How to Make a Hold Fast HOLD | Common Holdfast Problems 

As a blacksmith, I will add a touch more friction points to 50% top back and. 50% bottom front, great thoughts!

Thank you! My hold fasts were not holding fast and I did the filing on the front/back with a little triangle file and now they work!! 10/10 would file my hold fast again.

I think that it’s fascinating that people intuitively understood physics well enough to design these simple tools, and people are so oblivious to such simple concepts today. There’s a huge difference between knowledge and wisdom that this video portrays so eloquently. It’s one thing to know how to split an atom, but it’s an entirely different mode of thought to figure out to use that Knowledge to make electricity or bombs...Wisdom. Too often I see people learning WHAT to do, but not why it’s done which leaves them crippled when something simple but outside of their knowledge base occurs. The modern educational system does a disservice by concerning itself with quantity rather than quality leaving us with a society equipped only to realize another person’s dreams. I think it’s great that people pick these arts up as hobbies, but I’m thankful that people like you see it as more than that. Life is too short and confusing today that these arts are slowly dying off. I salute you and your efforts to keep this Knowledge AND Wisdom alive.

I ordered hand forged holdfasts over a month ago and watching this video gets me HELLA excited about them, I cant wait to have them

One of the most useful, down to earth pieces I've seen. I'm moving to primarily hand tool use and planning my 'last bench' as I head into retirement, so work holding is high on my mind just now. I've used holdfasts but now I'll use them more tthoughtfully.

John Switzer over at Black Bear does beautiful work and him being a woodworker on top of being a Blacksmith, he knows what they should do....

I started making one yesterday for blacksmithing. I had to stop after roughly profiling it because it was so hot, but now I’m glad I did because I will add texture to the shank and leave some scale on it.

Perfect timing. Just yesterday, I noticed that my holdfast wasn't holding as well as it had been. You've given me some things to check. Thanks.

Just what I needed to see/hear. I just finished my new bench and bought the Gramercy holdfasts and yup, they bounced. Thanks!

Thanks. You solved my problem.

Thanks. Worn holes? Try knurled sleeves. Worked for my missus.

Great explanation. Thanks for sharing!

After watching this, I'm rethinking removing the rust from a pair of holdfasts that got soaked (for no more than 1h) in a recent accident. They do seem to hold better than I remembered before they turned rusty! Thanks for the video!

Great topic! Thanks James!

I swear you've got a video for every woodworking question I have. I've been headscratching over my new Gramercy holdfasts in my 5" SYP benchtop, I thought I'd drilled the holes wrong, they had to be tighter, or dead square. But now it's so clear. Thanks!

That's a good info to solve the hold fast problems 🤔 thanks 👌 .

Very useful information. Thanks!

Great information. I will be taking a file to my gramercy holdfasts now.

James - Thanks very much for this info - I have a pair of gramercy holdfasts that weren't holding (fast or slow) and I was about to make my bench holes larger, thinking that was the problem. I'm so glad I didn't do that, and watched this video first. I roughed up the inside of the holes and roughed up the sides of my holdfasts and they're holding very well now. Seriously, thank you for this. I was really frustrated with them not holding.

Thank you for this, you make the most practical and relevant videos for the things i try to learn. I started woodworking around 8 months ago and after a short while tried to find a set of hold fast, but cannot buy them anywhere. After a while i found a site where i can get them, but only from Lie Nielsen and those were way over the budget for me, the also had some that looked almost like clamps (instead the top being bentit had a screw with which you control the tension) but the price was even higher than for the Lie Nielsen. This year the site started to sell another kind, so i ordered it and now have to wait for them (could be a long time because of the virus, they didnt have them in stock). They look like cast ones you showed, so hopefully they wont break, as i have no other affordable option.

Great informative video James!! I'm in the process of completing my workbench. its 5 1/2 inches thick made of laminated poplar boards. I have the gramercy holdfasts and was concerned about getting them to "Hold". The paperwork that came w them states they work best between the 2 to 4 inch thickness range. You certainly answered my concerns and hopefully it will work for me!! Keep up the greatness my friend!!!!!

Thank you for this video.

Thank you. Very helpful

Thank You James!!! I learned something new!!! 👍😎🤴

Complete, authoritative. Well done

Perfect video and perfect timing! I have been so frustrated with my holdfasts and haven't been able to use them at all because they just slip out. I will go through these steps to hopefully find a solution.

