A friend of mine showed me a hold-down that he uses a lot. It’s called a Gripmate and is made by Black and Decker. They fit into a 3/4″ dog hole and a lever on the top is engaged to clamp down the workpiece. They are quick to engage and disengage and no fiddling under the bench is required. It is made of steel. Apparently, a pair of these hold downs used to come with a workmate. I searched on the internet and had no results (can-openers came up a lot!). Does anyone know if they are still available?
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
– Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
Replies
Could this be what you're after?
Try searching for "hold down clamp"
http://www.justclamps.com/hold_downs.htm
I've seen those. They do work very well and secure work very well. However, they require you to reach under the bench. What I'm looking for is a cross between that and a wrought-iron hold fast (the kind you whack).Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
What I'm looking for is a cross between that and a wrought-iron hold fast (the kind you whack). ?
Wood is like a women.. You NEVER want to say 'wack'! to her.. Clamp her down is best approach! She may hit you back and then some! Hold her down in loving jesters she may go fer' It!
Not B&D, but Veritas. I have one and it's great.
View Image
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=31149&cat=1,41637
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I love it!
Hammer down clamp WITH an adjustment if you hit it to hards!
LOL LOL
Well, not exactly. You don't need to hammer it. Just snug it up by hand and give the knob a turn or two and yer good to go!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I have two of these Gripmates. In fact, they were made precisely to use with the Workmate, as the Routermate, another accessory to use with the Workmate. I bought all of these in the early 80's and the Workmate is the only item I actually see in stores. The Gripmates may probably be found in yard sales or flea markets. An other option could be sending a email to Black & Decker and ask if they are still available and where.
By the way, the Routermate is great since it mounts on the Workmate and you feed the stock under the router, giving an overhead routing option for milling. Great !
Good luck.
Serge
- Learn from yesterday, work today, and enjoy success tomorrow -
http://www.atelierdubricoleur.org
This clamp, part of a jig from The Craftsman Gallery, looks like it would function like the oine you describe. I have no idea where to get just the clamp.
Edited 7/13/2008 3:47 pm ET by DonaldCBrown
Donald,
You and Mike Hennessy are kind of on the right track. The two items you two have mentioned are adjusted above the table, but require turning the knob to apply pressure. This works, and applies a lot of pressure, however a lever works much quicker - 2 seconds to clamp, tops.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
A picture worths thousand words. Here they are:
How about a try on eBay !
Good luck.
Serge
- Learn from yesterday, work today, and enjoy success tomorrow -
http://www.atelierdubricoleur.org
Here is one on my solutions for a quick and cheap holdfast:
Drill few holes in a board to slip in the threaded shaft of a vise clamp or locking clamp (see mine at http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=46046&cat=1,43838,43845). When the vise clamp is installed on the board, clamp the board on the edge of your workbench and you're ready to clamp and unclamp as fast and as you can.
On the attached photo I was using it evidently to drill many pocket holes. This is definitively faster than using the Kreg clamp in this situation.
I admit that you are limited to the edge of the workbench, but as I mentionned, this is one of my solutions. By the way, Kreg makes a bench clamp which can be installed or inlayed anywhere on your workbench. Take a look at: http://kregtool.com/products/pht/product.php?PRODUCT_ID=68 But it's not cheap !
Best,
Serge- Learn from yesterday, work today, and enjoy success tomorrow -
http://www.atelierdubricoleur.org
Afew years back I decided to make/buy a more permanent router table. My wife, having good intentions, bought me a craftsman router table at a garage sale for $15. It came with a small bag of accessories. The only router that would fit underneath was an old 3.4HP Craftsman router I had received as a gift when I started woodworking (Why do people always give craftsman tools), so the table was never used. About two years ago my wife planned a garage sale, so I put it up for sale. When I was checking the accessory bag I found two gripmates. I pulled them out only half knowing what they are.
In the end they're just one of those lucky things in life. I use them all the time for light duty holding. Well worth the net $5 we would have paid for them after all was said and done.
BTW, for the record my wife has relaized not to buy me tools... Unless it says Veritas or Lie Nielsen on it.
Clamp her down is best approach! She may hit you back and then some! Hold her down in loving jesters she may go fer' It!
<a href='http://www.blackanddeckerparts.net/'>Black and Decker</a>
<a href='http://www.blackanddeckerparts.net/'>Black and Decker Parts</a>
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