Forged hold fast's

[Anonymous]

As I promised earlier this week here are some pictures of a pair of forged holdfasts I had made up by a local smith. They are 20 mm mild rod, about 20 inches long, about 8 or 9 inch max reach.
When they are fitted to the bench I'll post another pic

Not bad for £40
They'll need some polishing on the area that contact the wood and a bit of a brush to get the mill scale off otherwise rady to go!!

 

[engineer one]

gawd, and i used to throw those kinds of things away as failures :lol: :lol:

actually there are quite a few forges around these days so they might
well be easy to obtain. i knew of at least one in fulbeck lincs.

might well be worth soaking in phosporic acid, and then using a plastic
type coating to ensure that the wood does not get marked. are
the tails at a greater angle than 90 degrees to make it easier to get
the tension???

paul :wink:

 

[Alf]

might well be worth soaking in phosporic acid, and then using a plastic type coating to ensure that the wood does not get marked.

:-s Or just use a piece of scrap under the head like wot has worked for aeons... Engineers. :roll: :lol:

Look good, Mr S. Had a vague thought in that direction myself for a while, plenty of 'smiths round here, but then I bought the Veritas one and the desire for one I can hit just vanished away.

Cheers, Alf

 

[David C]

Splendid,

There are still a few excellent blacksmiths around.

I am tickled by the current interest in 18th century woodworking practices. (Adam Cherubini etc).

Setting a holdfast with a hammer is quicker than adjusting a clamp, but I just can't bring myself to drill those holes in my nice hardwood benchtops.

The sliding removable tool wells on my benches, allow clamping almost everywhere, while a holddown acts in a circle around each hole.

David Charlesworth

 

[Anonymous]

not bad eh??

sadly theres smiths and smiths, some are "too occupied" to do small demanding jobs, they do mostly arc welding big scale architectural railings and gates etc and so on. It was nice to stand and chat next to his setting out table and draw out the design with chalk.
I wont be encasing them in plastic, not that it wasnt a good sudgestion but it wont last 2 minutes in and out the bench holes. I was not too concerned about bruising on frames/gates etc if it was an issue I'd use a scrap block as alf sugested. In fact I saw somewhere out there that if you roughen the stems with coarse emory it grips better. I'll still polish the ends though less chance of rust.
Were the failures you spoke of engineer cast iron holdfas'ts?? I heard they are prone to break and wont take heavy punishment. I'm a speed freak the ease and speed of this system apeaels to me; I had bid on a pair of record screw down holdfasts but got pipped I was disapointed but did some research and found out about the forged sort which I hd seen a long while ago in the workbench book.
David why not just build a "crude" by your (exacting and excellrent standrds) bench, and drill some holes in it and have a go without worrying about the damage?! :wink:

 

[engineer one]

i would like to think i was being facetious :lol:

but when you learn in the forge these are the kinds of things
you practice on, and of course are often junked.

anyway well done :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Ah I didnt realise you were from a forge type of backgroud

Ps we set them out with abpout a 5 or 6 dgeree toe in they look like tenor sax's :lol: :lol: Who knows they may ned a bit of altering or fine tuning
that smith makes absolutely bloody superb strap and pinttle hinges and t hinges

 

[Anonymous]

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[houtslager]

I'm always amused at the super quality "work" benches you see - about as sensible as french polishing a butcher's block!

and what's wrong with that ? :twisted:

if you can't drill holes, screw screws, nail nails, spill paint-beer-tea-glue, leave fag burns, make saw/axe/chisel marks, etc etc

too true, too many "arty" workbenches being made.

The very first bench I made for myself was outta scaf boards lasted years
in fact I sold it when I left the UK for fifty quid.

