Auriou hold fasts, worth it or not?

[tobytools]

Anyone own the auriou hold fasts?

My question is are they worth it it? At about 140 for a pair it's very expensive.
I'd like to think they should be excellent if their rasps are anything to go by but is like a fact based opinion.

It's my bday in just over 3 week
Thanks
TT

 

[Ed Bray]

Just out of curiosity, why these over a Gramercy type which are €19.95 from fine-tools.com: video: http://hocho.com/holdfast.mp4

I have a couple of the Gramercy ones and can recommend them.

 

[James C]

Or the British made one available from Workshop Heaven.

Review pending removal of digit from rectum.

 

[tobytools]

Thanks ed, I will look into those.
The ones Mathew sells look.. Not to my taste and at nearly 50 each I don't think so.

I've sent an email to a blacksmith off the internet so I'll see what he says, and I'm also talking to a guy in America who makes them himself, just waiting for a quote on postage ect

TT

 

[paulm]

Matthew's are £45 for a pair, continental style Not sure what you are looking at ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[AndyT]

Thanks ed, I will look into those.
The ones Mathew sells look.. Not to my taste and at nearly 50 each I don't think so.

TT

Have another look Toby. £45 per pair not each. Others at £25 each.
We had a long thread about them recently.

 

[Berncarpenter]

Hi TT
I have a pair of the Auriou holdfasts , got them from Classic Hand Tools. They work ok out of the box , no burs or sharp edges to sort out . Made in two parts and look like they are brazed together . I can't really say that they are any better or worse than other makes out there as i haven't used anything else. Heres a shot of one in action with a small piece of leather under the foot to protect the work.

Cheers Bern

 

[katellwood]

I've got a pair of these work well but you need a 22mm/ 7/8 hole

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+big-boy-ho ... BBH?tyah=y

currently not in stock but if the price remains the same then reasonably cheap

 

[mouppe]

I've been very happy with my LN holdfast if you are looking for other options.

 

[Ed Bray]

Hi TT
I have a pair of the Auriou holdfasts , got them from Classic Hand Tools. They work ok out of the box , no burs or sharp edges to sort out . Made in two parts and look like they are brazed together . I can't really say that they are any better or worse than other makes out there as i haven't used anything else. Heres a shot of one in action with a small piece of leather under the foot to protect the work.

Cheers Bern

If using the Auriou holdfasts would give me the skills to make dovetails like that I'll be selling my Gramercy ones to buy those.

 

[James C]

Admittedly the WSH aren't the most attractive things to use but at £22.50 each they were a good buy IMO.

If you have any luck with a UK blacksmith I would be interested to know as it would be great to have more people making these useful pieces of equipment. Especially in the UK.

 

[tobytools]

Ah sorry, thought it was £45 each..
Ok so for the pair that a good price, they are back in the race.

Haven't heard back from the smith yet but I'll let you know.
The auriou look really good but I'll wait till I hear back from the Smith before I make any final decisions

Thanks ed for sharing
And also to tho that shared links and recommendations

TT

 

[-Matt-]

I'm struggling to understand how those Auriou one cost so much, as well as not being able to figure out why they need to look as they do.
£25 looks reasonable (from a manufacturing point of view), about 10 mins work per holdfast and decent return.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I think the Auriou ones descend from the Continental (Roubo) pattern, although obviously not actually made the same way (by a blacksmith, I mean). There's a recent Woodwrights' episode about making the traditional ones (both English and Continental pattern), with Peter Ross.

 

[AndyT]

Toby, here's the recent thread I mentioned, plenty of relevant info and opinions:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/holdfast-for-49-t85372.html

 

[tobytools]

Thanks andy some good stuff there.

If it was possiable I'd purchase some of Richards without question..
I Just need to sent off the spec to the uk blacksmith and hopefully Ilhe can sort me out.

So anyone have plans or a link to the rebou holdfast, so that I can send to the blacksmith.. Thanks

TT

 

[G S Haydon]

Good luck with the blacksmith Toby. On a tangent it's rarer to see them on the typical joiners bench from Blighty. I'm not against them, I have a pair of Tomes from The English Woodworker and they work great. A few images illustrating my point, I really enjoy drinking in the first two examples.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hil ... eld-t03668

https://dblaney.files.wordpress.com/201 ... oiners.jpg

http://vandebilt.co.uk/history/wp-conte ... llison.jpg this one is more for fun, a great image!

http://purplepoddedpeas.blogspot.co.uk/ ... chive.html and a bit more fun

 

[Corneel]

I love these images. Especially the second one is full of nice details. Have you seen the very long tenon saws on the wall? One sharpened almost to the spine, but the new one is there allready. I counted 14 bench planes! Must have been an early collector.

 

[mouppe]

Look how thin the benchtop is in the second picture. I've never seen that before. Also the amazing set of dividers on the wall which must be 15" long or so, and the violin template.

Superb picture.

 

[wizard]

this is the way to do it
http://theblacksmithsanvil.com/wp/?cat=16