The Holdfast and the Batten - Tail Vice Alternative For Hand Tool Woodworking
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 17 июн 2013
- A sturdy workbench is essential for hand tool woodworking. You need to be able to clamp your work in many different ways, but good woodworking vises can be expense and complex to install. This alternative method makes use of a traditional holdfast and simple home made batten with a bird's mouth notch. Combined you can secure work down to your workbench top quickly and effectively for planing both with and across the grain.
For more hand tool tips and discussions please head over to our website www.TheEnglishWoodworker.com
I saw this video about 4 years ago. I never purchased a tail vise and I now you the batten method.
Miss your refreshing take on woodworking, wish you were still posting
Works a charm. I inset a bit of old saw blade into the short arm to help keep the workpiece down.
You have shown me a solution to a problem I have been tussling with for some time when planing stock.Simple brilliance, thanks so much.
This "primitive method" is by far the most sophisticated. Anything that saves time and is quicker is by far the best!
Hold your work using this one little trick. Tail vise manufacturers hate him!
FAR FAR prefer traditional hand tools and holdfasts...and now battens, thanks.
i have just completed a roubo style workbench.. complete with leg and tail vices. sliding deadman, holdfasts and doesfeet (w hat you call a batten). all have their uses :)
I confess to having a vice for vices... but I have long been a fan of this video. So much so, that I have been cruising the internet looking for a good Roubo style holdfast (without breaking the bank) so that I can give your holdfast and batten method a go. Cheers!
Super video! You saved me a couple of hundred dollars. Thanks!
That is absolutely brilliant!
Awesome! I love my holdfasts, this just doubled their usefulness!
I have an 8 foot + workbench because the average room height is 8 foot, and working on longer pieces than the drawer sized pieces you showed is not uncommon. I also like making tables and so I need to be able to use the full width of my bench. While holdfasts are super as you demonstrated, the tail vise does a lot they don't. If you look at Roubo benches from a period when ceiling were much higher, they were enormously long, And that allow you to coral larger pieces with holdfast, so if you have the space, why not. The nice thing about a tail vice is you can have a meets all modern needs bench on a 7 foot bench with a tail vice. That was the point of the Klauzs design.
So what are the downsides of a tail vise:
1) cost is often advertised as a problem, with people selling hardware that costs hundreds of dollars. But the standard setup only requires a single screw, which can be made of wood in a home shop, or single metal screw that costs 39 dollars, which is about the cost of a holdfast, or pair of holdfasts depending on quality.
2) There is the complexity of building tail vises, but the flip side of that is that it is woodworking, and the people who want them are woodworkers.
I've used battens and holdfasts, but the notched batten is something new to me. Fantastic method.
Used it for years and its great!!!!
I wish I had known about this before I built my current bench. The old methods continually surprise me.
Skillful use of a batten & holdfast.
I love the simplicity !!
Thanks a lot for sharing this! Excellent idea, those old folks knew a lot...
LOVE the Moxon bench!
They call the batten a does foot sometimes. Well whatever people call it ,it certainly works and works very well. Actually the holdfast and batten can be used anywhere the top is thick enough ,whereas the expensive vice is fixed.
Excellent alternative to an end vise. Extremely well done
I don't know how I missed this! Great little tip as ever!!!
Well I tried this method and it works great. I needed to put a set of drawer bottom rebates in a pair of drawers and used a small batten to hold the work for this task. My current bench has no dog holes or forged holdfast's, so I used a tempory screw stop and screwed the notched batten to the bench. It worked briliant, thanks for the tip, very useful!
heers Jonathan
What a clever idea!
Nothing but the best. Both bench and holdfast/jig combo.
I'll second that... Great idea, will be trying it shortly
Awesome, I'm gonna try this today!
