holdfasts not holding after I put BLO in the holes

[Jeff Skory]

After I initially drilled the holes in my workbench (3/4" since I read that was standard) I tried out the holdfasts I bought from Jr. Worked great. Then I put BLO in the holes since I had already put it on the rest of the workbench. Didn't think anything about it and could swear I read about several other people doing this.

Apparently the wrong thing to do since now the holdfasts don't hold any more.

What's the best way to remove the BLO from the holes?

Jeff

[David Keller NC]

Mineral spirits, but you'd better act fast before the BLO sets up. You may need to do this outside because of the concentration of fumes, but buy a bag of rags from your local auto parts store, and soak them in mineral spirits (the cheap kind - "paint thinner"), and stuff them down into the holes. Wrap the top and bottom surface of the bench with painter's plastic, and let it set for several hours.

Then unwrap the bench, take the soaked rags out, wring them out in a bucket of mineral spirits, and repeat. It may take several rounds, but so long as the BLO hasn't cured, it will preferentially migrate into the soaked rags.

This is an excellent example of why putting a finish on a bench is not always a good idea.

[Jeff Skory]

David,

No chance of doing this outside. I have some low-odor mineral spirits. I have all the holes stuffed so I'll let them sit for a while. The BLO has been in there for about 24 hours.

Before I treated the bench I read lots of threads and that seemed to be the most common finish for the bench. Even Chris Schwartz recommended it in his book. Go figure.

Well, hopefully this will do the trick.

[glenn bradley]

If the BLO has only been in there 24 hours, you may have a few days to wait till it is completely cured to know how this will or won't effect your holddowns. It is an oil so at the point when it is still gassing off, I would expect slippage. At this point you have a pretty decent amount of absorbtion. Your MS treatment won't hurt but simply allowing a few days for the oil to cure may be all you need to do.

[Jeff Skory]

Glen, I hope you're right. I have already pulled the rags out because I don't feel good about leaving them in for too long in the basement. I'll let it go for a few days and see what happens.

[glenn bradley]

Please let us know the result. Good luck.

[Jim Koepke]

Glen, I hope you're right. I have already pulled the rags out because I don't feel good about leaving them in for too long in the basement. I'll let it go for a few days and see what happens.


If the holes are aligned to a tail vice, you could drill a few more holes for holdfasts only.

My bench now has a few new holdfast holes to hold long boards being edge planed and shop made bench accessories like shooting boards.

jim

[Jeff Skory]

Please let us know the result. Good luck.

Will do.

I also had one other crazy thought if it doesn't. Jr.'s holdfasts are a fair bit smaller than 3/4". So my thought was to paint the inside of the hole with a thin layer of that rubber stuff that you can dip tool handles in. Thought that would give it a lot of grip. The downside of course is that it makes the hole a little bit smaller. I might try it in a thick piece of scrap and then clamp that scrap in the leg vise and see how it works.

[Jeff Skory]

If the holes are aligned to a tail vice, you could drill a few more holes for holdfasts only.

jim

No tail vise on my bench, just a leg vise. No worries. If things don't work out I'm ok with drilling new holes or maybe trying out my crazy idea of the rubberized paint stuff. I'm a flexible guy that can roll with the punches. :D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Maybe some of that anti-skid paint?

[george wilson]

DON"T USE TOOL DIP!!!!!! That will make it worse.

[harry strasil]

Jeff make sure you get all the lubricant, BLO, off the shanks of the holddowns

[Jeff Skory]

George and Jr. - ok and ok. Advise accepted.

[Jim Koepke]

You might try rolling some sandpaper around the holdfast with the abrasive side out. Leave the sandpaper in the hole if it wants to stay.

jim

[Jeff Johnson]

Could always abrade the shank of the holdfast with the corner of a mill file. Give 'er some bite.

[Keith Christopher]

Drive in some dowels and re-drill. :)

[Prashun Patel]

How much BLO did you put on? It's end grain, it should absorb pretty much all of the first 2 coats.
I doubt you'd get it all out with a rag.

A couple 'wacky' things to try:

1) abrade the interior of the hole with some 150gt sandpaper.

2) PAINT the interior of the hole with an oil based primer.

Either suggestion improve the friction. Truth be told, I think your problem is just that the holes are 'oily'. Once cured, I don't think you'll have an issue.

[george wilson]

I thought of abrading the holdfast. I did that very thing on an old blue Marples I have. But,I was afraid the holdfast would chip the edges of the hole. My Marples had a screw tightening mechanism,but even so,the teeth I made would chip the hole.

I also thought of drilling the hole larger and driving in a pipe that would line the hole. Then,if you roughed up the holdfast it wouldn't hurt the hole. Easy way to rough the holdfast would be with a coarse checkering file,or a rethreading file you could get at an auto parts store.

[harry strasil]

that's why I use hot rolled round for the shanks, the mill scale finish is rough and is superb for holding power. if nothing else Jeff, just cram the holes full of toilet tissue or paper towels they are a superb absorbant material. if after the blo drys and they still don't hold take a round file and break it off about 4 inches long, then grind the small end round and chuck in a drill and rough up the holes a bit.

[Marc Casebolt]

I did the same thing with the BLO in a 5" thick DF top and the hold fasts do hold fast when it dries. It's been about two years now with no problem.

I have the Gramercy HFs.

Marc

[Jeff Skory]

How much BLO did you put on? It's end grain, it should absorb pretty much all of the first 2 coats.


Only a single coat. Same with the rest of the workbench.

[Jeff Skory]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. At this point I'm going to sit tight and let the BLO dry completely before I take any measures. I'll let you know how it comes out.

[David Gendron]

I think I would try something like this if the soaking doesn't work... I would drill the 3/4" hole to 1" and then plug them with dowells and redrill them with the 3/4 or smaller drill bit of your choice!
Just an idea!

[Norman Hitt]

First and foremost, let the BLO dry completely,........(two or three weeks preferably). Next, clamp your holdfast in a vice with the round shaft sticking out in a horizontal position. Take a strip of emery cloth, about 100 grit,or, (whatever grit you have will work) and use it like a shoe shine rag and work it on the hold fast shaft just enough to break the shine on the surface and leave sanding marks which will be perpendicular to the length of the hf shaft. Do this all the way around the shaft and for the full length.

It doesn't need any deep grooves to hold "IF" it is going to hold at all, just enough to remove the Slick Finish of the shaft.

[harry strasil]

They doesn't have a slick finish like Gramercy's!

[Joel Moskowitz]

They doesn't have a slick finish like Gramercy's!

the OP has a pair of yours which he is having trouble with. Finish is not the issue here.

[harry strasil]

I know Joel, I was replying to Norman's post, he evidently did not read post #19.

[Jeff Skory]

Followup:

It's been almost 4 weeks now. I wrapped some 80 grit sandpaper around a dowel and gave each of the holdfast holes a handful of swipes to remove any smooth finish that was in them.

Voila! Harry's holdfasts work once again.

So the answer as suggested by several members is indeed to just give it enough time for the BLO to completely dry.

[glenn bradley]

Cool. Thanks for following up this thread.