Bessey Sale - here we go again!?

[Anthony DeLuca]

I got some in northern cali. Plenty of them there.

[James T. Kirby]

Did all the math yesterday - of course, LV constrains you into buying a certain set of clamps, and the overlap with Woodcraft isn't complete since Woodcraft is selling 41"'ers while LV is selling 50"'ers, but

LV: 2-24" + 2-50" + shipping to your door = 98.50 WC: 2-24" + 2-41" + your gas = 97.00 + your gas

Given the present world we live in, LV won and the clamps are bigger.

JK

[Dan]

On Sun 02 Oct 2005 08:49:07a, "James T. Kirby" wrote in news:dhoogj$nii$ [e-mail]:

The Madison WI woodcraft isn't that far away and they're doing a woodworking show this weekend, so I went out Saturday and bought two of each. Plus one foot mat.

I was talking to the sales guy and he says the sale lasts until the end of the month "or until this pile is gone, whichever comes first".

I say, "How many were there yesterday when you opened the show?" He says, "About twice this many. Actually a little more'n that." "Ah. And how many have you sold since you opened ten minutes ago?" "Counting yours? About eight I think."

"And the sale lasts a month OR until this here pile is gone." "Yep."

We both had a good chuckle about that and then moved on.

[Ken Kupsche]

Just an FYI - We remember the Adjustable Clamp sale better than most of you do, and it's not deja vue all over again. Stores are reordering after the initial draw and we'll be honoring all catalog and internet sales placed during the promotion (til the end of the month). Bessey has promised us full support on this one. Right now we have plenty of stock to cover ourselves.

As for Madison, my guess is that the guy you spoke to didn't realize that more were already on order.

Ken Corporate Shill

[bf]

Depends on what you want. I only want 24" ones now (got plenty of the longer ones). Bought five 24" on the woodcraft sale from the internet. Shipping was about $11 or $12, (about what sales tax would've been). Also, if you order over $100 on the web, they give you a free subscription to their magazine. Hopefully the woodcraft website will honor the order, otherwise, I'll check out Lee Valley, I guess. I do appreciate the news of it, but since I have over 40 K-bodies (and about

35 pipe clamps) already, I really don't "need" any more.

It's personal preference. If I was forced to buy a set with longer clamps, I'd rather have the 41" than the 50". 90% of the time, I'm gluing something narrower than 24". It's kind of a pain having the extra length sticking out.

[bf]

Thanks for the update Ken. My local store was sold out, and I can definitely understand that they told me to check back later, but there were no guarantees. (I wouldn't want to be the salesman that promised there would be more Besseys only to have the guy come back and the clamps are sold out again). Nice to know that the web order is going to be filled for sure. Thanks.

[Gary]

I ordered 2 sets of the 24 and 50 inchers from LV on Sunday afternoon. I got an email today (Tuesday) that they just shipped FedEx and should arrive at my home in Virginia Thursday. Total cost = $190.00 ($23.75 per clamp delivered)

Seems like a good deal to me.

Gary

[loutent]

Hi Gary,

That's a great deal. I ordered 2 of the 12/24 sets (LV) last week on Thursday and got them Saturday (FedEx). $162 for 8 Bessey's ($20.25 ea with shipping).

Don't get much better than that.

Ordering more later this month.

Building a new clamp rack to accomodate.

Fun stuff!

Lou

[Gary]

More fun stuff...

Seems that we both got (4) 25" clamps. I got (4) 50", you got (4) 12".

$190 - $162 = $28. That's only a $7 difference per clamp between a 12" and a 50".

I suppose it all depends on what you have a use for.

You can use a 50" clamp in most cases where a 12" one would do, albeit clumsy. But you can never use a 12" where a13" to 50" clamp is called for.

Sorry, I keep having these brain farts.

Gary

[LRod]

Maybe so, but in 100 opportunities to use a 50" K-body on a 13" clamping project, at least 99 times you will seek an alternative method. Clumsy doesn't begin to describe it.

As someone who went through an entire education experience (and 100s of $) refining the clamp acquisition process, I can assure you of several things:

24" clamps are the best choice for your initial purchase.

At some point you will be happy to have a couple of 40" clamps.

At some further point you will be happy to have a couple of 50" clamps.

At some point you will be happy to have a couple of 12" clamps.

Clamps must be bought in pairs to avoid upsetting the balance of the universe. It's just wrong to have an odd number of clamps.

You will be unable to resist clamp purchases at bargain prices until sometime past the two dozen mark.

You will continue to yearn for more clamps even after three dozen, but you will find it easier to resist buying them.

[Scott]

Why would one buy 40" inch clamps? Wouldn't one be better off buying the

50's? I can't see where 10" more would be a hindrance.

[David]

I always use the shortest clamps I can. It's a nuisance to have clamps sticking out every which way. YMMV.

Dave

[else24]

Yeah, I'll ditto that. In fact it's more than a nuisance, after ducking under and walking around the thing for the whole time and then right about when you're done, you turn around and stab yourself in the solar plexus with one of those things. Once you've done one whole glue-up with the right size clamps everywhere, the little light bulb goes off. "Hey. This is a whole lot more fun!"

It's definitely doable but I still don't have enough clamps.

[George]

Or step back from one and gore yourself on another.

Or try to set the several clamp-ups aside and have them tipping over because of the long leverage on the big clamps.

[LRod]

See in this paragraph:

My first set of K-bodies was bought using the now discredited thinking that "you can clamp 12 with a 40 but not 40 with a 12." And 40 seemed a better choice than 50 at that point (I can't even recall if 50s were available to me then). On virtually my very first glue up I discovered what the other poster described, including the jab in the solar plexus. I immediately ordered a couple (or more) 24" clamps.

It wasn't until much later that I had a need for something greater than 40" so then I got a couple of 50". I've since added several 40s and a whole lot of 24s. Still only have two 50s, I think.

Further to the hinderance, you're right--10" wouldn't be much of a hindrance if you were using your 50"s to clamp a 39" project. But if you were clamping a 32" project (too big for any 31"ers you might have) you'd be a whole lot happier having 8" sticking out from the glueup than 18". And if you didn't have 31s and were trying to clamp up a 25" job, you'd have two feet of bars waiting to attack you all around the work area instead of 15", so, yes, that extra 10" can be significant.

[David]

If someone would invent a Bessy K body-like clamp that weighed much less, I'd pay a premium. I started buying their lighter and shorter version (gray plastic). can't remember their name.

Dave

[loutent]

Hi LRod,

I totally agree.

I have a bunch of pipes and a few Bessey's (well, 12 so far,

4-12's, 6-24's and 2-40's). I seem to use the 24's most often, but since I picked up the 12's just a week ago (LV), I have used them twice already.

It's not always about size.

I would like to pick up another bunch of 12's and 24's - and maybe a couple of 40's & 50's before the end of the month.

SWMBO is looking askance at the moment...

:-(

Lou

[George]

Well said. Now what exactly were you referring to?

[Bill Davis Jr]

Well I did it. I order my first set of Bessey clamps from LV.

I ordered 2 sets of 25/50. This weekend I may drive down to my local Woodcraft and see about getting some more 25's and a couple 40's.

Bill

[loutent]

Welcome to the "club" ...it will go on and on...it's an obsession.

The Bessey's will change your concept of what a good clamp should be. Using them is like handling a fine piece of machinery - plus they actually help to do a better glue-up.

You poor bastard!

Happy clamping.

Lou