Blacksmithing Project - Forging The Hold Fast

[@AristonSparta]

I’ve only just started forging, maybe less than a week in, and was able to make one of these that functions perfectly with your astute instruction. Thank you!

[@sherwoodlayton9595]

I particularly like the way you explain the mechanics of what you are doing. Very good information, thank you.

[@wildhorseoutdoors7659]

a great how to very informative and user friendly this was exactly what I was looking for hope there's even more to come.

[@df-intheshop330]

Thanks - If you check my channel page I have a playlist with all my project videos.

[@philweis5621]

thank you. im fascinated by the practice that goes into the art of blacksmithing, and your explination has shed a lot of light on something that i want to build for my woodshop.

[@TalRohan]

I put a thumb end on one of mine ....made my mentor smile but it was totally aesthetic ...long since lost now but its time to make another one.

[@buddyletendre]

I love your videos. Thank you for sharing this wealth of knowledge. Always a pleasure.

[@ThorHarrison]

Thanks so much. Awesome tutorial. A friend and I gave it a shot today using and old chuck of crowbar. That was a great part of your video letting the viewer know what scrap metal would be useful to use. It turned out great, not pretty but it works. Thanks again.

[@df-intheshop330]

That's great - The first one is never pretty but that how you learn.

[@joemmams5785]

seriously,thanks for what you're doing...

[@johnjude2685]

Love the way you did this,As always your a great teacher. I've build several and now seeing a few things I did wrong and need to address. Something like that welding to help hold making for less work. Thanks for the teaching Sir

[@tompok76tompok76]

Thank you very much for your nice and easy explanation and demonstration. Really helpful.

[@vasverebpitti9234]

Thanks, and congratulations, it's really good help for the daily work.

[@silversurfer233]

Beautiful art..I want one for my bench!

[@timothyjuarez5306]

This is some seriously great info. Keep it up!

[@WhisperingMyth]

I was so happy to see this as the next video I was going to watch (I'm going through your library, lol) b/c I noticed the hold fast in the last video with the vice insert and was wonder what it was. I'm finding these to be so informative, I'm really glad you're taking the time to do them. Thanks, Denis!

[@buckzillakiller]

Hey thanks for quality videos very informative

[@johnjude2677]

I made me 3. Thanks good to see a master or someone just know Blacksmithing

[@bentoombs]

I love the square style. 👍👍🔨on

[@dttyson1078]

DF, thanks for a solid tutorial - again. This was exactly the info I needed to recreate this specific tool and style. Question: would you get a similar upset if you didn't weld those tabs, and did a more traditional process by holding the bar vertically and driving down on one end?

[@df-intheshop330]

You could but usually this is done by forging a larger bar down and leaving the material for the square corner. This was just an alternative if you do not have a large enough bar to start with. It worked but I didn't get the extra mass I needed in the corner to get that really sculptural shape.

[@dttyson1078]

@@df-intheshop330 Roger that. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[@dttyson1078]

@@df-intheshop330 Knocked one of these out today. It turned out rather well. Too bad I can't post you up some pictures - or I'm too much of a ludite to figure it out.

[@jimp7181]

This is towards the top of the list for my blacksmithing goals - I found a cast holdfast once, and it broke on the first use. I'll forge my own. I understand that the difference or ratio between the holdfast shaft and hole in the bench is important - what do you recommend this way?

[@df-intheshop330]

I've never found any information on how to size the hole in relation to the stock used for the holdfast but it does need to be a fairly close fit to work well. Once the holdfast starts to angle too far away from vertical it gets a lot harder to set and it can be knocked loose very easily.

[@jimp7181]

Thanks!

[@jamessimpson215]

awesome; great work

[@FUGYOO]

Informative. Thanks.

[@RFAM05]

Brilliant!

[@johnjude2677]

Thanks...My tiny anvil make spring steel almost hopless

[@cigarcaptain]

I needed this, thanks. Will an old tire iron work for this?

[@RTOHIO]

Should be a great raw material. Most really old tire irons were made from straight carbon steel of about 75 points of carbon, also used for axes, knives, springs or any use requiring high strength. Post WWII the better ones contained alloys for increased strength and hardenability but would be equally suitable for this application

[@fisharefriendsnotfood3125]

Great video! Which style do you prefer and why?

