Holdfast, Carpenters', is the name of a very useful tool, employed not only by carpenters, but by other mechanics, for holding fast their work upon the bench whilst being operated upon. It usually consists of a round bar of iron, thickening a little upwards, and bent at the upper end, almost into a right angle, and flattened. An oblique hole is bored in the bench; and if a piece of wood, or any other article, is wanted to be secured, it is placed under the holdfast, and a few strokes of the hammer are sufficient to make it bite firmly. In order to loosen it, nothing more is necessary than a blow of the hammer applied at the lower end of the bar.

Mr. W. Dungey, of Compton-street, Soho, has succeeded in improving this instrument, for which he received a reward from the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, etc. It is represented in the subjoined cut. The jaw a, instead of being one piece with the rest of the bar, is movable on the screwed axis b, and is prolonged backwards. In this latter part is a hole for the reception of a cranked screw, which bears on a projection d of the main bar; e is the hole in the bench, and f is a flat square piece fixed by a loose joint to the jaw a, and therefore capable of bearing by its whole surface on any piece of work placed under it. By turning the screw c in one direction the work is held fast; and by turning in the other direction it is released. It is considered as likely to be of service to coachmakers, carvers, and chair and cabinet manufacturers, as the pressure of it is under perfect regulation, and it is not liable to bruise the work which it is employed to hold.