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Holdfast


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Would a bent holdfast made from 1045 round bar work well (I also have 1018 and live near Speedy Metals)? Should the iron be heat treated and tempered after forging to make it more springy? Relatively new to the game so please forgive rather rudimentary question. Thanks in advance. 

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@TechnicusJoe recently took over an amazing blacksmith shop in France and is awash in new gear and tooling.  His video on those French anvils with the side exit hardy holes is worth the watch.  I've begged him to get back here and give us a walk through of his shop but he is busy with the new business and has slow internet as well.  His first question was, "Do they have the chat working yet?"

Watch the videos for sure,; he has fallen upon an amazing opportunity. 

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Hold downs work using a combination of length, hight, very modest spring load, and wedge angle (some mystical ratio of hole diameter, shaft diameter, and hole depth.) If you have an oddly shaped hole you will need to play around with the variables to find what works for you.  

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Judson, DUDE! You posted a statement about playing around with your "oddly shaped hole!" Are you TRYING TO KILL ME!?? :o You know how hard it is for me to resist a straight line and that one would get me moderated if not banned outright. :unsure:

You are a cruel CRUEL man, curse you!

Frosty The Lucky.

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As I recall Bill Moran had a hold down that went from side to side on the heel with a handle on the middle top and then the legs going down the sides of the anvil to meet underneath and hook onto a spring.  Of course he used it for knifemaking. (And if you are into knives and don't know who Bill Moran was; it's high time you learned!)

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Can you post a pic from the book?

I don't like reposting (or linking to reposts of) other people's copyrighted material, but if you do an online image search on "William F. Moran" + anvil + hold + down, you should get a picture of it pretty easily.

(And yes, I know I've posted images from The Complete Modern Blacksmith in the past, but that was before a patent attorney friend gave me a talking-to.)

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Once you get the hang of it, hold fasts are easy and fast to make on the spot. I have some that hold close to the pritchel  hole for a solid hold, some hold closer to the center of the anvil for better effect forging heavier stock and ones designed to hold projects close to the edge of the anvil and the hardy hole so I can work on projects with shoulders or heads like RR spike heads. See the RR spike wizard for an example of a project that a hold fast close to the edge or hardy hole comes in very handy.

There are lots of different ways to hold your work in the anvil, none are perfect do alls. If you come up with something you haven't seen that works, please remember, we LOVE pics. ;)

Frosty The Lucky.

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So for my little striking anvil I made a regular shaped holdfast with the 1045 square rod. Works fine but there isn’t much room because of the short work surface. So I then experimented with a really goofy looking holdfast that leans back to give me a few extra inches on the other side where it holds the work. Seems to secure things pretty well:

 

 

 

 

A229337B-948E-4183-9B3E-9A9F056640AC.jpeg

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