Workbench Holdfast

[amtc]

Good afternoon,

I am finishing up on my workbench build and I know very little about hold fast. I am looking at buying two Gramercy holdfast. Anyone have any experience with the Gramercy holdfast? Any other recommendations will be greatly appreciated. My bench style is very similar to the LN bench. The top is 4 inch thick red oak 73 inches long and 25 inches wide.  

Thanks

[Philip1231]

Good afternoon,

I am finishing up on my workbench build and I know very little about hold fast. I am looking at buying two Gramercy holdfast. Anyone have any experience with the Gramercy holdfast? Any other recommendations will be greatly appreciated. My bench style is very similar to the LN bench. The top is 4 inch thick red oak 73 inches long and 25 inches wide.  

Thanks

Although I have not used the Gramercy holdfast, I have used the LN holdfast, which works well. However, I have transitioned to the Veritas Hold Down and find it works very well.

[T. Davis]

I have 4 of the Gramacey holdfasts that I use with a 3 1/2” southern yellow pine workbench. They work great.

[AHill]

I have the Gramercy holdfasts and I love them. My workbench surface is 4" thick. Not a fan of the Veritas because it requires too much manual manipulation with the screw on the top. The Gramercy also has a wider surface to hold the workpiece compared to the LN, which is somewhat narrow. Truth in lending, though - I've never used the LN holdfast.

[amtc]

I have the Gramercy holdfasts and I love them.  My workbench surface is 4" thick.  Not a fan of the Veritas because it requires too much manual manipulation with the screw on the top.  The Gramercy also has a wider surface to hold the workpiece compared to the LN, which is somewhat narrow.  Truth in lending, though - I've never used the LN holdfast.

Thank you for the replies. I believe I will give the Gramercy holdfast a try.

[Mike Brady]

Any of the aforementioned holdfasts will work nicely as long as you have a fairly thick bench top.  Of those discussed, the LV can be repositioned more easily, but holds less firmly, in my experience.

[amtc]

Thank you for the replies. I believe I will give the Gramercy holdfast a try.

I received the holdfast's and I have had mixed results. My bench top is 3 7/8 inch think solid red oak. I drilled 3/4 inch holes and I wasn't paying attention and drilled all the way thru the bench. I was going to stop just short of going all the way thru so I could go underneath ands use a 7/8 inch spade bit to create a little more room for the holdfast. Initially I found that the holdfast would not hold very well. I used some 60 grit sand paper to rough up the shaft and that helped a lot. I am hoping with use the holes will widen a little and provide better clamping. Over all I am happy with the holdfast and think they are a great purchase.

[AHill]

I received the holdfast's and I have had mixed results. My bench top is 3 7/8 inch think solid red oak. I drilled 3/4 inch holes and I wasn't paying attention and drilled all the way thru the bench. I was going to stop just short of going all the way thru so I could go underneath ands use a 7/8 inch spade bit to create a little more room for the holdfast. Initially I found that the holdfast would not hold very well. I used some 60 grit sand paper to rough up the shaft and that helped a lot. I am hoping with use the holes will widen a little and provide better clamping. Over all I am happy with the holdfast and think they are a great purchase.

You don't want wider holes.  For the holdfast to work, it needs to be at a slight angle to the hole - very slight.  Roughing up the surface of the holdfast will help.  If the hole is too wide, it will be difficult for the holdfast to get a purchase on the bottom and top of the hole.  See the attached link to get an idea of how it works.  Holdfasts are designed for a particular size of hole.  A holdfast designed for a 3/4' hole is slightly less in diameter than 3/4".  Making a hole wider than 3/4" will cause a looser fit.

The holdfast also needs to go all the way through the workbench top.  The hole needs to be all the way through the workbench top.  Too shallow, and you don't have enough length of the hole to get a proper wedge between the holdfast and the benchtop.

https://newlingristmill.org/tools-of-the...he%20bench.

[msalomon]

I too had a bit of problem with the hold fasts not holding well on a 4 in top. I roughened the shafts by carefully banging the shafts with an old pry bar and created nice dimples on the shafts. Also,someone on Etsy sells excellent pads for the hold fasts. Just requires a bit of rubbery glue. I highly recommend them.

[bandit571]

Benchtop is 1-1/2" thick...not much good for using Hold Fasts......we have ways...