Jorgensen bench hold down clamps

[Tom Adger]

I am looking at the jorgensen bench hold down clamps, both the traditional cast iron, and the quick release #1652.

I would appreciate the opinions of anyone who has used these. Also, where is a good source for buying them.

[Callan Campbell]

Are you talking about their screw style, the one where you leave a special headed bolt in a holddown hole on your workbench. Then you lift the bolt up and into the body of the clamp where a slot is machined into the bottom of the clamp? If so, I bought two of them years ago, and always ran into the same issue, the clamps just aren't as user friendly as the very old hook holddowns, like Jorgensen's or others that are the cast iron holdfasts. You only need a 3/4" hole or several rows of them, you move your cast iron holdfast around where you need it. My fancy screw types gather dust in a cubby hole, and I still haven't pull the stupid bolts out of the two or three holes I installed them in on my bench. I keep meaning to do that........

[Tom Adger]

Callan, I'm not sure if the one you describe is what is advertised. The description is not too complete.

The reason for my question is that I am leery of the cast iron hold downs. The one offered by one of the popular websites (not Jorgensen brand) has had poor reviews because of them easily breaking, blue paint coming off onto what is being held down, and a casting ridge down the face where it comes in contact with the wood. I guess I will get a couple of the Jorg cast irons and see.

[lowell holmes]

My current favorite hold down clamps are the Sjobergs. They have incredible clamping power. You can see pics of them on line. Woodcraft have them.

[Russ Kay]

I like the steel holdfasts from Tools for Working Wood. The pads are smooth and they work great. Plus they're reasonably priced.

[Dave Lehnert]

Originally Posted by Russ Kay

I like the steel holdfasts from Tools for Working Wood. The pads are smooth and they work great. Plus they're reasonably priced.

I also have the holdfast from TFWW. A great bargain.

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/M...arch=Holdfasts

[Callan Campbell]

Originally Posted by Tom Adger

Callan, I'm not sure if the one you describe is what is advertised. The description is not too complete.

The reason for my question is that I am leery of the cast iron hold downs. The one offered by one of the popular websites (not Jorgensen brand) has had poor reviews because of them easily breaking, blue paint coming off onto what is being held down, and a casting ridge down the face where it comes in contact with the wood. I guess I will get a couple of the Jorg cast irons and see.

I ve haven't heard of anyone breaking a traditional style holdfast, that's pretty thick steel. I guess bad/weak steel would do it. As for marks/denting, you'd only need a thin shim of wood or plastic to protect the wood you're working on. If you're working with red oak or similar wood that reacts badly to contact with a wet or moist steel/iron , you'd need to shim the holdfast away from the wood, esp. if you're planing on leaving the clamp/holdfast in place for a few hours or overnight. The classic tale of someone leaving a piece of red oak on a cast iron table saw top overnight in a humid enviroment is what comes to mind.
As for my bad description of the Jorgensen Screw Bench Clamps, sorry, I didn't have the model number in front of me for you to reference off the Internet . The Model # is 1623. Small reach, and 3inch thickness max of material. It doesn't sound like that's the type you were interested in anyway after I reread your post and checked the model you were first talking about. The bench clamps looked handy when I bought them, but I soon learned that the traditional holdfast was so much more versatile once I bought a pair of those to replaced the two little orange Jorgensen's.

[Dave Lehnert]

Originally Posted by Callan Campbell

I ve haven't heard of anyone breaking a traditional style holdfast, that's pretty thick steel. I guess bad/weak steel would do it. As for marks/denting, you'd only need a thin shim of wood or plastic to protect the wood you're working on. If you're working with red oak or similar wood that reacts badly to contact with a wet or moist steel/iron , you'd need to shim the holdfast away from the wood, esp. if you're planing on leaving the clamp/holdfast in place for a few hours or overnight. The classic tale of someone leaving a piece of red oak on a cast iron table saw top overnight in a humid enviroment is what comes to mind.
As for my bad description of the Jorgensen Screw Bench Clamps, sorry, I didn't have the model number in front of me for you to reference off the Internet . The Model # is 1623. Small reach, and 3inch thickness max of material. It doesn't sound like that's the type you were interested in anyway after I reread your post and checked the model you were first talking about. The bench clamps looked handy when I bought them, but I soon learned that the traditional holdfast was so much more versatile once I bought a pair of those to replaced the two little orange Jorgensen's.

he was speaking of the cast iron holdfast available today. They do break very easy with a whack of a hammer.

[Tom Adger]

Thank you all for some good places to look. Have any of you used a piece of leather where the hold down meets the wood? It seems like it would be a good way to protect the workpiece.