It appears that this business, that stopped production last year, has been sold to a Chinese company and will resume operations soon.
While I don't like that it is Chinese owned, IMHO the Cabinet Master clamps were the best of their kind. Perhaps they will once again continue to be.
Any particular reasons? I am only familiar with the original Bessey red square clamps. The Pony Cabinet Master and Bessy red clamps look pretty similar, except color.
IIRC, the Bessey parallel clamps were more expensive. I had a chance to buy some of the Pony's cheap but I wanted all my clamps to be the same (I already had Besseys). These days, HD has a pretty good price on at least a few of the sizes of the Besseys.
On 6/6/2017 8:28 PM, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:
I own the Revo Bessey, the Jorgenson Cabinet Master and the Jet "K" style clamps.
The Cabinet Masters simply slide much more easily than the Jet and the Bessey. The Cabinet Masters are tougher built than the Bessey, the plastic part. The Bessey clamps have a bunch of broken plastic edges none of the Cabinet Master or Jet's do. Yes I dropped them but I have dropped them all. The Cabinet Master and Jets have larger clamping surfaces. The Cabinet Masters and Jets have an adjustable foot to keep it level. Good for short work surfaces. IIRC the original Bessey did not at all. My Revo Bessy clamps have a foot but it is either attached at the end of the bar or not on the clamp at all. My Cabinet Masters have large wooden handles, my fingers don't over lap like they do on the Bessey. The Jet handles have many flat sides and are larger still, a little too large for me. The jets have one advantage that I like, a release lever that holds the clamp in place so that it does not simply slide up and down the bar. BUT the Jets are made out of a harder plastic and will leave an impression on the wood surface or edge, either the Bessey or Cabinet Masters do that. I will say that the Bessey and Cabinet Master have silkier feeling screws than the Jet, they seem to clamp more smoothly when twisting/tightening the handle. A note about that if there is no lubrication where the end for the screw meets the larger washer clamping surface inside the clamp a lot of friction can develop and prevent a smooth clamping action when tightening. If found all Jets to be dry to begin with. The Cabinet Master and Bessey seemed to be properly lubricated initially.
Both the Bessey and Jet clamps can be a bit crotchety at times compared to the Cabinet Masters.
I bought my Cabinet Masters for less than $20 each, all 10 of them. The Jets I paid full price for the first pair and got the remaining 4 as a kit as a discount. All but 1 of the 7 Bessey clamps were given as a gift. I won the 7th.
IIRC, the Bessey clamp bars sit lower on the table. If you have a Bessey on each end of a project and want to add a Cabinet Master or a Jet in the middle you have to raise the project to insert the clamp/clamps. Not a big deal if you remember to put the other two brands near the ends FIRST and decide to add Bessey or the other brands in between, later.
BUT the Jets are made out of a harder
Replace "either" with neither above.
Sorry, I confused the Ponys for the Jets. It was the Jets that were on sale about five years back.
When I get into gluing, I always have enough problems to worry about. ;-)
Well, there goes Easy Wood Tools, which was acquired by the adjustable clamp company a year or so ago.
Easy Wood Tools has not stopped production. This was addressed by the original guy that started Easy Tools last year IIRC.
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