JET 70424-2 24" Parallel Clamp (2-Pack)

I had a number of Bessey clamps but my biggest complaint has been fighting with them at times to get them to slide open. When I saw the trigger on the Jet clamps I assumed they'd be the answer to that problem. Not entirely.If you pick up a clamp and work them back and fourth in the store you'll immediately think something like "Oh I see ... sure ... that works great".Well, in actual use it's not always that glamorous. For one, they don't always slide easily - just like the Bessey clamps. But more importantly, try using them upside down. Because the handle has to be pulled towards the bar but the level has to be moved toward the handle, you have to somehow manage to push and pull at the same time with the same hand! Not going to happen! You really have to get the clamp ready before inverting. That's a pain. In my opinion the trigger make it easier to use these clamps sometimes, but not it's not a slam dunk.The Jet clamps have threaded holes in the bottom presumably to support bench dog type attachments. That sounds pretty cool, but I've yet to use that feature so I can't comment.There are two things that I like better about the Jet clamps, though.1. The handles are larger in diameter and have squared facets. They're easier to tighten and without knowing the clamping pressure stats, I'd swear these easily tighten with more pressure.2. If you remove the head and look inside the Jet mechanism is much simpler. Bessey has some spring wires inside that the Jet does not. I'm guessing that this is because of the triggers, but I don't know. Nor do I know that the Bessey innards will someday fail or be a problem, but i prefer less moving bits.3. Bonus complaint - availability. The Jets are nowhere near as easy to find with as many ordering options (price/shipping).Going forward my preference is definitely the Jet clamp because of the handles and clamping pressure. I'm giving four starts because they're really nice, but that trigger/lever function is just not as nice as I had hoped.I'll bet if I look back through my previous reviews I gave the Bessey clamps 5 stars because they were simply amazing to me at the time, coming from vintage clamps and pipe clamps.

I've been a woodworker for over 50 years (yikes!). I have a large collection of clamps and thought I would give these a try. They have some good design features, but their major flaw, not being easily adjusted, is very disappointing. The good news is that these are, in some ways, superior to the Bessey K body clamps; they have a larger clamping face, they stand on their backs better because of this width, they lock into position more positively, the handles have a large diameter for easy gripping, you can attach accessories, like a bench dog, and the rule along the rail length are all good things. However, what good is a clamp if you can't adjust it? I fight these every time I go to use them. I want to like them, really, but they just won't adjust easily. There is a lever that you pull up, but it's extremely finicky. If you pull it all the way, just like you'd expect to do, the jaw won't move at all! Instead you have to find a spot about midway through it's travel that will actually release the jaw and then you have to push down on the screw handle to get the jaw to slide. But it soon locks again as it's easy to lose that sweet spot in the release lever. I've read online that you can rebuild the locking mechanism by completely disassembling the clamp, but why should I have to rebuild a new tool before I can use it?!? So, I found a spot on the travel release whereby I can slide the jaw and then did so...a bunch, maybe 50 strokes along the length of the bar. This helped a bit as it filed the bar and the locking jaws some by rubbing these parts together, but still I hesitate to take these out to use them and find myself reaching for the good ol' Besseys first. The Besseys have their own problems, but are still better than the Jets.

Just bought these clamps after going to stores and looking at all the different clamps, reading a lot of reviews from different websites. I was looked at Jet, Bessey, Jorgensen, Irwin and Peachtree clamps. After looking at all of the other clamps the Jet Parallel clamps looked and felt the best.The Irwin and Peachtree are good starter clamps but not for hard use, they just felt like cheap clamps. The heads are smaller, threads on the clamp head were very fine and took a long time to close the head.Jorgensen clamps were better but the handle was just wood and hard to get a good gripe on to tighten down, smaller head, no measurement system and no quick release. The rail had some play in it where they meet the heads.Bessy pretty much the standard for parallel clamps had a good handle, nice clamp head and size, very well made but missing the measurement system and the head was smaller then Jet.The winner Jet Parallel clamps in my mind anyway with the largest clamp head, great handle w/quick release, very solid bar, rule measurement system on bar and you can even mount them on a bench with bench dogs. I think I made the right choose on the clamps after looking at all of them and these are the ones I'll be buying from now on. I do have some Jorgensen bar clamps I plan on replacing with these in the future but for now I'll buy a few here and there because I just can't replace everything at once, it would cost way to much money. It will more then likely take a few years to replace all the clamps that I want but what else do I have to do.