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Monday, December 18, 2017

Ripoff


We'll keep this brief, since it benefits no one to rant, especially this time of year when we should be more focused on counting our blessings and giving to others in need. Nevertheless, we feel the need to say something. Being mutts ourselves, and the progeny of a diverse mix of immigrants, we can't be xenophobes without also being hypocrites. We make no bones about our outlook. We are thrilled to have anyone, from any culture purchase and enjoy our products. In the past few decades, Asia in general, and particularly China have developed a bad rap for ripping off products. But there are guilty parties on every side. 

Anyone who knows us, knows how deep we are into what we do. We don't simply make products to make a dollar. We make stuff we want in our own shop, stuff that works sweetly, then make "extras" for all our fellow woodworking enthusiasts. That's our "business model" in one sentence. So when someone takes your idea and turns it into a strictly commercial enterprise, made solely for the purpose of making money, it leaves an extremely bad taste in our mouths. Those who say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery miss the point that flattery by definition is insincere praise used to further one's own interests. 

But we promised to keep this brief. 

To the people at the China-based Riverside Tree Woodworking Club and those at "T. Deer" you seem to have the skills and means, we encourage you to develop your own products and designs to add value and diversity to the woodworking world. 

To our customers in China and Asia, you can purchase our products through our official Chinese dealer Harvey Works http://www.harveyworks.cn/

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Spotlight Series: FARLEY AND LOETSCHER MANUFACTURING COMPANY


This is the first in what we hope will be a series of interesting posts on various topics related to woodworking or handcrafts.



FARLEY AND LOETSCHER MANUFACTURING COMPANY. Once the largest mill working plant in the world! Dubuque, Iowa.



Farley and Loetscher began humbly on January 1, 1875 when Christian LOETSCHER, a twenty-five-year-old Swiss immigrant, opened a mill working business.

One of many expansions of the company occurred in 1882 at a cost of between $25,000 and $30,000. The saw mill was removed and that part of the business abandoned. The plans called for the buildings to extend from 8th to 7th streets. The warehouse would be on 7th street and join the business office which was to be moved to the corner of 7th street and an alley. At that time, the company's business had grown to such a degree that local lumberyards could not supply enough lumber. The problem was solved when Farley & Loetscher contracted for one million board feet of lumber from sites in Wisconsin.



Loetscher pioneered the use of west coast white pine lumber in 1900 as the company branched out to markets around St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Des Moines, Iowa. In 1903 capitalization of the company was increased to $400,000 through the sale of bonds. Farley & Loetscher then invested a small amount in McCloud River Lumber Company of California. This company was then contracted for an annual production of ten million board feet of ponderosa lumber.



Experimentation was being done by the millwork companies at this time. As the pine forests of Michigan were depleted, some millworks along the Mississippi experimented with spruce. This was discontinued when large millworks introduced ponderosa pine which was not rot resistant and needed treating. After being kiln dried, it was seasoned. Southern pine was rejected because of its high moisture content.

In 1905 the company announced the construction of a solid block of buildings in Dubuque. The firm asked the city council to vacate the alley running through the block bounded by Jackson, Washington, Seventh and Eighth streets. It also asked for the right to lay track and switch to the right of the proposed new building. Business was slowing by 1908 and Farley & Loetscher only kept the California sawmill crews busy for seven or eight months. Once the lumbermen who owned the trees in California opened their own mills, the Farley & Loetscher mills were sold with most of the employees returning to Dubuque.



In 1910 records indicated that the company annually produced 500,000 windows and 300,000 doors. In addition the company manufactured frames, mouldings, blinds, stairwork and interior finish. Between 1,200 and 1,500 carloads of lumber were used annually. The company owned and operated its own electric light company and maintained a crew of electricians to care for it and the telephone systems used in the plant. Nothing went to waste. Wooden shavings were advertised for those interested in horse bedding.



By 1927, when the company was led by J. A. Loetscher, Christian's son, the firm occupied buildings covering twenty-three acres. The company also maintained subsidiary companies. Loetscher and Burch Manufacturing Company operated in Des Moines. Another subsidiary was Roberts Sash and Door Company of Chicago.

The company in 1930 was an employer of between eight hundred and nine hundred people. The seven company buildings covered five city blocks. Each of the buildings, except for three warehouses, were connected by bridges that crossed over the streets.



One of the structures was the largest building in Dubuque until the development of the JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS. In 1904 Christian Loetscher attended the St. Louis Exposition and bought forty huge timbers, each 13 by 11 inches and up to sixty feet in length, when the exhibition buildings were being dismantled. These were shipped back to Dubuque and used in the construction of a building described as "the largest lumber shed in the world." Thirty-two timbers were placed around the perimeter of the cupola while eight were spaced at intervals along the center of the building. In 1930 this building easily stored 6 million feet of lumber.

Years before recycling became known, Farley and Loetscher gathered waste chunks of wood and all the sawdust. This was transported to the roof of one of the buildings to a funnel-shaped named "the hog." There the material was ground to fine dust which was carried to the basement. Specially designed boilers received the dust from a moving track. When burned this dust provided all the heat for the buildings.

