Just a note ... like many other parallel clamps, the jaws will toe in a little bit until they are clamped with pressure. They true up as soon as pressure is applied.(at least, mine do)

@ianmib

Жыл бұрын

I have the lighter Besseys, the amount of clamping pressure to correct the toe in is excessive and too much for most glue up without marring the workpiece. Manufacturers would parrot what you have said, but as far as I am concerned it’s a manufacturing defect. You should not have to clamp the shit out of your workpiece to square up the clamp. Also this leads to cupping in the glue up. If it’s a design feature why do some parallels come square and others not in the same make/model?

@keithkolbo2735

Жыл бұрын

@@ianmib it take very light pressure before they square up. This is the same for Bessey. I have them side by side.

@steffendetrick9403

Жыл бұрын

@@keithkolbo2735 Accounting for the deflection that would occur on wider work pieces makes sense.

@ianmib

Жыл бұрын

@@keithkolbo2735 this is your experience. The clamps I have require far too much pressure to square them up and mar the workpiece. I have other Bora clamps that square up quickly with little clamping pressure. The manufacturer explanation that they square up upon applying clamping pressure does not explain why some clamps in the same make/model come square and some come with an a slight angle. I suspect mine passed QC on a Friday afternoon. I love Bessey but can we cannot acknowledge that they could possibly have QC issues?

50” Bessey clamp are only $48 at my local Menards and the Harbor Freights are $39 here as well. For that price I’m sticking with Bessey

@joeprior7311

Жыл бұрын

Dude, the $48 Bessey clamps at Menards are the shorter 24”.

@path4061

Жыл бұрын

@@joeprior7311 or the lighter weight "Jr" clamps.

Thanks for the review. I have been looking at these and found your very helpful. I will probably put off my purchase of these clamps for a while.

The amount of money I spent on cheap clamps far exceed the the price difference between the two clamps. After 20 years of putting off the purchase of 3 bessey clamps I finally got them. They are a joy to use and worth every extra penny. Clamp the piece with the besseys and then add extra clamping with the cheap ones.

Just found your channel because I was looking at clamp videos. Great video and thanks for doing them. Also I have land in Arizona to sell also :) I am going to check out your other videos and just subscribed.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for the kind words, Clyde! Who knows maybe our Arizona land is adjacent and we can be neighbors...😂

Just discovered today that Harbor Freight had these and wondered how they compared to the Besseys, which I already have. I was pleased to see a review already posted, and you did a really good job covering the differences. The fixed ends being a true 90 degrees on the Besseys is a big deal for me. It's the reason I returned the Jorgensens that I got at Lowes at first (they were off about as much as these HF ones). So I may not get any of these HF ones because I'm picky. Then again, I see that the 50" Besseys have gone up by almost $20 since I got them, so if I find myself short on clamps for a project, I might just run down to HF after all. Thanks again.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching!

@BlcokedAccount

Жыл бұрын

Woodworking is problem solving. For the price, I'm sure you could shim the HF clamps to true them up if needed. The toe -in might go away once a load is applied. I get not wanting to sacrifice quality in tools, I have a Snap On ratchet addiction. :)

Thank you for the review.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. Thanks for watching!

great review

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! 👊

Great review! For the type of work I do, Bremen will work for me! Thanks!

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I agree. I think for the price the Bremen will suffice for a lot of weekend warriors.

@CornerCreekWoodworking

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. I need to give these a try.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

@@CornerCreekWoodworking absolutely. They're definitely worth checking out!

You have some good insight! New subscriber.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Glad you found it helpful!

That head being toed in is a feature, not a bug. It helps force down onto the bar the last board in your glueup. Take a look at the Industry leader, JLT Clamp - their double bar acme screw clamp has a built-in 1 degree angle. These clamps look pretty good for the price.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

That could be. Apparently Bessey doesn't have that feature. 😂 For the price though I think they're a good buy!

@StevenHearndon

Жыл бұрын

It's only a "feature" if you're doing a panel glue up, and even then I'm not so sure. But it becomes an issue if you're clamping a box with 2 sides at right angles to each other. Then that "toed in" head can cause your box to become out of square. I think it's more likely that most of the manufacturers haven't figured out how to handle that much pressure on the clamp head without compensating a bit on the angle. Bessey has been doing it for a long time, so I guess they have the answer. Even still, these seem like really nice clamps for the money. It seems like Harbor Freight is trending toward better quality tools. It's been very cool to watch.

@keithkolbo2735

Жыл бұрын

I have been tring to tell people that the toe in is normal and when pressure is applied, they are square.

@keithkolbo2735

Жыл бұрын

My Besseys do toe in slightly like the Bremen. Same with my Jets. All of them true up when pressure is applied.

