HD Bessey K's

Has anyone heard if HD is going to close out the K Bodies like they're doing with the Tradseman's? I'm tempted to keep checking HD this week to see.

I asked the "tool guy" at HD today, and he said he had no idea, and didn't know why they were closing out the Tradesman's. I explained to him that they were going to switch to Jorgensen's - blank stare back.... :-) Couldn't tell me when they put there close out tags on stuff. Guess I ask too many questions...

Just thought someone might have some info -

Nick B

Reply to
Nick Bozovich
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If it is a machine printed tag, it has the date it was printed on it. Just read through the superfluous numbers, the date is printed pretty small, but it should be obvious.

Reply to
Alex Gross

Doesn't that imply you have to have a closeout tag on something first? He's trying to figure out when/if the K bodies will be tagged.

Reply to
Larry C in Auburn, WA

I did notice the Kbodies now have a foot on the end like the Jorgensen Cabinetmaster clamps, although it does not appear to slide up and down the bar as the Jorgenson does. Jorgensen must be taking a healthy cut out of the Kbody market share.

Reply to
Leon

I don't own any cabinet clamps but have quite a few utility F clamps. I've never owned any Bessey's because of the cost. So last night I found the grocery cart of Bessey clamps and pawed through them. I found three clamps that were an unusual size (4" deep x 8" long) and bought them because of the size, not the name. They were $10 each. I took them home and layed them side by side with the Chinese 4" x 12" clamps I bought at the show last weekend. The show clamps were $6 each. In terms of "apparent" quality, these clamps are equal. One said China on the label. The other had Germany prominently stamped in the iron clamp body.

Now I must admit that Germany has a certain snob appeal. Perhaps the metallurgy is superior (probably is), but I doubt my usage will ever discern the difference. One of the reasons I bought them was to be able to see how the two compared over the long run. I suspect any differences may show up after a year of use.

Anyway, my use for these clamps is utility clamping. When I get into building fine furniture, I'm sure I'll think differently.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Davis

Take a closer look at the china made clamps , I believe you will more than likely see the differences in the machining qualities (provided you did not cull thru all the china made clamps to hand pick the best ones) notice if the threaded hole in the sliding head is bored perpendicular to the fixed head flat side in both planes (front,side) and the quality of the cut threads of both cast iron head and threaded rod, also the amount of slop between the sliding head /bar slot. I have been thru this experience with Harbor Freight's Chinese made F Style clamps, to pick out three 3" x 6" clamps I had to open the boxes of at least 15 packages before settling on 3 that were acceptable. China has NO quality control inspection, what they manufactor is what they ship out, I was told about this by a design engineer for Pony (adjustable clamp co) Clamp Co.. Actually he told me out of 10,000 iron castings maybe 100 were to actual design specs. So you see they (American companies and chinese mfg) are banking on people to just accept what crap they are sliding our way and if occasionally someone gripes of poor quality they are bending backwards to send a replacement. Must be one hell of a profit margin, HUH. I still support products that are made to strigent specs even if for home use, nothing like doing quality work with a quality tool, just makes good sence. TAKE CARE

Reply to
Seeker

Haven't heard about the K Bodies, for sure, but if they're going to discontinue the Bessey's, the K's should go on clearance. The clearance notification "usually" comes thru on Thursday morning. (If there is an "emergency" price reduction it could come thru at any time.) If you hear that something is on clearance and the tag doesn't reflect it, have the "Associate" look it up on the computer...it ain't hard to do. Sometimes a clearance item will only be a store by store thing and not available at every store. The IMA for each dept. is the person who usually gets the clearance info and changes the item sign. As a side note, I was told the Ridgid isn't going to continue making their Radial Arm Saw. I would think that it would go on clearance also. It isn't the best RAS in the world, but if it goes down to $300/$350,it might be worth a look.

Dave

Nick Bozovich wrote:

Reply to
Dave

Hello Seeker,

Thanks for the detailed information. I had not gone through the analytical evaluation when I started buying Chinese clamps and I've only purchased in person, never by mail order. On the first two batches I bought, they were so cheap that there was no risk ($3 to $4 each). I found two that had to be returned. But over several months use, they've worked out for me. I wanted to buy some larger ones, but the local store did not have any. The woodworking show was the first time I had seen the bigger clamps at such cheap prices so I bought a couple to try out.

