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When a task requires a lot of drilling, driving or
fastening, we are all familiar with the issues of fumbling around in tool
belt pockets, tool trays or fastener bags to find that drill bit or driver
to switch out in the chuck to undertake the next task. Or perhaps handling
a handful of fasteners or holding a bunch of them close by while
undertaking fastening tasks is a more familiar situation which can cause
grief.
Some drills/drivers have onboard magnetic "pads" which
allow you to hold screws, drill bits, and just about anything else small
and "magnetic" for easy, fast access. But if your favorite drill does not
have one of these, you have to improvise if you want to add this feature
to your own power tool. The "Hold-It" Drill Bit Holder accessory is just one
solution.
I'm not saying this little accessory is a new innovation,
there are other attachable magnetic products for various purposes to be
found online and in the market (a wrist-band type magnetic holder and
longer straight bar magnetic holders for hand tools etc), but this one is quite simple,
competitively priced, can be attached to smaller surface areas, and you can use it for more than just holding drill
bits or fasteners.
Hold-It!
The Hold-It is essentially a magnet encased in a durable plastic
sleeve with an adhesive velcro-back strip which you can attach to
virtually anything you like (smooth surfaces offer the best adhesion).
Additionally, you can also mount the Hold-It to most metal surfaces or
metal objects using its own magnetic properties too, avoiding the need to
use the velcro strip itself in these cases. The device is currently
Utility Patent Pending. The sleeve in which the magnet sits provides a
feature itself, this being to protect the surfaces of the tools you attach
to the Hold-It from any scratches or surface damage, plus it also protects
the magnet from corrosion or damage. Additionally, the plastic sleeve has
a small flexible tab at the top which allows you to grasp the Hold-It to
more easily remove it from metallic surfaces and to provide an area where
a pin can be attached if you wish to attach the accessory to your shirt or
tool belt. The
magnet itself is very strong and does not lose its strength over time. If
only they made batteries with those properties eh? The creator of the
Hold-it actually shows the holder on his website supporting a full size
hand saw. Naturally, these magnets have great application for power drills
as explained above, but they are equally useful on many other power tools.
For example, you can attach one to a drill press to hold all those
commonly used drill bits. You can hold a good half dozen drill bits
depending on size, more if they are smaller, or perhaps one or two less if
they are larger diameter. Even heavier forstner bits held tightly. They
are equally useful attached to a scroll saw to hold a lot of scroll saw
blades right on the machine. I have hung many smaller hand tools off them
as well, and they can even handle the weight of a good 1" wide chisel. And
for those that prefer to hammer nails manually, you can readily pin one of
these Hold-Its to your shirt or belt and hold a stack of nails ready to be
hammered in. What I'm trying to say here is that the Hold-It is very
versatile. You will probably find a use for them on most power tools in
your workshop, and for a number of other uses too. Examples may be holding
sewing machine needles to the side of a sewing machine, using them to hold
keys on a key ring, holding nuts and washers, the list could be endless
really.
The Hold-Its themselves measure roughly 2 1/2" long by 1"
wide. You can purchase them with either a matt blue plastic cover, or with
a cool changing American flag cover (for the patriotic). They are made in
the USA. The Hold-Its sell for US$7.99 each (including free shipping
within the USA) and this price is on par with other magnetic wrist bands
and the like currently on the market (many of these made in China).
In conclusion, the Hold-Its do everything they say they
will do. They do have limitations because of their size, i.e. you can't
hold a set of turning tools off these smaller magnets, but then again,
you can't attach one of those larger magnetic strips to a cordless drill
either! The bottom line is that the Hold-It is a very handy accessory
indeed to attach to many of your workshop tools - handheld and stationary.
I find them extremely useful and they save time not having to fiddle about
finding or grabbing all the smaller accessories for your power tools.
Plus, your purchase supports a one-man operation trying to bring new and
handy tool accessories to the market, and that should be supported to
ensure the "big" manufacturers are kept in line!
The Hold-It magnetic holders are available exclusively from
www.bit-grip.com
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| The
Hold-It provides that extra hand in drilling applications and can
hold a wide variety of bits and pieces. |
They
are equally useful on other tools, here they are holding some
commonly used drill bits on the drill press. |
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Hold-It Photos
All photos copyright onlinetoolreviews.com. Use without prior
written permission prohibited
The Hold-It in its shipped packaging.
The "Patriotic" Hold-It.
Standard blue Hold-It with adhesive backed velcro strip.
The Hold-It's magnet attracts and retains a bunch of
fasteners.
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