@b-radfrommalibu

Жыл бұрын

@@StevenHearndon SEE

Great video. Recently picked some up myself and I’m impressed for the price. I didn’t check the squareness of the fixed head now I want to! They are currently being used gluing up a 40 inch wide walnut too. Went on great!

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I agree. For the price they're hard to beat. Let me know if yours are square when you get them out of the glue up! I'm curious

Even with my bessey parallel clamps I always alternate above and below the panel to offset any excessive forces that will cause it to cup.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Same.

I have a couple of Bessey 48" clamps and have not liked them from day one. The movable jaws are miserable to move, and the serrations on the bar get glue in them and are extremely difficult to clean. I have Irwin clamps that I really like, but now I need to try out the Bremen clamps too.

@coreydurbin811

Жыл бұрын

Some wax on the bars from day one fixes this.

If I had a dozen or so parallel clamps I wouldn't mind if 8 of them were HF clamps. I do think it's worth the higher price tag for Bessey quality, but filling in with decent quality clamps that work is worth the savings. Gotta save some money for wood

No one tests the metallurgy of hardness of the rail on the HF clamps. If they are anything like the ( HF ) F clamps, the straight knurl on the bar will wear out before Bessy, Jorgensen, Pony, etc.

@staceylewisdesigns

4 ай бұрын

This is the difference. For me there’s also a difference in the plastics however that doesn’t affect performance. I like to use tools that I enjoy handling if possible so it’s a negative. I’m commenting a year later so that’s an obvious advantage having seen them in use for more time. There’s a review out there where the rail flexes on the Bremen but in practical use the Bremen are more than capable of handling any clamping job. I’m thankful HF jumped in because other vendors have since lowered their prices to below HF when on sale such as Rockler, Jorgensen etc. Bessey remains high along with Jet.

Nice work! I’m off to Harbor Freight.

In the UK these same clamps are sold under the brand names Wellcut and Rutlands. Apart from the colours they're literally identical and both have the same bent jaws. Probably all made in the same factory. I bought the Wellcut clamps, which are orange, but sent them back because they're just too bent for my work. Someone else here mentioned that they straighten up under pressure, but mine didn't. It's the top jaw that is mostly bent btw, so using a square on the bottom jaw wont show much. It's a shame because they'd be really great clamps if it wasn't for this one major issue.

Hey Jeremy in all fairness the HarborvFreight Clamps in this design for the cost savings seem like a great deal for the money some of their other ones like the FClamps compared to the Jorgensen or Pony brands they are some reasons to spend the extra money on the name brands IMO not always in.woodworking and Glue Ups is the clamp force being the highest that important heck i worked in a large Shop with over 100 Craftsman and Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars worth Of Tools and sometimes all we needed to hold a Glue Up together was a roll Of Masking tape ?

I would like to see a test of the teeth cut in the bar. That would seem to be the wear point - do the teeth lose their grip, and thus the repeatability of clamping? Which points back to the toughness of the steel in the bar.

What about additional accessories for both of these? How do those compare?

Does the none moveable head on the HFT clamp move into square when pressure is applied? This in it's self could be an issue as well, but something to check. It also could be a feature that W T Lloyd Mentioned. Just wondering?

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

It got slightly better but not completely.

Whenever I see price of clamps, I think of my dad's pipe clamps that he used for 40 or 50 years, that I've been using for 20. Friends are jealous of my working antiques. I've purchased a few clamps but I've made a lot more. $10 and a piece of pipe.

Did u stick the,scale inthere to see pressure ?

As a hobby woodworker with both tendons in my elbows torn...that allen key in the handle has been a lifesaver for me. Personally, I use it not to add more torque, but instead loosen after the glue has set in and caused an ever so slight expansion.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

I'd never considered that about the loosening up with the Allen key. Makes total sense. Thanks for watching!

why didnt you check for square on the fixed end after clamping?

I wanted to like them but returned them. The set I purchased didn’t work as seamless as the besseys. When they first were first introduced as a “new” tool the website said they compared to the besseys. Now it just says null

@andyliu9158

Жыл бұрын

I'm the same as you. I bought and returned. I saw the pin that connected the end to the bar was on the plastic and not though the bar. It was also a solo pin. I'm not sure if there's a pin inside the plastic or not but not going chance it.

As I understand it.....The Bremen clamps are Lifetime Warranty and Bessey are "limited" Lifetime warranty. I've heard others have issues returning the Bessey clamps and you are out the $50. Just sayin. I plan on getting the HF clamps for the ease of one hand slide as well as the warranty.

I am gonna look into these for sure, But I’m also very Interested in your clamp rack on the wall, any plans for it

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

It's a copy of Brad's from Fix This Build That. He has a video for it. 😊

@jefftoulson3751

Жыл бұрын

Oh Alright Thank you

But do the fixed heads straighten up once you clamp down?? I noticed you checked for square on the screw end head but not the fixed head.

