Is there a way to fix these clamps?

I had 2 of my biggins over the neighbors the other day trying to lift a large concrete pipe out of the ground . Bobcat and the Kubota and large chains didn't budge it , but the clamps held great . :encourage: Jack hammer did the trick .
 
Nothing wrong with repurposing compromised clamps when you can.
These two clamps came out of the ash pile of our house fire.
They were Bessey clamps once. Now?
They work to secure stuff to my work table
 

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brino said:
Been there done that!
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/straightening-a-c-clamp.39484/post-338748

I found that my clamps were easy to straighten. No heat required.
I was concerned about breaking or weakening them, but I learned that they should be on the soft side to keep them from shattering in regular use.

Brian
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You have given me some hope that the clamps are repairable. I will try bending one. Worst case, I will make a hold down clamp like @Janderso or @cathead have shown. Welding table hold downs are a good thing to have!
 
WobblyHand said:
You have given me some hope that the clamps are repairable. I will try bending one. Worst case, I will make a hold down clamp like @Janderso or @cathead have shown. Welding table hold downs are a good thing to have!
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Well Jeff's clamp is a sliding F style clamp. yours is a C clamp. not really workable for that.
 
WobblyHand said:
Oh, don't be so literal :). I know. The point was to repurpose the clamp, and Jeff did it well in my book. cathead did a nice job too.
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well hey, I couldn't tell after you took my bessey as an example of (I don't know what) I was just trying to show you , you have a superior product...

so I guess I was spoon feeding you...
 
woodchucker said:
well hey, I couldn't tell after you took my bessey as an example of (I don't know what) I was just trying to show you , you have a superior product...

so I guess I was spoon feeding you...
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Guess you were. :) Sometimes I don't always pick up the clue phone. Humor and subtlety don't always convey correctly in written form. And, yes, sometimes things do go right over my head.
 
WobblyHand said:
Pardon my lack of knowledge, are you saying that ductile iron also is not a good candidate for simple heating and quenching for a sprung clamp?
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In a word, yes --- I do not think heating would be a problem, but quenching very well could be a problem.
Over the year, I have collected quite a few clamps, I try to stay away from the sort of clamps pictured and keep on the lookout for such as Williams or Armstrong forged steel clamps.
 
benmychree said:
In a word, yes --- I do not think heating would be a problem, but quenching very well could be a problem.
Over the year, I have collected quite a few clamps, I try to stay away from the sort of clamps pictured and keep on the lookout for such as Williams or Armstrong forged steel clamps.
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yea, I could see that for a machinist. But those are monster clamps. I have one, and it weighs about 3 of the B&Cs
 
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