I decided to stock up on clamps last week, and thats when I discovered BESSEY has redesigned their Revo parallel clamps,

Old style are models KR3.5xx. And new style (which began shipping early April 2018) are krE3.5xx
The new ones are better, and I will not be buying the old style clamps unless they go on NS-4-real clearance

I haven’t found a single word on this anywhere online, but I got my info from Bessey, after buying several hundred dollars worth old style & about the same of the improved version from several Home Depot stores in my area.

I subsequently RETURNED the inferior Revo clamps and exchanged for KRE clamps by running all over hells-half acre to nearly every Home depot store in my area, and I’m writing this in hopes that I can start spreading the word

That being:
Unscrupulous business practice.

Bessey, put the word out as you should have before shipping out the new & improved models, & either pull your old stock, or put them on clearance.
Updating your product info on your webpage would be a good idea as well

New clamps have increased clamping force.
& its not just greater max force, its greater pressure throughout the range
(I.e. these are not commensurate with KR model revos, & I would prefer not mix them on a single glue up)

2200lbs vs 1500lbs is a big difference in many applications.

Also, new style clamps have hex socket in handle, & long 6mm hex in a cordless drill/impact works amazingly well

Overall clamp action feel seems different, but these are all new clamps so ???

What else? Logo/emblem and color are different (new = bright red)

Home Depot has same SKU for both versions, as does several other Bessey dealers whom I checked with.

I just purchased one old version and one new version at Home Depot without realizing there was a difference until I got home. The new version is superior in my opinion. The mechanics allow for the jaws to stay open when the clamp is vertical.

Trying to post some pictures

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Nils, I hope you return the “obsolete” clamp you were sold (at full price)

I had accumulated 13 of the old model clamps, & spent at least a full day and a full tank of fuel running all over SW Florida in order to exchange for KRE model clamps.
While HD will easily accept returns/exchanges, The lost time & fuel expense is just that: lost...

I don’t know about you, but the more I think about this, the more pissed-off I become.

Why would a manufacturer spend God-only-knows how much developing new product, release & ship that new product, but not say a word about it...

There’s only one logical reason!
So they can sell off as many of the old ones as possible, at full price, Thus SCREWING their fiercely loyal customers.

(I’ve been using Bessey clamps since mid 80’s)

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I have some of the i guess older style Revo clamps as well as some of the older K Body clamps and was just this week wanting to get more to replace 30 or so junk Jet 'parallel' clamps that are anything but parallel and aparantly the Jet lifetime warranty does not cover that. Is home depot the best and cheapest to get these new Bessey clamps?
Thanks for reporting on the new clamps.

HD (at least in S. Florida) carries 24” & 50” Revo’s.
In Southwest FL, Im pretty sure I bought the stores out of 50” & most of the 24” KRE’s (new style)
HD’s price on 24” & 50” Bessey’s are approaching “Loss Leader” territory...
But if you’re buying case /pallet quantities, you should receive the newest KRE’s or else a discount on the older KR’s
Id buy 30-50 more either way right now, but there’s no more 50” KRE’s in my area, & neither HD nor Bessey offered a discount when I suggested such...

I suggest you buy clamps from a professional woodworking vendor like Richelieu or Baer. Then, if a problem is found, they should take care of it easily.

Most of us learned to use wholesale vendors for price and service since we do not get paid to go to Home Depot. You would have to pay me an awful lot of money to go to such a place.

Kilgore... lol..
Funny, i requested a quote for Bessey clamps two times in the last few weeks from my Baer rep and he has failed to get me prices.

We use to have the same problem with Baer. Poor service. Then they pulled out of our area all together lol.

I have to hound them to get a good price...otherwise their prices are sky high and i can find it anywhere else quite a bit cheaper.

So my rep did get a price for me for the KRE3524... How does $48.95 per clamp compare to what you guys are seeing?

The Richelieu website lists my price for the K 3524 at $50.46 a piece.
Order 5-9 for $48.78.
10 or more, $47.21.

My sales guy stops by monthly with a specials flier, that often includes great price breaks on these. Maybe that's how Richelieu dumps the older style?

Home depot HAD the 24” & 50” Revo’s for $40 & $45 respectively. Then 2days ago, the price dropped to $35 & $40 (30day price protection guarantee covered all the clamps we just bought)
I wish other sizes could be purchased there, or at least ordered , but it seems they only deal in those 2 sizes.

They’re inexpensive enough, that Im considering cutting some down to 16” & 32” (& then drilling/chamfering the end hole)

As for the 6ft/8ft’ers, there’s quite a wide spread online. Some ship free, some not so much... but HD DOES offer the joiner plates & tilting jaws, so I can probably get by with far fewer of the bigger sizes while having greater flexibility (at least until the extra parts evaporate or otherwise disappear

24" new style are at home depot for $35 NLP... (new low price). Thats $15 cheaper than my wholesale supplier. lol

Hey guys, there is major flaw with the new KRE 3 clamps. I added to my inventory July 2019 and every one is now out of square on the fix jaw side making them unusable for most case clamping operations.

The fix jaw side is 1/8" out of square on every one I purchased. this is after one job. With 100 percent failure rate on the batch I bought, clearly there is/was a manufacturing flaw. My old ones of 5 years are still dead nuts straight. Please check your new KRE 3s.

Bessey will be replacing all of them at no charge. However, still do not have a reason for this. I did hear the plastic parts are now made in China. the steel is remains from Germany.

Anyone want to sell their old KR3's, I may be interested.

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George that is really bad and a lot worse than the Jets that i am stuck with but at least Bessey is replacing them. The Bessey that i bought earlier in this thread are all still absolutely perfect.

Door shop guy,

Good to hear that my batch may be an isolated case. I purchased from Rockler in July 2019 as mentioned.

I also called Rockler to alert them. They really appreciated the feedback in case others pop up.

Note also, since I was just putting cabinets together and rail/stile doors, the clamping pressure was just enough to seat the parts.

I would really like to see how that fixed end is put together. It can't just be the two rivets on plastic. got to be some steel in the fixed jaw. maybe the rivets too soft or the holes have too much slop. mystery.

One other note about the New KRE style. I hate that the movable jaw is so difficult to move. The old style was on the other end of the slide spectrum - would fall to either end. would be nice to have a happy medium.

Door shop guy,

Just a follow-up to the issue with the K-Body clamps. My assumption was correct in drilling to fastener sizing. Bessey admitted to a run of clamps that were drilled with a larger than spec hole in one part of the fix end. The resultant play between pin or rivet and holes created the play. It was an isolated period in manufacturing that was caught and corrected.
Half of my replacement clamps have arrive and work flawlessly. Great product, company, and customer service!