Works Good, Lasts Long Time.....

Don Taylor

Former Member (by the member's request)
Messages
1,287
Hey! These X-Stender's For Bessey K-Body Clamps really work great! :thumb:

http://www.ptreeusa.com/besseyK_body.htm (Scroll Down ;) )

At $15 it sure beats the stuffin' out of buying a $100+ clamp to get the right length. :)

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DT
 
Thanks for the report on these Don. I had my eye on them and will probably pick a couple up. Glad they work well. :thumb:
 
That will work GOOD, "IF" you have the new Bessy's that have the hole in the end of the bar, but all of mine are the old style and will have to be drilled, and I'll bet that will be a real BEAR to drill in that super hard bar, whatchya tink? :dunno: I have done something similar with my Jorgys and a home-made rig, (since the Jorgy's always had the hole). You're right that it is cost effective, especially since the really long ones aren't used all that much anyhow.
 
A cobalt bit might do the trick, then the only problem would be getting it in the right place!
 
That will work GOOD, "IF" you have the new Bessy's that have the hole in the end of the bar, but all of mine are the old style and will have to be drilled, and I'll bet that will be a real BEAR to drill in that super hard bar, whatchya tink? :dunno: I have done something similar with my Jorgys and a home-made rig, (since the Jorgy's always had the hole). You're right that it is cost effective, especially since the really long ones aren't used all that much anyhow.

That's bad luck Norman. :doh:
I'll make you a deal, order just one if you want them and use it to measure your holes for drilling. If it doesn't work I'll buy it from you. :thumb:
I imagine drilling those holes will be a real pain.
I figure when the 40/24 packages goes on sale again I'll get one of them and two extenders. That would be two of the LONG clamps for half price. :rofl:

I saw these on the "other" forum quite some time ago. It took a while for me to finally make the decision to get them. One thing that was mentioned about making your own was these have the grooves in them that fit the shaft of the Bessey. One can pick up the two clamps at either end and there is no sag. That would take some experienced metal work to accomplish in a home shop.

I have no affiliation, I just enjoy finding out that a tool was worth the money. :eek:

DT
 
That's going to be one strong table base Don.

Thanks Allen It is really a blast to see what this doweling setup will allow me to do. I've had to add 40" to the long (desk) side and bring the shelving support around the corner and down 20". I had myself sitting and stareing at the fuse box rather than out the window like I wanted. :rofl: :rofl:

One of you fellers could build this thing the way I am doing it in a weekend or so. I am intolerabably SLOW!:dunno: But it is coming together and I can look at it when it's finished and know I did it myself. That's what it's all about. I just hope the finished product resembles the picture in my head. :huh: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
The corner will have shelves from window to window on both walls. Same exact construction but with 1X stock (Using the 1/4" DowelMax setup). If I am lucky, I'll have small parts drawers along the bottom of the shelves.

DT


DT
 
That is great Don.............. now if I just had some Bessys....... :rolleyes:

Hi Stu,
I would be willing to bet if you don't have Bessey's you have something equal or better. (Probably made them yourself :eek:) I've been watching you there in Japan Land. I haven't noticed anything yet that you can't do!!! :thumb:

DT
 
Thanks Don, I hadn't seen these before. I use a bolt to fix two together when I need an extra long clamp now, the drawback is that the bolt allows them to pivot in the middle making them a bit awkward. Those look like they keep everything stiff and aligned making the extended clamp a lot easer to handle.

Drilling a hole in the bar shouldn't be a problem for the older clamps without the hole, the bars are nothing exotic or extra hard. I just looked at one and see lots of dings and dents, they appear to be just mild steel, which makes sense. If the bar was hardened then they wouldn't lock very well. A standard high speed steel drill bit will work just fine, just center punch and start with a small bit working in steps up to the proper size. A bit of cutting oil would help also.

The most important issue is to get the hole properly positioned and centered to match the extender. This isn't as hard as it sounds, just slip the extender onto the clap bar and center punch it with a proper size transfer punch which will give you a perfectly centered and positioned punch mark to start with.

If you don't have a set of transfer punches I'd recommend a set to everyone. A cheap set from HF is only about $10 and you'll find 1000s of uses for them. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3577 While originally for metalworking, transfer punches are very Handy in woodworking too. They work very well whenever you want to center punch a hole or slot and have the punch mark perfectly centered. They are great for deep holes as well as or shallow ones or even slots in both metal and wood.

Mike
 
I meant to post this hours ago. The sun was shining and the shop was calling. :rofl:
I actually got something done. :eek:

Here is what came with it:

X-Tender001.jpg


DT
 
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