Utility F clamps are not precision tools, so quality excursions are probably still usable for me. After I read your notes, I went into the shop and laid the Chinese and Bessey clamps out side by side and inspected them closely. As it turns out the Chinese clamps were larger than I remembered. They measure 4.5" x 12" as compared to the Bessey 4" x 8". Being as the Bessey's are smaller, I would expect them to have tighter tolerances. Guess what? The Chinese clamps have substantially tighter tolerances. When I grab the moveable part and wiggle it side to side, the Bessey is downright sloppy compared to the Chinese clamps. All of the Chinese clamps are very consistently made and I could not discern any quality issues. In fact, you could swap the brand labels and you would swear the Chinese clamps are the better made clamp. The Bessey threads are somewhat better refined but they are not exactly what I would call a precision piece of machining. The thing I cannot test is the metal quality. That will be the telling part. I bought some Columbina clamps one time (Wilton tools Chinese distribution name) that actually showed dents in the main bar after only a few uses. I returned them.

So, in summary, I agree with you wholeheartedly - Chinese quality in commodity items is a crapshoot. You can get good to excellent quality but you are likely to get a lot of junk. I think companies like Jet and Delta and Dewalt are really differentiating themselves through quality programs at the import factory and customer service. I hope they remain viable in the new import business models.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Davis

Thanks Dave - I decided that I'm going to go in every day and check it out - I'll make a particular effort to be in on Thursday. It just makes sense that they're going to dump them if they're switching to Jorgensens.

They have the RAS on sale now - can't remember the price, but it's about a $50 - $75 reduction. Unfortunately, I'm not ready for a RAS now. I also noticed they had the Rigid 13" portable planer on yellow tag - I think it's $199. I'm looking for a planer now, but I haven't seen any really good comments on the Rigid. Just looking at it compared to the Dewalts or the Deltas, it just doesn't look like the same quality. I'll settle for the Dewalt (735), but I have my eye and hopes on a Yorkcraft or Bridgewood (Wilke Machinery is about 5 miles from my house) 15". Obliviously, price is the issue...gotta save my pennies! Hard to do when clamps are on sale!!

Nick B

Reply to
Nick Bozovich

You haven't heard anything good about the Ridgid planer? You need to check around more. I have one, love it, but don't just take my word for it do a Google search. I received it Christmas 2002 so I don't know how it compares with current models, but what I've read about it here I would say most people are happy with it. At the time I bought it there had been a recent planer comparison in one of the mags and it received the top honor or close to it IIRC. Again, I don't know how it would compare to current models, but for $200 I think it'd be a good deal.

Reply to
Larry C in Auburn, WA

Just a month or two ago one mag did a 13" planer comparison, including the new DeWalt and newer Delta. It held it's own, and is much cheaper.

Joe

Again, I don't know how it would compare to current models, but

Reply to
BIG JOE

The planer for $199 is probably one of the "older" models...not much orange on the case. We got some of the new ones in and they are $249 or $279 somewhere in that range. We did get some of the new Spindle Sanders in Monday night, but I only saw the picture on the box. I'll check them out tomorrow. The Planer is really a pretty good one for the money. I think the only change from old to new is cosmetic. Don't know about the motor change, if any. $199 is a good price for the Planer.

Dave

Nick Bozovich wrote:

Reply to
Dave

"Larry C in Auburn, WA" wrote in news:CthWb.274482$xy6.1397792@attbi_s02:

I really love my Ridgid TP1300 planer. I can't comment on any subtle changes in the product, nor on exactly which one is on sale at $199. But the one I spent about $379 on, 18-20 months ago, was and is worth the money. If you need one, that is.

That it's disco doesn't bother me much. I don't need another one any time soon.

Patriarch

Reply to
patriarch

"Nick Bozovich"

Why don't you just buy them now while selection is good, and speculate that they will be clearing them out in less than 30 days? You can come back with your receipt and get the difference. If you're really worried, you can simply return and repurchase after 30 days, gaining another 30 days. Seems like less work and better potential for selection.

- Nate

Reply to
Nate B

Went to two HD's yesterday. Both have a few and it kills me, take $2.00 off a clamp and everyone's buying 'em up...

Reply to
Just Dave

$2? I did not see any Bessey Tradesman for $6, with 30% off. But, I bought 4 of them, a savings of $28 off list.

Reply to
Phisherman

Well in Cincinnati Ohio they are only dropping the price $2 to $4 dollars as a close out price....

Reply to
Just Dave

They were 30 or 40% off here in my area of Florida

John

Reply to
John Crea

At the N. Plainfield NJ and Bound Brook NJ Borgs - I got four 24" clamps for $9 each, one 36" clamp for $10 and four 12"ers for $8. Internet pricing on them is $14, $17 and $12, respectively. $121 retail versus $78

Reply to
Mutt

Were these prices on the k-body's or the tradesmans? The numbers match up on the tradesman. Thanks. Bill

Reply to
Bill Dunn

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