Bessey’s Maxis VarioPivot clamping system extends the versatility of your bar clamps by attaching them to your bench, somewhat like the previously covered VersaClamp.  It works best with Bessey’s K-Body Clamps, but they claim the system works with other bar or pipe clamps too.

The two C-clamp-like ends attach to your bench top and capture any length of bar clamp between them. The clamps fit into rotating holders which can lock the bar clamp at any angle between 0 to 270°.  The holders rest in an L-shaped track, which allows you to position the bar clamp along the side of the bench or over the work surface.

The Maxis VarioPivot Clamping system comes with the two c-clamp ends and runs about $50. You’ll need to provide your own bar clamp.

Bessey Tools [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

It’s not slight of hand; it’s a magnet. Wave Bessey’s MagWand over your swarf (metal shavings and waste) and poof! It’s gone — well, at least from the work surface. Now it’s stuck to the MagWand.

This 22″ long magnetic wand attracts up to 12 lbs. of magnetic metal waste so you don’t have to pick it up by hand and risk cutting yourself. You can wave or roll the wand over your work surfaces. To dispose of the waste, pull back the sliding magnetic insert and the waste will fall into the scrap bin.

You’ll pay somewhere in the $30 to $45 range for Bessey’s MagWand. Has anyone tried a less-expensive homebrew model?

MagWand [Bessey Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Ron’s Home and Hardware is selling this Bessey Ratchet Strap Clamp for $4.19.  It’ll clamp all manner of work, with or without the supplied corner pieces.

Bessey Ratchet Strap Clamp [Ron's Home and Hardware]
Street Pricing [Google]

OxArc is selling the Bessey WMS-3 Compact Magnetic Square for $5.  With 55 lbs of pull, it’ll work for a variety of setups when welding — at this price there’s no reason to suffer with a cheap import when you can get a US-made one.

Bessey Compact Magnetic Square [OxArc]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you’re building fine furniture, you probably won’t want Bessey’s timber framing clamp — unless you’re really into the distressed look.  See, in place of a fixed jaw these clamps have a spike you drive into the wood.  They’re definitely meant for framing applications where a few gashes won’t be noticed.

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If you thought one adjustable jaw on a spring clamp was good, does that mean two are better?  Bessey must think so because they’re introducing a spring clamp in the VarioClippix line with two adjustable jaws.

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If you need to clamp something in a hard-to-reach place, Bessey’s got your back with their Clippix needle-nose spring clamps.  The clamp’s long, tapered nose reaches into deep or confined spaces, and the soft-touch pads provide a firm grip without marring the workpiece.

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Often times a vice just doesn’t cut it when you’re trying to machine an odd-shaped piece.  If you’ve got T-slots in your table, you have a lot more options — for instance, you could slide in Bessey’s RiteHite hold-downs.

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This neat little accessory from Bessey turns a bar clamp into an edge clamp, and it’s cheaper than buying one of their standalone edge clamps.  You can even perform operations that you could never do with a standalone edge clamp, like clamp pieces off-center or attach multiple edge clamps to a single bar to distribute the force on wider pieces.

Made in Germany, Bessey’s single-spindle edge-clamp add-on secures to the bar of most bar clamps with a T-knob.  Street pricing starts at $8.

Edge Clamps [Bessey]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Riddle time: What do you get when you cross a set of vice-grips with a clamp?  Answer: A clamp that strips the hell out of your workpiece — well, maybe if you don’t use the optional protective pads.  But no, you get a kick-ass fast-action clamp with a throat depth of 2-1/2″ that can provide 660 lbs of clamping force.

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Woodcraft is having what they dub a “blowout” on Bessey clamps. Sunday car-sales pitches aside, they’re knocking about ten bucks off the larger Bessey clamps they have in stock, like 24” and 40” K-body clamps.

The clamps feature steel jaws and a non-marring, glue-resistant casing. It’s a “while supplies last” type of thing, so either they’re trying to get rid of overstock or Bessey is coming out with a new model soon and they don’t want these hanging around taking up space. Either way you can save a few bucks on some big clamps and add to the collection in the shop.

Bessey K-Body Clamps Sale [Woodcraft]

The Bessey WS angle clamps differ quite a bit from your standard corner clamps. They’re designed to hold, fix, and align material at a 90° angle, and they adjust to variations in wood thickness. They also feature a slot in the clamp, so you can drive fasteners in the joint while the glue’s drying, without the entire piece shifting.

They look pretty handy for furniture assembly and framing, plus they’re pretty small so you can throw them in a drawer or toolbox when they aren’t needed. We can definitely see ourselves taking advantage of the added slot in the clamp. If you think you need these, you might have to hurry, though — we’ve heard a rumor that Bessey’s going to discontinue them soon.

WS Angle Clamp [Coastal Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

Bessey’s irregular angle clamp solves one of the most frustrating problems in building staircases: clamping two pieces of wood together when they’re not joined at a 90-degree angle.  Standard bar clamps either can’t get a grip (or will mar the finish), and strap clamps don’t hold well enough.  But the Bessey’s ball-and-socket clamping surface adjusts from 15 to 180 degrees to hold perfectly.

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I love the “compactness” of folding lockback utility knives — I’ve been carrying a Superknife model for some time now — but they’re often missing one feature common on standard utility knives: spare blade storage.  Luckily, a number of manufacturers offer blade storage without overly enlarging the knife, including clamp-maker Bessey.  Yep, we were surprised, too.

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Bessey claims these are “America’s favorite woodworking clamp,” and indeed we have seen a number of these clamps appear on various woodworking shows.  We don’t have any personal experience with them (yet), but they look pretty slick  Their large, flat jaws are encased in “super-polyamid” — a plastic-like material that’s supposedly non-marring and glue resistant, yet strong enough to prove durable.  A cold-drawn, profiled steel rail makes holds those jaws together, and a set-screw-based locking system locks them down.

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We’ve got a ton of spring clamps in the clamp drawer, but when we saw Bessey’s VarioClippix today it caught our attention.  It’s a spring clamp, but one jaw is adjustable, moving up and down a support bar that’s angled to keep the jaws parallel throughout the adjustable range.

Bessey also notes that unlike other spring clamps, the VarioClippix can clamp with varying force; By setting the jaw opening larger than the item to be clamped, you reduce the clamping force.

The VarioClippix has soft jaws to avoid marring your clamped object, and soft handles to go easier on your hands.  Street pricing starts around $10 for individual clips, and we found some 8-piece sets via Froogle for around $50.

The VarioClippix [Bessey Tools North America]
Street Pricing [Froogle]

When you’re fabricating, you need clamps — lots of clamps.  They play a key part in the process: design it, measure it, cut it, clamp it, weld it, finish it.  Locking grip type clamps are great for quickly clamping an item to the welding table, but sometimes you just need more distance between the jaws. 

The most common tool used in those cases is a C-clamp, but it stinks to wear out your arm cranking (and cranking and cranking) to get one set for your needs.  Bessey’s clamp, however, features a slidingarm that lets you quickly position it close to the size you need, then crank to provide gripping force.  They claim it’s “9 times faster than a C-clamp,” and we’d tend to agree.

Bessey’s clamps are drop-forged and electro-galvanized for durability and feature a heat-treated, high carbon threaded screw to resist welding splatter.  They come in medium-duty, regular-duty, and extra-heavy-duty flavors ranging in size from 8″ to 60″ (nominal opening) and can be found on the street for between $15 and $300.

Heat Treated Steel Sliding Arm Clamp [Bessey]
Street Pricing [Froogle]