In 2013 I designed a clamp rack for the Bessey KR(and-V) parallel clamps I had just purchased, I couldn’t find a design that suited me so I started from scratch and came up with a design that has proven to be somewhat popular since a few youtube woodworkers have since copied the design or used is as a base for theirs.
That rack had served me well over the years, but meanwhile I had started buying EZS “hand pump” clamps from Bessey, the pressure is much lower than the KRV models but they are half the price and very light. Ideal for all sorts of clamping operations. The problem was that at this point I had 24 KR and 24 EZS clamps. And not enough wall space to make racks for all these.
I started playing around with the EZS clamps and discovered that I could integrate them into the original KRV rack by hanging them upside down. this way I could store twice as many clamps in the same space. The new rack is made out of birch plywood.
The EZS clamps have a small rod at the end that goes through the bar, I used that feature to make them hook onto the rack slot. An additional groove along the length of the rack allows that rod to stay in place and prevent accidental falls when manipulating the neighbouring clamps.
My original rack had one KRV clamp every 50mm, this new design would still work like that but I decided to make that 60mm so it would be easier to handle the clamps. On top I incorporated a shelf again to store the accessories for the KRV clamps.
My current collection of clamps consists of 12x 450mm EZS, 12x 800mm EZS, 6x 600mm KR, 8x 800mm KR, 6x100mm KR and 4x 1500mm KRV.
I very much prefer the KR model to the KRV, I almost never use the “V” (adjustable back end) feature, and the KRV models can’t be stored upright and have a few cm less clamping length than the KR counterpart, which makes them much less practical for me.
Download the free sketchup model here: bessey clamp rackV2..skp
Below you have quoted drawings of the rack, this rack is designed for 30 KRV models (this way I have some free space for future investments…) To adapt the design to the amount of clamps you wish to store just add or remove 60mm of length for each additional or fewer clamp.
I made the slots below with the dado cutter on my Felder table saw, but this can be done just a well with a jig saw like I did on my previous design.
Below is the slot that holds the EZS clamps in place, this is only necessary on the top rack.
Support piece
I like your style in woodworking and choice of tools. While I’m still learning, I find the way you present videos very informative. Please keep making them and maybe add a few tricks of the trade you have learned during your experiences. I plan to buy some of your plans within the next few days!
Thanks for the compliments Daniel, I try to keep the videos to the point with no talk, and post the necessary information on my website for those who are interested. I’m planning on doing in detail videos indeed about specific topics, not just complete projects. I actually filmed a few ones already, but making the video and web page takes about a day of work for each video. It’s only thanks to the people who support me by buying my plans that I can afford to take time for free content like this clamp rack by example.
Soooo…I can eat the whole thing by myself. Just thought I’d let you know.
Great rack design. I wish I could get the design in inches.