[@df-intheshop330]

I find they both work equally well but the forged corner ( rather than upset ) does have a much nicer look.

[@alfredorodriguez5945]

Perdon por la pregunta, pero no entendi cual es mejor

[@pop642007]

I tried making one from an old crow bar and I couldn't get it to work for anything. I have a double horn peddinghaus anvil and the pritchel hole depth is about 4 and 1/2". I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but as I said it just wouldn't work. Any ideas?

[@df-intheshop330]

Hold fasts seem to work better if the main shaft is held in a vertical position. For a shallow hole that means you will need a very close fit between the hold fast and the pritchel hole. If the fit is too sloppy you don't get the wedging action that you need and they release very easily. My anvil has a pritchel hole that is oval on the underside of the anvil. I can only get my hold fast to work in one area of the anvil. Once it falls into that oval slot and starts to angle too far backwards it stops working.

[@pop642007]

Ya it's a pretty good fit, my pritchel is 7/8" and the holdfast is 3/4". Maybe not enough spring? I tried thinning it through the bend to give it more flex but it didn't work.

[@df-intheshop330]

I'm wondering if there is a correct proportion between the length of the clamping arm and the diameter of the shaft that we need to figure out? I've made hold fasts for workbenches and never had any problems because the clamping arm on them tend to be much longer. On anvils you have less room so you tend to make the clamping arm much shorter - maybe that is where the problem is? Try welding an extension to the front of the pad to extent the arm by 4-5 inches and see if that makes any difference.

[@TheBigMamao]

"This one gave me a fair amount of trouble. I must have learned to weld at some point." Nice one! If you're looking for sloppy, easily broken welds with lousy penetration, I can offer you my services! Crappy welds seem to be my specialty.

[@scottleft3672]

upsetting spring steel for a mallet head masons chisel WAS on my to do list.

[@caseysteele2243]

Does this need to be heat treated at all before use or is it just air cooled?

[@bwilson5002]

Watch @ the 1:00 minute mark

[@johnjude2685]

I am planning to ruff underneath the foot as a hammer head

[@jackhammer6803]

can you also put it in the hardy hole?

[@df-intheshop330]

You would not be able to use the same one. If you wanted to use the hardy hole you would need to build one to fit.

[@jackhammer6803]

Thanks!

[@AfricanSouthernCross]

Not quite sure what is meant by "upsetting the steel", does that perhaps mean you are adding more tension or spring into the steel ?....please inform me if anyone knows, thank you.

[@df-intheshop330]

Upsetting is the opposite of drawing down a bar and it refers to the process of driving the metal back into the bar to make the it shorter and thicker. Sometimes ( if you are not using a power hammer ) it is easier to make a small section thicker than to start with a big larger bar and draw down everything else.

[@BevisStevens]

Thanks for this! Dum question: Why didn't you just use the crow bar as is? Doesn't it have the correct form for a hold down already?

[@df-intheshop330]

This video is about how to build the classic example of that tool - not going into a junk pile and finding something that would work as a hold down. That's why I started blacksmithing. I really appreciate and enjoy using tools that are finely crafted and well designed and I wanted to be one of those people that could do that. I was happy just jamming a crow bar into an anvil this channel would not exist. I hope someday you will see the difference - not too many people do anymore.

[@jamescopeland5358]

I will hammer one out thx

[@นันธิดาช่วยหนู-ณ2ฝ]

สุดยอดเลย

[@althesmith]

I image PGS (1045-1050) should work well for this.

[@df-intheshop330]

That's right the steel in crowbars isn't any harder than that.

[@MediaWhored]

Liked Sub Comment . Thank you

[@ЯнаШарикаева]

Когда я смотрю в ютубе видео по кузнечному делу' то многие кузнецы истользуют пространство под яйцами как третью руку' дак вроде бы они нам показывают' как использовать и как изготовить такой зажим для наковальни' они сами в своей роботе этот зажим не используют 'а только показывают как его сделать' абсурд какой то.