The company's electricity was generated by a dynamo within the plant. Unlike some companies of the time, however, there was no commissary so nearby businesses benefited from the purchases of food.



A plastics division was added to the company's line in the early 1930s. This produced laminated plastics for decorative and industrial uses and once occupied three acres of floor space. (23) A newspaper article of 1930 especially praised a new product "Formica" which resisted heat, cold and water.

In 1942 the company qualified for an "Honor Flag." Issued by the Treasury Department, the flag was issued on the basis of a company's employees participating in buying United States War Savings Bonds. More than 1,100 employees were purchasing bonds through payroll deduction according to Dubuque County War Bond Committee representatives.

The end of WORLD WAR II meant that the production of doors, windows, and other supplies that had gone to the military simply shifted to civilian use. There was no need to replace equipment or retrain employees. The only problem was the need in 1944 to hire four hundred more employees due to the demand for products. In addition to new homes, surveys nationwide indicated that 34% of homeowners were planning renovations. FARLITE, a plastic sold to the government for use in signal corps radio equipment and table tops, would be provided for civilian use.

Farley & Loetscher products include the main staircase of the DUBUQUE COUNTY COURTHOUSE; display cases for the ROSHEK DEPARTMENT STORE; millwork for the U. S. Navy torpedo boat Ericsson and Revenue Cutter Windom; the interior of the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.; and the outer doors of the main chambers of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C.

In addition to being the first millwork in the city to utilize ponderosa pine and recycle byproducts including sawdust, Farley & Loetscher was the first factory in the city to have electric lighting and the first to be equipped with an automatic sprinkling system. Around 1903, the company was the first in the city to install a telephone switchboard.


Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Vintage stickers


This is our first run of a planned several set series of vintage themed stickers.  Some of you may recognize at least one of these from a set of cards we issued years ago as a promotion for one of the wood shows we exhibited at.  We had mostly forgotten about those neat cards were it not for seeing a set at our brother from another mother's house, Narayan Nayar.

So here they are, the first set of three.  These are reprints from 19th and early 20th century cigarette cards, once included with a pack of cigs to stiffen the pack and provide a little amusement.  We had considered including a stick of pink gum too but alas no one does those anymore.

These should be ready to ship on our website Thursday morning.  Price will be $6.00 for all three.  Get a set, stick em' on your tool chest or anywhere you want to add some character.  2"x4".

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Judgement Day Has Arrived, we welcome our robot overlords....

Well, long in the tooth is an understatement here lately.

Judging, not so much by our friends and patrons, from whom we still get the occasional kudos for our website, but by the mellifluous and subtly patronizing emails we receive in the dozens per week from all those fans from far away lands that so generously offer their expertise, time and energy,  for a small fee of course, to pointing out how beautiful and effective our website is while at the same time, in the kindest manner, how crappy, how antiquated, how 1999 it is.  Like Lloyd Christmas we're tired of our website eking it's way through life, we want to see it flourish and grow.

So we've been working on the new site for the last year.  All of the text has been pored over, some of it rewritten by our resident wordsmith.  Some of the principle photography, no idea what that means but it sounds good, has been re-shot, and the entire look and structure of the site has been properly coded.  We used real code this time finagled by a real person who has put in a lot of time bolstered and fueled by uncountable Jack's pepperoni pizzas.

The site now looks all grown up but we hope, not too flash.  The links all work, we think, the days of telling customers "you're looking at a cached version.....no no, add an l on the end of htm......you can't get to that page from there, that link is wrong, go to this website then hit crtl f5 and it will take you to another website that holds the older version which will redirect you to one of our vendors, their site has the correct link back to our website......"  We have a proper cart, something we introduced earlier this year but is now even better, and an account login if you choose.  We've added a static header that remains in it's proper place without some kind of incremental shift in the wrong direction every time you click on a link because the previous Webmaster was way closer to a Dungeon Master than a real coder (actually most previous DMs are probably pretty good webmasters,......not this one he's way closer to the attributes of a Barbarian than a magic user, hits points high, intelligence points not so much).  The home page has one of those fancy rotating carousel image things that's mostly annoying but we've kept it toned down a bit.  We've added an About page that still doesn't say much but should satisfy anyone who still thinks we're a family of hicks making an odd vise here or there while sitting on the divan watching our stories and suckin' on ribs....hey wait a minute.....

So thanks to the crew at Benchcrafted that allowed me to finally upgrade to Windows 10 for fear that ditching Windows 7 would have rendered my copy of Dreamweaver 4 inoperable, the most shocking bit being that the copyright on the splash screen is 1997-2000!.  So yes, I guess we have been coding like it's 1999.  I hope I never again have to code a single line or think about cascading somebody's style sheet, or render a layer and convert it to a table.

Now if the robot overlords could just do our bookwork.....

