We were deeply
saddened by the recent untimely death of Pete Forrest while riding his
motorcycle. Pete was the creator of the Hold and Fold and a gifted
modeler. His family still owns a portion of The
Small Shop and business will
contiinue. A protion of the proceeds from
the sales of the Hold & Fold will help to support Pete's four
daughters.
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We're proud to bring you a new
product announcement from The
Small Shop, who have sent us the newest version of the Hold & Fold
Photoetch Parts Workstation. You may recall that back in 2001, Steve
Bamford and I reviewed the very first Hold & Fold, and I have to say that
back then, I really didn't see how the product could be improved upon. Yet
here we are, six years later, and Hold & Fold returns in an all new
incarnation.
WHAT YOU GET:
As before, you get the Hold & Fold workstation and a blade to fold parts.
However, the exciting news is that the tool has been completely re-designed.
As I said, I didn't think that the original Hold & Fold had a whole lot of
room for improvement, but the folks at
The
Small Shop
thought differently. Their latest version, the Mk. IV, has
some great new features that render it superior to the original version.
First, you'll notice that while the work surface itself has the same
micro-grooved texture as the original, it's now offered in a no-glare, matte
black surface. This is particularly handy, as it provides much better
contrast to the photo-etch parts, enabling better alignment with the tool head.
Further, the matte black surface removes any of the glare associated with
working with the tool under a well-lit workbench.
The tool head itself has also
been re-designed, and now offers more cutouts to accommodate a wider variety of
photo-etch parts. This makes the job go easier and quicker. In
addition, the tool head can be rotated without removing the knob; simply turn
the knob loose until the tool head is free of the locating pegs, and turn it 180
degrees to utilize the 4" continuous folding head. This is handy for
folds along longer parts.
Finally, the knob itself has been re-designed. Instead of the earlier
round knob, the Mk. IV (and all new versions of the Hold & Fold) have a
flat, knurled knob in its place. This, in my opinion, is much more
desirable; it has a better tactile feel than the earlier version.
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Click on
images below to see larger images
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One thing that hasn't changed is
the handiness and functionality of the tool. If you're an avid user of
photo-etch detail sets, then this is the tool for you. I've been a big fan
of this particular tool since it was first released, and while I still think
that the original Hold & Fold is great, I like the new one even better, for
all of the reasons described above. I should also mention that, in
addition to providing a standard razor blade for folding parts, a longer 4"
blade is also included for folding larger parts. For this review they
included a fret of
photo-etch practice parts, to help familiarize you with the
feel and function of the tool. This pracice peice is available separately
for an additional cost at this link http://www.thesmallshop.com/practicepe.htm
As before, Hold & Fold makes short work
of photo-etch parts. The two parts above were completed in less than a
minute each, and were very easy to fold:
As before, I recommend the Hold
& Fold VERY highly. If you're a frequent user of photo-etch detail
sets, this is one tool that you'll really want to add to your workbench.
It makes the somewhat difficult job of folding photo-etch parts a whole lot
easier and more precise. I'd like to sincerely thank The
Small Shop for providing me with this review sample, and I look forward to
bringing you more of their products in the coming months. Visit their
website to see the complete Hold & Fold series of products, as well as all
of the other fine hobby tools in their line.
Steve Filak
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