Fantastic, James! Thanks a lot! 😃 I'm going to build my first bench in the next months... I'm not sure yet when. But I'm going to use 2 inch slabs for the top, it's easy to find them here. And it's going to be a hard wood called Garapeira. 😊 But, well... I just got a router and still need a planner... So it's going to take a while. 😬 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

good info. Thanks

Thanks for the tips James. I went out to my shop and filed some notches in my cheap cast iron hold fasts (which I'd put in a drawer and never used because they wouldn't hold), clamped down some white oak with them, chopped out some dovetail pins, and they held like a charm.

Thanks for sharing that

This was nice short informative video, not sure what there was not to like. Giving you a thumbs up even though you aren’t a fan of the Veritas holdfasts :)

Thank you! I recently built a decent work bench I could't understand why the holdfasts I ordered off Amazon were not working. Now I understand why and it makes perfect sense. .

I have the Grammercy ones. I noticed the lack of friction and took a hammer and cold chisel to them. It definitely helped. I have a three inch thick pine bench. I noticed that it held better near the legs than the middle. I figured there was just enough vibration that it didn't seat right. I either hit it harder or put my weight on the top while I hit.

How timely! I was just underneath my bench this weekend counterboring the holes a little more with the largest bit I had! And I probably couldn't gotten away with just filing my holdfasts a little...

Thanks, I have my holdfast (Grammercy) but haven't bored my holes yet. This lets me troubleshoot beforehand and thanks for the tip on gluing leather on.

I watched a video a while back that really helped me on mine from the English woodworker. Use a punch to "texture" the shaft (come on guys) and that really worked wonders fkr mine.

I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.

If you like to put linseed oil on your benchtop after you flatten it, DO NOT ever get any in the dogholes. I found the results of this rookie mistake kept mine from working well for a couple of months until it dried out. If your budget will stretch to it, look at the Crucible Tool (via Lost Art Press web site) holdfast, It is a 1" diameter ductile iron replica of a very old one found in a barn somewhere. I used them instead of the Gramacy ones I had on hand and can say they are a real treat. Apparently, 'back in the day' 1" was the done thing for the shafts...but like our lumber, things change to increase the profits. I much enjoyed this video...clear, concise and quick getting to the various points. Be careful with that linseed oil...and yeh, I don't coat the benchtop any more, it is a LOT more grippy without it. -Veteran '66-68

If you have a hard wood bench (like maple) and the holes are smooth inside rough them up with a rasp and the hold will increase tremendously. Course grit sand paper is also good for roughing up the shafts.

Thanks for the information. Very useful.

My douglas fir 2x top wasn't thick enough & the holes got wallered out. I glued a thin 2x under neath the holes & now they work much better.

Sir, I love you.

Another glue that can stick leather to metal properly is called "Fantastic Elastic". It may not be available outside the UK though.

Thank you James. Have not been able to get mine to hold on my new bench (a Chris Schwarz design with a fir top) and it has been p*ssing me off!

Gramercy holdfasts come with instructions suggesting you wrap sandpaper around the shaft and rotate the shaft to add circumferential texture. I did it with mine, and they work well.

A different channel suggested putting more material under the dog hole to thicken the bench in those areas. I bet that worked because there was better friction on the new contract points after the change. I like your suggestion to put a file to the holdfast for more friction.

I got a set of Grammercy holdfasts a few years ago, and needed to dimple them with a punch to get them to work. Then I forged a pair myself that work about the same. Now I've build a 9" thick doug fir bench. These holes I needed to back drill from the bottom oversize (that's a rough job with a 1" twist drill), and they still aren't working right. I may just need to file out any linseed oil that dribbled down in there. I made leather pads on my holdfasts, secured with Gorilla Glue, and they work just fine.

Yeah this has always been a frustration for me. I have hand forged holdfasts with file texture added, and a 4 inch thick bench made of shortleaf pine, and they have never worked. Several of my holes have a counterbore too, and it made no difference. Thanks for the info though, I’ve never seen anyone address this.

thank you James . wow from 55 to 65 then 80 to 90 at check out ???? good lord

5:00 I can confirm this; my gramercy holdfasts work fine in my 6” pine bench

I've got one hole in my bench that just won't grip my holdfast , so frustrating. Thanks for the tips

So many that's what she said moments...youre makaing it hard for me, ooooooh! 😂 oh i mean, thanks for the great advice lol. I was thinking about trying to make some wooden holdfast, but I doubt they'd work very well, or very long. Might as well bend rods on my own, ooooohhh that's what she said...D'oh!😂😂

I got gramercy holdfasts for my yet to be built bench. Hope they work!

I went with a 3 inch top and the bent rod hold fast.... I've never had a problem. I felt the bent rod gave me more spring than a forged equivalent which would be important in this type of application. I feel forged steel has it's place... I just don't feel it's the best fit for this type of stuff.... it's too stiff. Mark Bell

Course grit sand blasting them while glowing hot does the trick!

