Hand Forged Hold Fasts -MADE IN CANADA

http://www.liveironforge.ca/index.html

 

  Yesterday I rode my Honda Silverwing from the noise and traffic of the city to the green and rolling hills of farm country about 90 minutes north.  The ride was fabulous, I think I enjoy riding my Maxi-Scooter as much as I like working in my shop. (maybe more on a sun shiny summer day). I was headed for Holstein Ontario to talk business with Mr. Anthony Moore, blacksmith. I had met Mr. Moore several years ago at a wood show and had been immediately impressed with his work and ideas.

fine tools, highly regarded from Gamercy tools

    When I went looking for forged bench hold fasts I discovered there are none for sale, made in Canada. Buying tools from the United States can sometimes be very costly, smaller suppliers do not do enough cross border business to have favourable shipping and handling rates. So while our dollar is strong the shipping charges preclude doing business by making the total bill not cost effective.

  
    So, being stubborn by nature I did some research on hold fasts and it was clear would need to find a "real" blacksmith (not a farrier) to make me hold fasts.  Enter Mr. Anthony Moore.

   
    The visit to his forge was enlightening.  Anthony does very fine artistic iron work but also makes small useful objects, e.g. hinges, railings, hold fasts etc.  The time involved in actually making the hold fast, once the round stock is fully heated is not long, a few minutes.  we are paying for the years of experience and tools, not the few minutes that this task requires. As woodworkers we know that experience and the proper tools do not fall from the sky.  For example the bending bench that Anthony worked on was way cool.  I have never seen anything like that before and didn't really know such a thing existed. With that bench the job is straight forward, without it?!?  While I love wood, it was a joy to watch a skilled craftsman work, I almost wanted to be a black smith instead of a woodworker.

     The hold fast is 5/8 round stock and works like a charm.  A couple of hits with the mallet it sets firm and a couple of more hits on the shaft and it comes loose.  I now have to drill 5/8 dog holes in my bench and put a skirt along one side for edge planning. 
    
   Often the hold fasts are made from 3/4 stock.  3/4 stock was too heavy, ugly and unnecessary so after making a couple of prototypes we went with 5/8in round mild steel.  It means that I need to drill a couple of 5/8 holes and I expect that I will plug most of the 3/4 dog holes that have sprouted on my bench top over the years since I won't use the related tools any more.
    
    Look to this blog and thetoolstore.ca to see if an accommodation can be made and Canadian Made hold fasts come to the retail market.

I BUY AND PAY FOR ALL THE TOOLS  THAT I USE IN MY SHOP. SO I SAY WHAT I MEAN AND MEAN WHAT I SAY.