I am a retired Sign Painter, in fact - most of us here in America were forced to retired by reason of the automatic sign presses and computerized vinyl letters, which made dinosaurs of us who, after seven or so years of apprenticeship became highly skilled hand lettering artists. Though I labored harder and longer to keep up with the pace of the new age of uninspired 'vinyl lettering' simple economics overtook me...and I wished I had been a Woodworker instead. Yes, I well know the angst of those who were swept away in the tide of Circumstance.
Grate video Richard, I will be trying this one. Thanks buddy
Exelant method! Thanks :)
I like simple. I like cheap even more. I believe I'll give this a try. Thanks.
This is an awesome method that I have never seen before. The notched board method. Thanks!
Excellent...you just made the solution to my problem simpler. Will try this today!!
Brilliant...I will have a batten made this afternoon and I will use it forever more. Greetings from Chicago!!!
Thanks, been looking for an idea such as this, great stuff.
This is super! Thanks
Just made me a quick one, with some md lying around, works perfectly. Our ancestors sure rocked!
Simple, practical and cheap solution for many, thank you
This is elegant, it is exactly what you need and no more.
What a brilliant simple idea, I'm making a new bench at the moment, and will definitely try this method, thank you.
Great Informative Video, Thank You!!
Wow i'm glad i found this video. I made a similar board but without the 90 degree cut and your setup, it would slide out on me... can't wait to try this.
I think this is much better than the tail vice. Thanks!
brilliant. many thanks
Love it, I will be using this method
I have to try this, but looking at your video, looks promising, it's a fantastic idea and so simple, thanks.
Great! I like being able to reposition the work piece without constantly adjusting the holdfast.
I love this old idea. End vice is also a great feature for other tasks.
Simply SMASHING!
Simple and efficient is always good. Simple efficient and cheap is brilliant.
thanks for the tips
Awesome. The old timers were brilliant. Not sure we've improved much over the years. I will certainly be using this holdfast and batten method. Thx for having the RUclips channel.
Hi, I have an extremely small shed for my work area and there is no room for an end vice. My worries are now over! Thank you for showing a great piece of historical craft. Regards Martin
Awesome! Thank you.
I think I'll make one of these, great thank you.
Thankyou very much. I don't have a bench that I can fit a tail vise to. This is a really neat solution. : )
I have used this for years with great satisfaction. No end vise needed!
I'm just setting out building a bench ... and after seeing this there is no way I'm putting in a tail vise. Thank you.
I LOVE my holdfasts. I would never have a tail vise. I have a leg vise (bought the Veritas shoulder vise screw and built the rest of the leg vise from wood) and a deadman for vertical holding. The holdfast works on the top and in the deadman. I learned about holdfasts in woodshop in grammar school about fifty years ago and when I built my own bench, I bought the holdfasts before I finished the bench.
I'd like to echo the comments of others. Well done videos with some great "lost" techniques. I find I enjoy the traditional methods so much more than the modern machinery-dependent work which is why I'm a subscriber to one of your compatriots, Paul Sellers. I've never seen this technique and do hope you post many more little-known, old-world methods. Thanks so much from across the pond.
Oh well I have just cancelled my idea of getting a tail vice. Thanks Richard this is fantastic 😊👌🏼
Thanks for the info! 👍
This is great fantastic, i will set off making it. thanks
Outstanding.
Very super!!!! Thank you.
Fantastic old ideas are the best and money saving too . A batten and holdfast versus the cost of a multi million dollar end visa ha ha
Thank you very much. I knew about that technique, but you amazingly clear explained the idea of the method. I obviously missed it.
Brilliant!
Excellent! I now know the next addition for my workbench!
Richard, you have a great voice for woodworking and you should definitely speak in more of your videos (I can't believe I wasn't already subscribed). All the best!
A must for my shop
I was contemplating a workbench re-build to provide room for a tail vise. After viewing this I think I'll save my money and use this technique. Thank you for sheading light on this very common problem.
