How to unstick a stuck K-Body

[LRod]

There are no instructions because K-Bodies don't stick.

LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[Leon]

Apparently they do as someone one has mentioned that already. '

[LRod]

Hmmm. One in a row. After what? Fifteen years in distribution? Compared to dozens of instances with the CMs after less than two years.

LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[Leon]

Actually Tom Murry indicated the same problem with a k-body.

I had one that was stuck for about 6 - 7 months. Tried every screwdriver/leverage trick I could think of. (It had worked with a Bessey that had the same problem.) I finally got it free by tapping the end (not the base of the clamp, the end with the black removeable stopper) on a concrete floor several times. Each time it became a little looser and finally ... ta da ... it was like getting a new clamp.

--[ Tom ]--

[LRod]

You can spin it however you want. K-Bodies don't have that design flaw. Cabinet Masters are an inferior product.

I'm done. I made my point.

LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[Leon]

Yeah I am sure he is absolutely the only one that has that problem.

[Leon]

What point? ;~) The point that you still ignore facts?

[Mike in Mystic]

I have 10 K-bodies, and now, thanks to woodcraft, 24 of the cabinet masters. Sure, if you get your clamp stuck it's a pain, but that doesn't make them an inferior product. If used properly, and I did a side-by-side comparison myself the other day, the cabinet masters have some clear advantages. I'm not going to throw away my k-bodies or anything, of course.

First, the clamping surface is bigger, which gives some obvious advantages. I suppose there might be a few instances were a smaller clamp might be useful, but not very often. Second, the clamp head on the cabinet master can be reversed and used as a spreader. This will definitely come in handy, I'm sure. The k-bodies cannot do this. Third, the sliding head on the cabinet masters are slightly raised up when you sit the clamp on it's edge (the fixed clamp and the end fixture are extended slightly). This allows you to slide the clamp and then tighten without having to lift the clamp and the work. This is the biggest and most significant advantage of the cabinet masters relative to the k-bodies. There have been DOZENS of instances when I was clamping with the k-body and had to adjust the clamp position and in doing so shifted the parts and had to screw around to align them again before applying clamping pressure. The cabinet masters are the clear winners in this regard. Finally, the cabinet masters are made of JUST as good of materials as the k-bodies and I see no reason why they won't hold up for just as long. I've heard reports that k-bodies can develop some "fatigue" in the clamping mechanism after years of use, whereby the lifting action you use to tighten the clamp begins to fail (I have not experienced this myself). I only point this out to say that k-bodies aren't without fault.

So, there you have it. They are both excellent clamps and work exceptionally well. In sum comparison, however, I think the cabinet masters are clearly better clamps and contain not just superficial improvement to the k-bodies, but actual design refinements, that will make them very versatile and enjoyable tools to use for many years.

Mike

[LRod]

It's not that I hate American Clamping or Jorgensen. I do have a bunch of K-Bodies that I love and I know that Jorgensen is a well respected brand of clamps and the only ones to buy if you get pipe clamps. Having said that...

Uh, excuse me, but, yes it does. K-Bodies don't do that.

Well, let's discuss that.

Uh, well call me slow, but what are the obvious advantages? In all the years I've had K-Bodies I don't ever recall wishing I had a bigger clamping surface. So, there's no advantage there.

That really doesn't mean anything. You're buying into the assertion that the bigger clamping surface has some advantage, an undemonstrated claim, and then turning it around to say that a clamping surface not as big is some sort of handicap. Nonsense. No advantage there.

If I EVER have need of a spreader (undiscovered in >40 years of woodworking so far) I can go buy a CM or even one of the reversible QuickGrips. I don't have to base the acquisition of my entire clamping inventory on the ability to accomodate the extremely rare instance of needing a spreaing clamp. But apparently it's a feature that the marketing department can turn heads with. No advantage there.

Nope, they can't. They can't open cans of tuna, either. That's about as useful a feature as the spreading.

I think you are talking about the little black thing on the end of the bar. If I ever needed that feature (which I haven't found the need for yet) I would just slip a piece of wood under the bar. Again, like the spreading, not a feature that gets a lot of use,

I'll concede that for your purposes, that's apparently an important feature, and in the sense that the CMs have them and the K-Bodies don't, there is an advantage to the CM. Clear winner? That's a little strong.

That may be. They just don't go together the same way, which apparently leads to the well known and widespread problem of head seizures.

Actually, longevity has never been an argument for either, that I recall.

Come on. I've been on the Wreck for a long time and I've been around other woodworking fora for a long time as well, not to mention the fact that I've been a K-Body owner for some time, as well. I have yet to hear the first such tale. Provide me a legitimate cite for such an instance. Of course, to back up your claim of "reports" (plural) you'll need more than one citation.

I'll await your citations for the previous claim before I even remotely concede that point.

Except for the CMs and that head jamming thing.

Well, I added up the "advantages" you cited, and I have yet to see that they are "clearly better clamps." And the sticking head is a hugely significant disadvantage.

If all of you CM aficionados want to cast a blind eye to the flawed design and claim that the CM is a superior clamp to the K-Body, feel free. In the meantime, every time I take a K-Body off the assembly and let the head slide down to the fixed jaw as I walk it over to the rack I will think of you. See, that will conclude my use of the K-Body for that session. If you do that with a CM you're likely to still have several minutes with a screwdriver ahead of you. That's a fact.

When I said "Cabinet Masters are an inferior product," I meant that Cabinet Masters may be decent clamps but they have a design flaw that renders them inferior to the competition. I stand by that sentiment.

LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[Leon]

Uh LRod you beat any one I haver seen... You ignore what you don't like to hear or see and constantly look the other way. I pointed out and you acknowledged that the k-body clamps will in fact get stuck shut. Perhaps you have not experienced that yet but it apparently does happen.

