That cheap clamp I bought off Amazon finally split on me

I picked up one of those 10 dollar 4-inch C-clamps from a random seller last spring and used it on a boiler tube alignment job yesterday... it snapped right in half and scraped the tube surface. I'm out the cost of the clamp plus another 40 for a replacement tube end. Has anyone else had luck with the Bessey clamps holding up to torch work?

2 comments

2 Comments

hart.zara15d ago

Used to be all about saving cash on clamps, honestly. Thought Bessey was just hype. Then I had a cheap clamp's coating melt into a clean aluminum joint I was heating. Spent an hour with a file getting that gunk off. Not worth the headache.

wendy_clark16d ago

That 40 dollar tube end is the real kicker, isn't it? I've got a buddy who swears by those Bessey clamps for torch work, but he's had two of the smaller ones warp after repeated heat exposure. One thing people might not think about is the finish on the clamp itself - some cheap ones have a coating that can melt or flake off right onto your metal when you're heating nearby, which is a whole separate headache. I'd rather pay a little more upfront than deal with that mess and the extra cleanup time.