Where to get good hold downs

[harry strasil]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t=williamsburg post #29

[John Stan]

Where do you guys get the "whack a mole" hold downs for your benches. I made the mistake of buying the ones from Rockler and they lasted exactly one whack. Not only were they cast they were apparantly made from Taiwainium.

Bill

Mine are from Jake the russian (Galena Toolworks) in Alaska. Phil Koonts refers the work to Jake. I love mine and had them in a weeks time.

[John Sanford]

The Veritas is quite nice also. Spendy, but you don't have to keep a whacker handy to use it, and it's got a long reach.

[Richard Niemiec]

I'm the one ordering the 1" holdfasts from Jr. as my bench has the larger holes and there's no other workable alternatives out there, and from the reviews of his 3/4 versions you can't do better and would likely do worse (but Joel's are reportedly ok for 3/4" holes). Once the weather breaks in Nebraska (its been a cold one for Jr.) there's gonna be at least 8 happy campers.

[Bob Glenn]

I think Bob Glenn, have one of the Williamsburg black smith shop hold fast also sold by The Best Thing, and was reporting that the shank was not a common size... Maybe Bob can write back obout that!

Yes, David, I bought two hand forged hold fasts at Williamsburg. They told me they were made from 3/4 stock, however, despite comparing all they had in stock and selecting the smallest (they were visibly different) I am still going to have to grind on the shanks to get them to fit in my 3/4 inch holes. I suppose I could use them in one inch holes, but I don't want to enlarge all the holes in my benches. They were 58 bucks a piece, but the extra expense is warranted since I use them at eighteen century reenactments.

[harry strasil]

I wonder if anyone has ever tried making holdfasts out of wood?

And to be authentic Bob, you are going to have to file them to size. LOL

[Tom Adger]

Get Jorgensen hold down clamps from Peachtree Woodworking Supply. They are USA made, from a long-time reputable company, and won't shatter after one or two hammer hits.

[paul cottingham]

I have a great pair that Harry Strasil made. I would see if he's making any more. If not TWW has some that people speak well of.

Me, too. One of my most used and well made tools.

[Alex Botkin]

You can get some hold downs made by Jorgensen - they seem to be decent quality. Here's one source
http://dilegnosupply.com/Clamping/jo...own_clamps.htm

I'm sure you can others as well.

You might also want to put a small bevel 1/16 to 1/8 say 22 degrees around the edge of your bench hole this would help prevent damaging the top of the bench.