"Hold slow", you know James, reading my mind is invasion of privacy. I've even seen some blacksmiths bang up from under the bend to release the hold fast from their anvil, I wonder if the difference is that it is held in steel or iron instead of wood? I suppose on could bang an old tire iron about a bit after a good heat and make their own. Cut off half the socket, flatten the other half into the hold part, and heat the bend to bring it on over, then quench it to arrest the the bend at its new angle. I might have to try it and see how it works out in the long run. Although, I believe most of the ild tire irons I have lying around aren't 3/4" thick. But then again, my maple top is only 2" thick, so a 1/2" or 5/8" hold-fast would be worth drilling a few new holes in my cheap Harbor Freight bench for testing purposes. With the drawers in the bench, I'd have to drill new holes along the back for hold-fasts anyway.

I have cheap molded DCT Bench Holdfast Woodworking Tools - 8in Bench Holdfast Clamps Woodworking Bench Holddown Clamps, 2 Pack from Amazon from my laminated pine top low roman workbench. They aren't working. So far, I have tried running hot melt glue down the sides ... but I used too much glue and it just strips off when trying to insert the holdfast. The bench is 3.25 thick, pine 2.x4s. Two 3/4 holes were made with a spade bit; the other two holes were made with a fostner bit, but, behind the legs and I didn't have room to finish off the bottom of the holes from the bottom and drilled them entirely from the top so there's some blow out on the bottom. I think I can follow your idea to widen the holes on the bottom so the thickness of the wood for the holdfast is 2.5 inches. This would repair the blow out damage on the underside if it wasn't enough for the hold fasts to work well. I am not sure if thickness of the bench is an issue with my bench being 3.25 thick. I can also try filing some rough spots on the front and back side of the holdfast. I think it was really helpful for you to discuss and show people this aspect of holdfasts. I get slightly better performance with the holes drilled with the fostner bit. I notice that you do your holes with an auguer. What are the things about drill bits we should be aware of that impact the performance of holdfast holes? I am thinking that the holes need to be reasonably straight without edges between where I different drill bit was used or or if you go in from the top and bottom, like your supposed to, that the holes are aligned. The first two holes made with the spade bit are not perfectly aligned and have noticeable bumps or ridges when I insert my fingers. I am filing them flat with a round file but I am not an experienced filer. Perhaps these holes are too rough? I've got five holes the bench that I can tinker with and I have decided to finish the top of the workbench and do the remaining majority of important dog holes after the bench top has 3-4 layers of shellack (the bottom and legs already have 5-7 applications of shellack). I am hoping I get get these cheap holdfasts to work. chrisvonpimpenstein's trick of using musician's resin is appealing. I might try thinner layers of hot melt perhaps just on the top/back bottom/front faces of the holdfast first tho. One idea that's come up in other discussions is using a plastic or softmetal sleeve to repair benchfast holes. Do sleeves work? Material? er is dog hole one or two workds?

Hi James. This is a very helpful video. Thank you. I am just starting with holdfasts and I have a set of very cheap forged holdfasts from Rockler. They are the blue ones. They came with something else and I decided to give them a try. I really like them, when they hold, but frankly, they are SO BAD at holding that they make me want to walk into traffic. I'm planning on buying an entry level set (like Gramercy). I'm also going to give your filing tip a try on these cheap crappy rockler ones ones that I have. You said that you've broken your cheap ones in the past, and I'm on my way to that, myself, just banging and banging with no hold. I have to do something, so I'm heading for my file to mark these up, and then back to the browser to buy some better ones. My question is if you have an alternate mid-range suggestion that you would recommend over the Gramercy brand. I can probably afford ~40 or 50 for a set. Most of the hand forged units are ~150 for a set. I'm not ready to commit to hand forged, just yet. What can you recommend? If you don't have time to answer, please accept my thanks and appreciation for your work.

I believe it's also important for the angle between the pad and the shaft to be 80-85 degrees.

Have you seen the wooden holdfasts that Pask Makes has? They're pretty slick & I'm planning to make some soon just because they're so easy and available. 😁👍

There's another type. I have a couple sjoberg holdfasts. The posts have teeth and the pad is on another bolt that screws through the beam. I find these much faster to use and get a reliable bite without using a hammer.

great information thanks i have been having trouble with my hold fast, its a round rod one i heavily textured the shank but I have a hard time getting it to hold well. The bench is a pine 2x4 laminated bench. when I drilled the holes they went in crooked what should I do thanks Mike

What do you think of the Crucible holdfasts that are 1” diameter rough ductile iron?