Ok...your slow. L a r g e r C l a m p i n g S u r f a c e s are less likely to mar, dent, or imprint softer woods AND reach farther, just to name the obvious. Why do you like k-bodies over standard pipe clamps.... See the reasoning here? Bigger clamping surface.....

Probably not to you, but to the average ww'er it would be.

Again your obviously don't see the advantage.

It is an included benefit of the Cabinet Master clamps.

Come on now LRod, k-bodies are good clamps, just not the only ones in the spot light anymore.

How long have you been woodworking? Have you actually used the k-bodies or a bar clamp? This is a VERY common problem with bar style clamps... Stop looking the other way LRod. You dont understand,,,right?

Not the same as a board under ine end. It moves with the clamp and if you had that on you clamp you would use it almost always when you set the clamps on the table and put wood on top.

I know that you don't believe magazine reviews, but GS, Bessy and the Cabinet Master clamps were all compared in Wood Magazine a bit over a year ago. There was no smoke and mirrors. Cabinet Master came out on top.

OK, the CM clamps will get stuck.. If you are careless and drop them in a certain way or let the handle slide from one end to the other with full force. You can get them unstuck much faster than say, removing a blade from a Bosch jigsaw that has the combination lock style release.

I'll concede that I have never heard of a problem with k-bodies other than with this post and the one that point out that the k-body had stuck like the CM.

Mine have stuck one time in 18 months... used 3 to 4 times a week....

Um why would you let your clamp slam shut like that....

See, that will conclude my use of the K-Body for that session. If you do that with a CM you're likely to still have

No LRod, you are getting that confused with the blade change set up on your jig saw. It takes longer to get the screw driver than to open the jaw if you ever let it happen again.

If that makes you fell better about your commitment and investment in k-bodies, that's all that counts.

The rest of us that do "know" will be happy with out thoughts also.

[MSgeek]

I has happened to me on two of my kbodies. One I had to send back. The CM's have gotten stuck as well but I have gotten them all unstuck! Also the bessey clamp mechanism broke on me when applying pressure.

My book?

[Mike in Mystic]

I've always been under the impression that being able to distribute clamping pressure over a larger surface area is a good thing. Why do you use more than just one clamp to edge glue a table top? The CM's jaws aren't just wider, they're taller. Clearly a benefit.

Well, I might have only been woodworking about 5 years, but I've already used spreaders on several occassions. Sure, it isn't something I need every day, but having good clamps that I could use in that capacity isn't a bad thing, is it? I was merely pointing out that the CM have this ability, something the k-bodies don't.

That is only part of it, and you're not understanding my description entirely. With k-bodies, if you set your work on the bar and need to adjust the clamp position, you have to lift the clamp and the workpiece. Most of the time you can get the clamp close enough before you put the work down, but I commonly have to move it. With heavy workpieces, or tricky alignment issues, lifting the clamp to do this is difficult or causes the parts to shift. The CM's allow you to slide the head without lifting anything. Both ends (not just the black thingie side) are on the work surface, but the sliding jaw isn't. I hope you can see what I mean.

Ok, maybe "reports" was the wrong way to put it. Here's the link to what I was talking about:

I said, I've never experienced this, and I concede this story is at a merchant site, so who knows what motivation there is behind it.

I understand the sticking head problem, and I agree it can be a problem for the CM. That being said, it seems to happen in two main ways. 1) someone is trying to cause the lock just to see for themselves if it really happens and 2) someone misuses the clamp (i.e. drops it on the floor or let's the jaws slam together. I usually treat my clamps as well as my power tools, and I've never dropped a k-body yet, so I don't see myself doing that with the CM's.

Looking past this flaw in the CM, and comparing the actual PERFORMANCE of the CM vs. the k-body for clamping purposes, the innovations that the CM provides give it a clear edge in my book. But, hey, opinions are like a$$holes, so we all should stock up on a lot of Scott towlet tissue hehe.

Mike

[alexy]

I just got my CMs from the sale, and am wondering aobut all this hoopla about the sticking head "major design flaw". Wouldn't a quick turn on the screws before putting them away allow for that turn back out to relieve the clamping pressure holding them shut if they do get stuck? If so, then this "major design flaw" is in my opinion a "minor design oversight".

Gotta chuckle at the religious wars over clamps. Sounds like the OS debate!!

You got that right.

[Leon]

IIRC, the Cabinet Masters have a lifetime warranty. In the link concerning the Fatigue Syndrome, I am surprised that the k-bodies don't or if they do, that the pro wood worker did not have them replaced.

[Leon]

Well they normally only get stuck if you let them quickly slide shut by accident. You may not have time to loosen the handle, if that even works, before the clamp slams shut. ;~) Another poster indicated that tightening the clamp screw all the way prevents this. I have not tried this as that would seem to be over kill in prevention... You will likely let it happen once like I did and then take care not to let it happen again. Its kinda like learning not to drop any other decent tool. Just remember to pry the square bar away from the round bar in the bottom of the sliding clamp with a screw driver if it ever happens to you. Enjoy.

Yeah.... ;~)

[Mike in Mystic]

I emailed Adjustable Clamp Co. and asked them about their warranty. Here's the response I received (very promptly, I might add):

"All of our products carry a one year warranty covering faulty workmanship or materials. However, we stand behind our products 100%. If you should encounter any problems after one year, just contact our Customer Service department and we will help resolve the matter."

So, no lifetime warranty, I'm afraid. I'm still waiting to hear from Bessey with their answer to the same question.

Mike

[Leon]

Ah, I stand corrected.. thanks.