Now I have one from my Uncle a very old ULMIA and my machining bench which I copied from FWW

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2625

mind you I'll be needing a "assembly table "so any ideas on this type will be looked at.

all the best ppl, HS in a grey but warm Germany

 

[Anonymous]

I think a bench is arty if IT rather than the work done on it is of greater importance, when it is a fashion statement rather than useful piece of kit. If that means fine inlay and finish, mega clean mega smooth, no scratches gouges etc fine, if it means a bench that carries the evidences of its developement & scars of its use, thats fine by me. Just because a bench looks lived in it doesnt mean its better than a well groomed one, it taks all sorts. My comment about a "crude" bench Mr charlesworth was sincerely playful and not intended as a snide or thread arguing provocation 8) Please no one take this in a wrong way, but is it possible to be so precision minded and "thorough" that woodwork becomes more like precision engineering? Or should woodwork BE like precision engineering? Coming as I do from an sculpture arty background, it did me a world of good to take on board the discipline of doing drawn rods cutting lists correct setting out of joints, cuting to a line, planing flat, drilling plumb etc etc, because I was TOO loose and instinctive.When I started at college the hardest thing for our drawing tutors was to get us to loosen up and draw with our whole arm and body not just our hand and fingers so they made us use 4 inch brushes on big paper no pencils allowed

PS houtlager you may well already know it but theres some interesting ideas and drawings for assembly benches in George Ellis's book (modern practical joinery?)

Cheers Mr Spanton

 

[Anonymous]

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[MikeW]

Lot's o' fun in this thread I see!

Very nice hold fasts, Mr. Spanton! Very nice indeed.

Boy, I could elect to have some fun with about every poster in this thread. Instead, I'll be a good boy. :lol:

But I do like them hold fasts. That's a sure thing.

Take care, Mike

 

[houtslager]

MikeW said

Boy, I could elect to have some fun with about every poster in this thread. Instead, I'll be a good boy. Laughing

go for it :wink:

Mr Grimsdale asked

What's a "planing beam" I've seen this mentioned a couple of times before?

You will see one in the Workshop book by Scott Landis. It is an Eastern method of bringing the work to waist height therefore allowing the body's mass to assist in the pulling of a plane over the work piece.

If you can wait a month Mr.G, I'll be in some frame of organised chaos here, when I'll be able to get to my copies of FWW and send you a copy of the article [FWW 169 iirc]

My w/s at the mo is the old kitchen in my new house, and looks like it will be so for a while yet. and without 3 phase I cannot even get my machines up and running. So much RUST to remove before I can even think of using them. ( coming from 16 months sitting in my container )

all the best from a chilly Germany.HS

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

I though it might intrest you Jacob
Very simple knock up quickly, suit the job in hand. Not a million miles from a shaving horse?

 

[Scrit]

Please no one take this in a wrong way, but is it possible to be so precision minded and "thorough" that woodwork becomes more like precision engineering? Or should woodwork BE like precision engineering?

Yes it is. I've spent more than four years doing predominently CNC work - it's done almost to engineering standards in man-made materials in the main. Prescise, accurate and all identical - but it has no SOUL.

Why do you need an "assembly bench" as such? I do mine on the bench, the floor, or on saw stools, on battens etc etc.
We had an assembly bench where I did my training but I'm still not quite sure why.

I've had a low assembly bench on locking castors about 600mm off the floor for doing carcass assembly work like kitchen units. The height means you can work on the top of a carcass without stretching and the bottom without grovelling on the floor. Any glue squeeze-out just gets scraped off - after all it is just a bench. But I'd agree, a bit of a luxury if you haven't got the space, but a back/time saver if you have

Scrit

 

[Anonymous]

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[Scrit]

PS and an answer to the question of how you make your first workbench if you haven't got one already.

I must have cheated - I used a Workmate

 

[David C]

Jacob,

That's the difference between a joiners bench and a cabinetmakers bench!

These are two different trades, with different working practices.

Cabinetmakers need flat true surfaces and use them almost like an engineer uses a surface plate. Try hand planing 5/16" hardwood drawer sides on a not flat bench.

Neither is superior just different as is carpentry. Complex cut roofs get my admiration, as do some of the astonishingly complex windows.

The cast Record holdfasts with the screw action clamping pads, must be one of the nastiest perversions ever. If I had started with nice forged ones, the habit might have stuck.

David Charlesworth

 

[Anonymous]

The cast Record holdfasts with the screw action clamping pads, must be one of the nastiest perversions ever. If I had started with nice forged ones, the habit might have stuck.

Looks like I had a lucky escape then David :lol: :lol: I was bidding for a pair on ebay but lost out!! Is it just that the record ones are bad example or is it the concept of the screw holdfast that is as you describe?
cheers Mr Spanton