I settled on my bench design but...

[woodbloke]

The G one's just look like a lump of round mild steel bar, heated cherry red and then bent round a former and the end squashed flat. I bet Aled could knock some of those up in the forge at school...that's provided he still has one. I know that when I was teaching I used to use the forge quite a lot and that sort of thing would have been dead easy to make. £40 or £50 a pair seems extortionate to me
Edit - looking back through the thread, they seem to be cheaper...still seems a lot for a couple of bits of mild steel bar though - Rob

 

[Benchwayze]

You're probably right Rob.

I wonder if I could get away with using bending springs with some M/s conduit I have? I could flatten the ends in a vice and file it smooth. Not sure if a hollow h'fast. would work tho... Or is this a codge? 8)

John

 

[Alf]

Some considerations about making holdfasts here - although probably the link to the article is the most useful bit. I know there's more than one member of the Old Tools List who's either made or had made their own and there's likely a wealth of information in the archive - somewhere. I would imagine conduit would last about 10 seconds, but that's just a guess.

 

[wizer]

£40-50 is the price for a pair after being imported. In the US they work out at around £20 a pair which is fairly reasonable. Joel has patented a process where they are made in a factory, which is why the price is good. But obviously once they are imported to the UK the price more than doubles. Another option would be for someone like Matthew to import them on a larger scale. But as is often the case, they'll still probably be more like £35-40 a pair.

I seem to recall Richard Maguire saying that he was looking into having them made.

John, let us know how you get on with the blacksmith. I might approach a couple locally and take one for them to copy (assuming I can prise it out of Mark's hand ). I'm sure that the design has to be right for them to work well.

 

[Modernist]

Why not just go out and buy some round black bar, stick it in the now customary hair dryer/wok arrangement and wallop it into a holdfast? total cost a couple of quid and the satisfaction of making it yourself. You'll need a heft chunk of steel to use as a anvil but 6" of 50 x 50 on top a a lump of end grain will suffice. Forge the toe first before bending.

 

[Benchwayze]

Why not just go out and buy some round black bar, stick it in the now customary hair dryer/wok arrangement and wallop it into a holdfast? total cost a couple of quid and the satisfaction of making it yourself. You'll need a heft chunk of steel to use as a anvil but 6" of 50 x 50 on top a a lump of end grain will suffice. Forge the toe first before bending.

Sounds interesting Mod. It would be good for losing weight and I could give a blow-by-blow, WIP too! 8)

Seriously, there was a time I might have done just that, and got the satisfaction. Maybe 10 years ago. Now, I am just not physically capable of that sort of effort any more. Takes me all my time to do my woodwork.

John

 

[squib]

I watched mine being made and he understood the curve exactly and how it was to work. i had another set made by another friend who got them wrong and then i couldn't catch him to put them right so the second smith reworked them.Mine are very rustic but this was on purpose to suit my 18th century bench (copy). One of the long ones is made from a starting handle from the hedge! This guys other work is beautiful and i was thinking of asking him to make some finer ones, these were made very quickly and as i undestood it he used a fair amount of fuel in the forge which puts the price up a bit.

 

[xy mosian]

I've used a couple of these for a while now. Not easy for everyone to get hold of, but look at the prices. They seem to be used a lot in holding shuttering to random stone walls.

http://www.bricodepot.fr/bordeaux/outil ... e-coffrage

In case you don't want to follow the link. They are effectively a Holdfast with a loose top.

xy

 

[Charlotte]

Before all my plans for a bench went to hell when I decided to move onto a boat but I had intended to cut down a couple of old crowbars....is this worth trying?

 

[wizer]

Before all my plans for a bench went to hell when I decided to move onto a boat but I had intended to cut down a couple of old crowbars....is this worth trying?

No, I doubt it. The steel has to be springy