Bessey Revo Clamp Handles

[tablesawtom]

Thank you both for the short video on how to wrap the handle as well as where to get it. Most helpful. It will be much easier to wrap my handles once than having to find my pieces of drawer liner.

Tom

[MarkSingleton]

Didn't know about the tape spinning, though I have used things that, now that I think about it, must
have been taped that way. Learn something every day.

Bottom line, I ordered some red hockey tape from the Amazon link posted above. It's even red to match
the clamps, so what more could a person want.

[Handplanesandmore]

The spin Rob shows is one way used by some hockey players (there're at least two other ways....check youtube videos).

Whichever way you choose, the hockey tape adds friction. (For me, none of them which I've all tried made a difference, and they all improved the gripping.)

Simon

[Tapper]

Didn't know about the tape spinning, though I have used things that, now that I think about it, must
have been taped that way.  Learn something every day.

Bottom line, I ordered some red hockey tape from the Amazon link posted above. It's even red to match
the clamps, so what more could a person want.

I also ordered a roll of the same tape for my older Bessey clamps with wooden handles. Sometimes it's not an imperfect joint, it can be the "nature" of the joint. A couple of years ago I built a set of base cabinets for the shop. Material for the boxes was particle board and I used glue and biscuits for the joints. Those joints aren't always the easiest to pull tight. My newer Bessey clamps with the larger "rubberish" handles worked pretty good. The wooden handles not so much; required a little more pressure and were not as comfortable to work with.

Hope the tape helps.

Doug

[AHill]

My older ones (with the red slippery wood handles) all have either the Rockler foam grip or some friction tape wrapped around them.  I agree the newer handles would be nice to have on all the clamps, but like you said...it ain't easy or cheap to do.

Or, you could go the Rob Cosman route and wrap the handles with hockey grip tape.  I agree with the others, though.  No need to crank so hard on the handle.  Too much pressure can result in too much glue squeezout, starving the joint of glue.

[Tapper]

Or, you could go the Rob Cosman route and wrap the handles with hockey grip tape.  I agree with the others, though.  No need to crank so hard on the handle.  Too much pressure can result in too much glue squeezout, starving the joint of glue.

Question: How many on this forum have had joints fail because you cranked too hard on the Bessey clamps and all the glue squeezed out?

Doug

[lincmercguy]

"Question: How many on this forum have had joints fail because you cranked too hard on the Bessey clamps and all the glue squeezed out?"

Never happened to me. I had some fail in my early days due to me not putting enough glue on it or not getting a good flat gluing surface. I have long since learned.

[TGW]

I have a few dozen besey forged F cramps of the larger sort which were tightened using some sort of machine in their former life at Nautor. All the screws and the inside threads in theheads wore out quickly because of the excessive thread pressure.
My plan is to make new screws from standard acme threaded rod. Cut off the nut end of the heads and weld on a new acme nut. If I ever find the time to do it.
The cramps were free anyway.

So the conclusion is that no cramp should be tightened harder than a man of less than average strenght or a reasonably strong woman can do by hand using the wooden handle.
However there are the old and the reumathic and the artritic and a number or nerologic and muscular diseases and last but not least an increasing number of small women whose hands are just not large enoughl to get a good grip on a wooden cramp handle. It would be unfair to stick to practises that prevent them from working wood. Therefore I applaud Bessey for adding a hex head to their cramp handles.
However the rest of us must keep in mind never ever to use that hex head.

[Handplanesandmore]

A) In practice, starved glue joints happen because not enough glue is put in the first place (eg in miter end grains) not because of overclamping. Don't blame the tools.

B) I dont think the idea of putting hex bolts on the Jorg clamps arose because some designer had the old and weak wrists in mind. It, and other handle design changes, were more a response to people wanting to overclamp either to correct a poor joinery work or because of habits/common practice).

Simon

[fredhargis]

Doug, I've always tightened clamps as much as I could, and I've never had a joint fail....good question.