Im fulling my workbench of gadgets like this instead of classical vises. So im looking for more methods like this
I really enjoy your videos . I am very much a follower off the less is more aproche and This just simple math . They where clever bastards in the old days . Gretings from Denmark
just perfect i also enjoy good oldfashiond woodwork i have 3 benches and no tail vice wen i wanted my holdfast!s i went to my local blacksmith and had 2 made from 3/4" stock
and total cost for the 2 was £28 a real bargain and will last a lifetime holdfasts are very much underated i also have a record holdfast from a bootsale £5 keep up the good work
simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
(da Vinci)
Crackin video thanks. I'll give that a go.
This was great! Researching before building my first bench. I will not add a tail vise, for sure.
I installed a tail vise for the just in case situation, but use the holdfast and batten often. And as chance would have it, I'm glad I installed the tail vise to handle wood carving projects.
This looks awesome. I'm just starting out in woodworking (still collecting basic tools; haven't made anything yet) and this system looks super simple to the point of encouragement. I haven't built a bench yet, and I think I'll try this out for my first bench build. Thanks for doing this video!
I do like vices as they seem really versatile, but they also appear more complex to build and involves more moving, store bought parts.
I am happy to say I do not have a vice on my bench and so far no problems work holing at all. Great share.
This was great
This works great. I show it off in my classes now - and use it when I'm not at my own bench (which does have a wagon vice). You're right, that its easy, fast and foolproof. You *do* need to have a hold fast that actually works though, many of the modern styles just don't do the job.
I will start with hold fasts. good advice for me.
I really need to thank you again !!! I don't understand me myself ! Why did I wait so long to get me a holdfast at least. So easy !!! That's the door to liberty !!!On top of it, one hour ago I just tuned down me harp to A 432 instead of that ugly A 440 .Looks like everything opens up today.
Lol
Quality man I'm in progress off sorting wood out to make my own bench I can go 6ft long even 8ft max but I'll between 6ft and 7 n half ft b better I was looking a the split roubo one but now after looking more into the English joinery Nicholson work bench I will be making that's I'm very new to woodworking and I will try and keep it just to hand tools I think hand tools and may be or will take longer but I would rather have a nice quality work bench than a rushed and uneven one lol cheers, people like your self make me want to do more so thank you
A tailvice is like the industrialisation overcomeing the old good tecnics and leading into a more modern and lacy lifestyle.
Very nice.
Nice, I think I've seen one other person use this method, I believe the notched board is called a "doe's foot". I am making a wagon vice for my bench because i think its a fantastic workholding option (i currently have a twin screw moxon-ish vise on one face and am planning a leg vise on the opposite side) and I enjoy making things that would be expensive to buy but until I'm done and perhaps even after depending on the situation, that is a great work holding option that I had completely forgotten about, thanks!!
brill idea ime going to try it out bud
My bench (that I built) has only a cast iron front vise…no tail vise. I looked at wagon vises, but they are so expensive. I have a planing stop on the left end of the bench, and three holdfast holes in the top. I really like your tip here and I'm going to make a batten tomorrow! Thanks for the tip!
the old way is great. For one I don't have a lot of tools and the modern way is way to much money. Love your videos!
I think this old metodo is simple and efficient holding tool and I will tried it in my new Homemade Roubo woodworking bench .
My end vice hasn't been used for years , since an old tradesman showed me this method. It's quick and very effective but isn't always the answer. I still use dogs and clamps for routing ,to allow the work to over hang the edge of the bench. The other ,more pain than gain, accessory on a bench is the sliding dead man. A few holes and a holdfast beat it in every way. Cheers
Thanks 😊
Far prefer these early ways. And this is a prime example!
Never had an end vise, and don't miss it.
Very clever, years old but I have never seen!
Very good
While I would love to have a tail vise like you have(really a tail vise at all), the batten has served me well.
Lovely video..easy to watch and listen to...well lit.
My friend...make more vids...so enjoyable and informative.
Subscribed...of course !
Exactly my thoughts.
Are vices even necessary with the proper stops and hold fast.
Keep up the good work.