@keithkolbo2735

Жыл бұрын

Yes

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Mine did sort of... Not completely perfect though.

They are designed to be out of square till pressure is applied. Then the jaws are supposed to square up and give u the parallel feature the name implies.

@DebtFreeDIY

8 ай бұрын

Unfortunately I've seen lots of back and forth on whether that's actually a design feature or design flaw. Not sure my thoughts on it... Nevertheless, I'm not giving misinformation. I literally gave my exact experience. So if it's a design feature then my Bremen clamps are perfect and my Bessey's are off and if it's a design flaw then vice versa. But I definitely wasn't giving misinformation...sorry if it came across that way.

@3DMAYHEMOFFICIAL

8 ай бұрын

It wasn't really your video @@DebtFreeDIY, its just some other videos that really upset me as a woodworker. I'm going to remove my previous comment, just do as much research on the product your doing your video on and that way you wont get a negative response like mine any more. I respect your reply and I apologize for being so rash.

I like my bessie clamps, but mine slide like they are on ice. Plus, I want to see anyone tighten any of those clamps to their rated pressure.

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

🤣 Same 💪

@jerrykearns6344

Жыл бұрын

They're probably both strong enough to squeeze all the glue out, leading to joint failure. I have some heavy duty I beam bar clamps rated at 7000 lbs. They're good for making picnic tables with warped wood and structural screws. Inexpensive pony type 3/4 pipe clamps are probably similar strength.

In regard to the Bessey clamps having a hex hole in the handle and the HF not, while you are at HF, pick up a plumber's strap wrench. Now you have your leverage And a cheap clamp. 😁

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion!

I have probably 20 bessey parallel clamps from Home Depot. They constantly break. I just replace them from HD each time as returns, but it’s pretty lame and sad how easy the jaws crack.

@RAREFORMDESIGNS

Жыл бұрын

You are full of it. The clamps never crack.

i always got that impression that a lot of people thought Bessey had the best clamps, but I gotta say in my personal experience, they are nothing special. I have other brands of clamps and they're all as good or even better than the Bessey's I have. Not to say they are bad at all, but they're not what I would call the "gold standard" or any other kind of standard. I mean when a Harbor Freight clamp is as good or better, how can the Bessey be considered to be the best?

@TheMadJester159

Жыл бұрын

They’re not as good or better… but a hobby woodworker wouldn’t know the difference and honestly probably wouldn’t matter for those projects. As a fine furniture woodworker it definitely matters but I can justify the cost as well. Same goes for tools. A hobbyist might choose DeWalt or Makita as a go to brand where as a professional might prefer Festool.

You don't want a parallel clamp to be square with no pressure they always have toe until pressure is applied.

I have jorgensen

omg you actually checked if the clamps are squared?

@DebtFreeDIY

Жыл бұрын

🤓 Ultimate nerd

Yeah clamps are toooo expensive...and I know Bremen do just as good, and it's a life time warranty no questions..bout like woodpecker tools and some others that do just as well..sometimes I feel like we woodworkers get gouged hard on tools...

Manufacturer will claim that the clamp pulls square once clamped. I have the lighter Bessey parallels and they are out of square, and they do NOT pull square upon clamping which puts the clamping pressure along the top edge of your workpiece. Same thing with my Boras. A lot of clamps seem to have this problem in different brands, I am not sure how they make it past QC but they do.

These clamps are NOT supposed to be square when you are not clamping something. They are made to be square when you are clamping something. So clamp boards and they will be square.

With a German name like Bremen they have be at least decent.

Bought a cpl, they are pure JUNK! Handle fell off, pads fell off, extremely light duty. JUNK!

Jorgensen clamps are much better quality than Besseys. Besseys are overrated and I have had too many mechanical problems with them. When they were made in the US, they may have been great but their quality now is nowhere near the gold standard.

Let's not gloss over the fact that they're made pf plastic. Plastic = crap. It doesn't last. I won't buy plastic tools, but cheers to you who do.

@notajp

Жыл бұрын

It’s a plastic COVER. The Bessey is made the same way. So?

Just bought 6 of the HF clamps for $32 a piece. Considering the Bes are $78 each. The HF were a no brainer.

@MechE11B

Жыл бұрын

$69 not $78. Still, that's over 2x the HF price.

The "not 90° angle" tells pretty much the whole story. The Harbor clamps are a loose fit, the Besseys just fit and are machined at another level. The same goes for the springs the Harbors use for the handle action. It's the cheap solution. Maybe it'll last, maybe not. But the Besseys are just a way more thought through design. Also, the Besseys have a hole at the end of the bars that allow you to extend them and join them with another clamp. I think the extra price is worth it... and the extra isn't that much.

Damn bruh 165# 😂 Be better my guy