Idea for item to sell

[irnsrgn]

This might be a good item to make up and sell at demos, there are lots of woodworkers out there.

Just make sure the shank will go thru a standard 3/4 inch hole easily.
10 inches is a good length for the shank with 8 inches of usable length.

[plain ol Bill]

Neat idea and good looking work! You're right there are a LOT of woodworkers out there and I don't remember seeing a hold down like that unless you went to a specialty type store. How thick is the hold down foot (looks like about 3/16 - 1/4")

[Matthew Groves]

JR is right about these selling. The ones you can buy easily from the catalogs are cast and very close to junk.

Some guys sell em with a leaf for the foot that's been brass brushed. You might also sell larger and smaller ones than can be found in the usual catalogs.

[Nolano]

I know someone who uses his holddown both for his anvil, and for his bench, but I never thought to try to sell them before. Thats a pretty good idea. But, Im pretty sure they should be made from spring steel, coil springs make good ones if you let it normalize when you're done.

[Rich Waugh]

There's no need at all for them to be spring steel. Plain old mild steel works just fine. Probably better, as the design of these makes a pretty severe stress riser at the change from round to flat or square. When you smack one with a hammer to set it, you don't want it to snap in two.

All steel has pretty much the same "springiness"; higher carbon steels just allow you to bend it farther before it yields. With a holddown, there is no need for it to bend much, so no need for higher carbon.

[irnsrgn]

3/4 cold rolled round roughed up with a sanding wheel a bit and 1//4 by 1 flat arc welded to the top and then heated and forged a bit. The board contact foot should have a slight radius to the bottom so it doesn't mark the work with a sharp corner.

[cheftjcook]

Hello Irnsrgn, I have hard people call them "bench dogs" or a bench dog of sorts. I have tried a cheap version in my wood working and it was horrible. I ended up buying a better version with a spring clamp. Still drops in a drilled hole in the bench and wedges in to place.
Funny thing for me is as I got more into Blacksmithing I brought it into the garage and it fit right into the pritchle hole works on the same principle.

I do believe you are correct, a quality forged Item as you described would be welcomed by wood workers, because as i said before some of the store bought are very "cheesy" not worth the money or aggravation they cause

[irnsrgn]

bench dog is a short pin that goes in a hole in the bench and one in the vise to tighten up to hold pieces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_dog

[Nolano]

How I made mine, was I just used a single piece of round steel, and bent it into a 7ish shape, with a flattened leaf like part at the end. I may get a picture of it one of these days.

[Ellen]

Irnsign, great idea. What would be a fair price for something like this? Thanks.

[cheftjcook]

I stand corrected IRNSRGN, Thank you for correcting me as I miss spoke.
The proper name, as sold buy "ROCKLER Woodworking & Hardware" is a
"4-1/4'' Reach Hold-Down Clamp" The bench Hold down... Use this clamp for wedging the workpiece against your bench. 4-1/4'' reach. 8-1/4'' long. 11/16'' diameter and is sold for $9.99 each.
I still do believe you have a great Idea to sell a hand forged version to serious wood workers.

[Michael]

I've always known them to be called Holdfasts. Roy Underhill of the woodwright's shop uses them. The cast versions from tool stores are junk. A holdfast was my first blacksmithing project and I've done a few more with newbie smithing friends, mostly hand tool using neaderthals, a group in which I proudly include myself.

http://www.wdynamic.com/galoots/4images/details.php?image_id=2525

Crude but effective.

IIRC there's a smith in Alaska, Koontz I think, who makes a set, a small and large, with the brass brushed leaf end on it, for $80 or $90 for the set.

Michael