Great video. I have a 30 year old bench/garage table I made years ago with 2x4s laid down wide. Is 1 3/4 inches deep enough for these to work? It would be cool to at least look like I have skills. Just retired...

In your opinion, what do you think about sandblasting the part of the shaft that “grabs” the bench?

Could you tell me the diameter of your holdfast shafts are and the diameter of the holes in your bench please? Just finished my bench and getting ready to drill the dog holes. Thanks for the great videos.

I giggled every time you said "hole" "friction" "ream" and "tightness". I'm not proud of it.

A common problem I noticed, especially on thinner benches, is over time the hole gets wider at top and bottom, creating a diagonal wall which the holdfast won’t attach to.

Hey, I just bought a pair of hand forged holdfasts off Etsy. The problem I have is that the heads are pretty small - smaller than the ones in the video - and the work-piece pivots on the bench. Is this something that happens with all hold fasts or do I need to send them back?

Since my top is only 1 1/2 plywood tick could i add a 3x3 maple edge on side of workbench with holes so i could use holdfast? Or any other ideas??? P.s. i dont have access to under my tabletop

I built Rex's $30 low Roman bench. That means 3.5" thick of whatever type of studs the big orange store had. My dog holes were made with a 3/4" spade bit. But I admit that I took the lazy route. I just drilled straight through from the top instead of finishing by drilling up through the bottom. I'm having mixed luck with my holdfast. I tried filing my holdfast and sanding my dog holes, but I'm still having mixed results. 3.5" shouldn't be an issue. But in your video, you did say that a bit thinner bench tops may work better. Because of this I'm considering counterboring the holes to make them thinner for the holdfasts. For my next troubleshooting step, do you think that flipping the bench over and counterboring the holes would be a wise choice? Is there any reason I'd regret it? If so, what depth would you recommend I target for my dog holes? 2"? 2.5"? I know it's not an exact science. But since my bench is cheap and light, flipping it over and trying this seemed like a good choice.

make a hold fast fast by not feeding it

If my bench top is 2x 3/4 plywood glue together can i used a holdfast in that type of materiel?

I’m building a bench and plan on doing mostly carving and some planing. Do I need hold fasts or just dogs? I didn’t want to drill all the way through my bench top if I didn’t need to do so. Thoughts?

i have a one and a half inch thick bench top, will a hold fast work on my bench?

Do you have anything stuck in your holes?

the beginning of this video made me laugh.

Would it work to coat the holdfast with beeswax to increase friction?

One point was misleading. Hand forged holdfasts can also have a 90⁰ angle at top rather than round, not just cast ones.

I'm curious, do the holes "wear out" over time? Like, they get compressed so much that they don't spring back again - can the hole eventually be too big to work with the holdfast? Is that something that can be repaired?

Is there any reason not to counterbore or ream the top instead of the bottom in a thick bench? It's a lot more convenient, should work, and should continue to behave in a couple of centuries when bench flattening has thinned the top.

What size hole to drill for a 5/8” holdfast? What size hole for a 3/4” holdfast? Thanks

Do you know if holdfasts are tempered?

48th.

07:08 watch this part without sound =))))))

I've been trying to figure out the name for these in my language for hours, so now I'm gonna ask here. If anyone knows the Danish name for these, or even better, where to get some in Denmark, please let me know! Big thanks in advance to anyone who helps. I'd very much appreciate some assistance.

Black bear has good holdfast but their reasoning and math are incorrect. They say it’s the angle that matters most. It’s actually torque. The length of the arm acting on the bench thickness is most important. Hole diameter can slightly change this. This is why Peter Ross charges $100 per HoldFast. No complaints it’s massive and will work in almost any bench. Friction coefficient dimples scores sanding etc help as well. Pretty simple to humans.

My bench is too thin to use hold fasts on

I forged my own pair of holdfasts, but I followed the old fashioned style where the horizontal part doesn't arch over in a curve, but rather has a sharp angle bend. I believe this geometry lends itself better to tightening and loosening with a single swat.

In the era of commercial woodworkers relying on holdfasts as a main tool, workbenches were almost invariably made from pine. Generally 2” think boards nailed side-by-side so the holdfasts were totally reliable.

Next video should be on how to make your own. Title should be 'How to make a holdfast FAST'. I'll see myself out.

I have a woodworking book that says the hole should be about 125% of the diameter of the holdfast. It also recommends that the bench top be AT LEAST the thickness of the holdfast. ("Jigs and Fixtures for the Hand Tool Woodworker", Graham Blackburn, Popular Woodworking.)

Your crazy

I chamfered the 3/4 holes just slightly, on my 4" maple top, and the loss of the crisp top edge really diminished the hold fast ability. It now comes loose too easily. bad mistake. Tom