holdfasts not holding after I put BLO in the holes

[Keith Christopher]

Drive in some dowels and re-drill.

[Prashun Patel]

How much BLO did you put on? It's end grain, it should absorb pretty much all of the first 2 coats.
I doubt you'd get it all out with a rag.

A couple 'wacky' things to try:

1) abrade the interior of the hole with some 150gt sandpaper.

2) PAINT the interior of the hole with an oil based primer.

Either suggestion improve the friction. Truth be told, I think your problem is just that the holes are 'oily'. Once cured, I don't think you'll have an issue.

[george wilson]

I thought of abrading the holdfast. I did that very thing on an old blue Marples I have. But,I was afraid the holdfast would chip the edges of the hole. My Marples had a screw tightening mechanism,but even so,the teeth I made would chip the hole.

I also thought of drilling the hole larger and driving in a pipe that would line the hole. Then,if you roughed up the holdfast it wouldn't hurt the hole. Easy way to rough the holdfast would be with a coarse checkering file,or a rethreading file you could get at an auto parts store.

[harry strasil]

that's why I use hot rolled round for the shanks, the mill scale finish is rough and is superb for holding power. if nothing else Jeff, just cram the holes full of toilet tissue or paper towels they are a superb absorbant material. if after the blo drys and they still don't hold take a round file and break it off about 4 inches long, then grind the small end round and chuck in a drill and rough up the holes a bit.

[Marc Casebolt]

I did the same thing with the BLO in a 5" thick DF top and the hold fasts do hold fast when it dries. It's been about two years now with no problem.

I have the Gramercy HFs.

Marc

[Jeff Skory]

How much BLO did you put on? It's end grain, it should absorb pretty much all of the first 2 coats.

Only a single coat. Same with the rest of the workbench.

[Jeff Skory]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. At this point I'm going to sit tight and let the BLO dry completely before I take any measures. I'll let you know how it comes out.

[David Gendron]

I think I would try something like this if the soaking doesn't work... I would drill the 3/4" hole to 1" and then plug them with dowells and redrill them with the 3/4 or smaller drill bit of your choice!
Just an idea!

[Norman Hitt]

First and foremost, let the BLO dry completely,........(two or three weeks preferably). Next, clamp your holdfast in a vice with the round shaft sticking out in a horizontal position. Take a strip of emery cloth, about 100 grit,or, (whatever grit you have will work) and use it like a shoe shine rag and work it on the hold fast shaft just enough to break the shine on the surface and leave sanding marks which will be perpendicular to the length of the hf shaft. Do this all the way around the shaft and for the full length.

It doesn't need any deep grooves to hold "IF" it is going to hold at all, just enough to remove the Slick Finish of the shaft.

[harry strasil]

They doesn't have a slick finish like Gramercy's!

[Joel Moskowitz]

They doesn't have a slick finish like Gramercy's!

the OP has a pair of yours which he is having trouble with. Finish is not the issue here.

[harry strasil]

I know Joel, I was replying to Norman's post, he evidently did not read post #19.

[Jeff Skory]

Followup:

It's been almost 4 weeks now. I wrapped some 80 grit sandpaper around a dowel and gave each of the holdfast holes a handful of swipes to remove any smooth finish that was in them.

Voila! Harry's holdfasts work once again.

So the answer as suggested by several members is indeed to just give it enough time for the BLO to completely dry.

[glenn bradley]

Cool. Thanks for following up this thread.