Folks, I have an excellent Sjojberg work bench. Excuse my Swedish if I spelled that wrong.
The only problem is the dog holes. They are round but aren’t 3/4. Rather they seem to be 1 inch or possibly 25 millimeters.
Woodcraft sells one hold down that works with those holes, essentially a one-ended 1-inch pipe clamp, but the clutch on it slips so it doesn’t work. I’d love to have one of those wrung iron hold downs that you tap with a mallet, but I can’t find one that works. I’ve bought three different hold downs for 1-inch dog holes, the only ones I can find, and they all stink. 1 specs at one inch and is too wide to fit the holes, plus it is 16 inches long and thus would hit the cabinets below the bench top. And one broke while being tightened using hand pressure alone. Not good.
Any suggestions here, including possible vendors?
Replies
The only one inch holdfast that I know of is from Crucible.
They are getting tougher to find but I'm a huge fan of these; I have 3 of them, including one I cut down and four collars mounted.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275204253032?hash=item401373a568:g:7lEAAOSwNTdiKh2D
Sjoberg still make them .....
https://sjobergs.se/en/product/holdfast-qsh-33635/
..... so you should be able to find them at a US retailer who sells Sjoberg stuff. 19 or 20mm hold fasts are more prevalent these days but those linked to above show as 25mm diameter in the "product information".
The traditional bent metal bar hold downs at 25mm might be problematic, as the things work by getting bent in the dog hole when you wallop them with a beetle. A 19mm cross section bends a lot easier than a 25mm cross section.
Incidentally, I've recently been able to compare two 19mm bent round metal bar hold fasts - the Grammercy I've had for three years and some recently acquired ....
https://www.workshopheaven.com/simon-james-holdfasts-with-free-19mm-auger.html
The Simon James perform significantly better because they have some sort of fine grit finish that grips the dog 'ole much more easily than does the shiny metal finish of the Grammercy. It takes less beetle-wallop to make the Simon James grip, as well.
I might have to rough that Grammercy up a bit!
Lataxe
I found 7" hold-downs at MLCS. They're 3/4". You could plug the holes with 1" dowels and re-drill the holes.
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