Gramercy were the first to do this that I m aware of. Hey it s STILL faster than F-clamps Using two holdfasts helps with this but keep your mallet handy for a quick cinch-down.

By Garrett Hack Aug 10 2006 Often used in pairs or in conjunction with benchdogs or clamps the venerable holdfast is like having a third hand to help hold a workpiece against a bench for tasks such as planing chiseling and carving.

Woodworking When hand mortising the edge of a board for example the holdfasts tend to work loose as the piece is manipulated. I forgot to get a pic of the Gramercy I was a little surprised seeing as I have heard from several sources that the Gramercy would not work in greater thicknesses. The holdfast was sufficiently important to rate almost half a page in Moxon s Mechanicks Exercises 1678 - the first book on woodworking in English . Dissatisfied with brittle cast holdfasts that crack when struck Gramercy developed a way to form them from steel bar stock with strength and resilience comparable to traditional forged versions. If you aren t already using holdfasts I can t recommend them highly enough. Here is what then editor Christopher Schwarz had to say Holdfasts that Really Work Not only is this holdfast quick in use but it also clamps work anywhere you can drill a 3 4 or 20mm hole a through-hole at least 1 3 4 deep is The surprise is that by a simple workaround it also works beautifully in my Sjoberg bench which has 1 holes. The Gramercy holdfast is excellent which is not a surprise.

These holdfasts from Gramercy Tools are made from forged-steel and fit 3 4-in.-dia. Originally hand-forged in iron they became scarcer and scarcer as woodworking and tools became industrialized even though they actually are much quicker and easier to use than modern screw clamps. In fact the bent steel bar variants are probably the best thing to come to holdfasts since they were invented. Maybe Phil Koontz was right and holdfasts truly are mysterious. After years of hunting for the perfect holdfast we ended up designing a tool ourselves a modern holdfast made of modern formed wire in a modern factory. And there s other small But by the middle of the 19th century as regular vices of all sorts of designs became more popular the holdfast disappeared from view. This tool performs as well as blacksmith made holdfasts better than any other manufactured holdfast and the price makes it a real value. Recently added two of Joel s holdfasts to my bench because I wasn t pleased with the cast holdfasts I ve used for a long time.

Again both grabbed without incident. Types Of Holdfasts For Woodworking Because of the way I incorporate holdfasts in to my work as a third hand I prefer the light weight ones. Holdfast by GRAMERCY TOOLS Before the arrival of modern screw clamps it would not have been possible to imagine working wood without holdfasts. We reviewed this version of the Gramercy holdfast in print in the December 2005 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Long story short I am a very happy customer with both models of holdfast.

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