamps, I bit the bullet and decided to get some and finished up buying 4… the devil in me prompted buying 5, if only to bugger up some future unfortunate purchaser when only 1 would be left, but complacency took the better of me. While I had no assurance of compatibility due to lack of documentation, I was hoping that the "head" of some of my existing clamps could be converted… I considered it a worth the gamble.

"Where is the bloody review?", you may ask… "Following!", I answer…
 
The jaws arrived today 

and I was straight off to the workshop. Hesitant to cut off the original heads (drilling out 4 rivets - 2 each side), 

all I had to do was detach the handle, flip and rotate it 180° (no, that's not 360°) and thread it on from the other end… I can then slip on the new "Vario" jaw from that same end… just get the order right… and I suddenly had 2 new Vario clamp, 

 
with 2 more conversions to follow.
So far the "down side" is that the original heads still sit on the other lazy end,

and will be removed scientifically (rivets drilled) or brutally (angle grinder) if they prove inconvenient.
 
Did a quick trial run with the new configuration,

I was so impressed, I immediately came up to write this review. Having used the Vario before I didn't have to evaluate any further (read my review) and thought that any further delay could deprive other LJ'ers out there from early upgrades.

If you have enough clamps (you are a liar) then this is a reasonable way to upgrade existing Bessey clamps at 1/3 the price.

Gallery photo #3 was an unpaid false advertisement for use of these jaws (its a short clamp)… one of the major benefits of the Vario design is to centralise the weight which would not be of concern with shorter clamps… I have reserved the upgrade to 1m+ clamps.

Having sacrificed vino consumption to pay for the clamps, now that the jaws have arrived I can resume my regular vino intake.

Late addition…

I couldn't sleep, knowing the original fixed jaws were hitching a free ride at the expense of my muscles… Decided to extricate them on this blog!