And in the vein of getting current........just like Signor Roberto we would like to say "the rent stay lika before!" but unfortunately it can't.  We only really raised prices 1 time in 10 years!  There have been a couple small adjustments in those years but the current M series Tail Vise is only $10 more than it was 6 years ago or more, and that was an off the shelf handwheel not the current custom cast unit.  The Glide M is only $100 more than it was 6 years ago, again with an off the shelf wheel........but it now includes a Crisscross which is $100 so it hasn't actually risen in price at all, and that after adding a custom wheel and 3x knobs.  Mag-bloks have only gone up $3 & $5 respectively.......ever!  So expect some increases in the next few weeks across the board mostly.  We had wanted to get the increases in before we launched the new site but it will just have to happen in spurts sometime between now and January.  Don't get too worrisome though, the increases for the most part will be small.

Launch should be Friday Dec. 1.

Next up:  the blog is getting a face lift too, but that won't happen for a few more days yet.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Still time for the Ultimate Xmas gift: Benchcrafted Classic Workbench

We have for sale a freshly-built-to-spec example of our Classic Workbench. Made entirely of hard rock maple, it's outfitted with our Classic Leg Vise w/Crisscross, Planing Stop and one Hand-forged Holdfast, For full specs and photos, see our Classic Workbench Plans page. This bench is built exactly to the specs listed.

The bench is in the white, that is, we didn't apply any finish to any of the surfaces. You can either leave it that way or apply a finish of your choice (we hope you leave the top unfinished, or at most one coat of oil.) The bench is completely assembled and ready to use.

The Benchcrafted Classic Workbench is constructed entirely with in-compression-for-eternity drawbored mortise and tenon. It's as solid as humans can make it, short of growing a tree in the shape of a bench. The bench is built to the highest standards of traditional German craftsmanship in the utopian village of Amana Iowa. Our collaboration with the craftsmen in Amana, along with our experience in traditional workholding has yielded a workbench that is truly heirloom quality, but offered at what we think is a very reasonable price. There are other bench makers out there who are offering stunning museum-quality, marquetry-encrusted benches with our hardware and designs (Frank Strazza and Mark Hicks among others.) We consider our flagship Split-Top Roubo as nearing the pinnacle of bench design (if there is such a thing) but we wanted to offer an essential bench built to high standards--an approachable but bulletproof tool for passionate enthusiasts that are perhaps just getting into the craft. Our principle bench maker has been building furniture at the Amana Furniture Shop for nearly 50 years. Needless to say, 150 years of woodworking tradition in Amana directly back to 19th century Germany speaks for itself. Many of the Amana craftsmen are multi-generational woodworkers.

The bench is available for pickup in eastern Iowa (contact us for details) or white glove delivery, in which the bench is wrapped in moving blankets, transported in a moving van used for furniture delivery only, then unloaded at your address and brought inside by the delivery techs. It costs a bit more to ship this way, but less than you might imagine.

Price is $2600. Delivery fees extra. Delivery typically takes about 2 weeks.

If you're opening a school, community shop, woodworking club or refitting an existing facility with worn out or poor quality benches, please contact us, we can supply you.

To purchase this bench, send us an email with your contact info to: info@benchcrafted.com

Monday, October 30, 2017

Video: Hi Vise Build




Watch Guy Dunlap build our Hi Vise in this excellent video from our friends at Highland Woodworking.

Hi Vises are in stock and ready to ship.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Handworks

Just a short compilation video from Handworks 2017


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Videos: Build A Bench With Our Hardware


Image courtesy of Lost Art Press

We're often asked if we'll ever offer a bench building video, or complete videos on how to install our vises. And the answer is, not anytime soon. You may be wondering if this is shortsightedness on our part, lack of interest, or that we're too cheap to shell out the money for a video studio, which is significant. The reason is, there are others out there who can do it better than us. Here they are.

Marc Spangulolo, aka The Wood Whisperer
https://thewoodwhispererguild.com/product/split-top-roubo-workbench/

Marc was the first to make a serious video on building our Split Top Roubo. Marc's video skills and presentation are excellent. You won't find a more comprehensive and easy to follow series than Marc's. For $110 you get almost 10 hours of instruction covering every aspect of the build, and the vise installation, along with printed plans. It's an excellent value. Marc also includes videos on retrofitting a Crisscross and our latest Glide, in addition to the original Glide leg vise. 

Chris Schwarz and Will Myers

In this video ($35) Chris and Will not only build a bench together (featuring our Classic Leg Vise), but discuss different ways of getting there. There's some pretty funny moments too. Definitely worth the watch even if you're not building a bench. 

Guido Henn at Fine-Tools.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ4doJvy_5w

Guido has two excellent videos (in German) on the installation of our Glide Leg Vise and Tail Vise. Although the videos are in German, they are mostly without narration and subtitles, and the video quality is excellent, providing a clear view of each step of the process. The third video is a tour of the bench, in English. 

Matt Estlea

Matt studies furniture making in Oxford, England. Follow along as he build "Bertha" his Roubo bench outfitted with Benchcrafted vises. Excellent production quality.

KC Woodworks

Some good enthusiast content here. Watch as Kev makes a Hi Vise and retrofits a friend's bench with a Glide. 

Tom Fidgen

Not so much an instructional video, but nice to watch nonetheless. Very relaxing. Watch Tom build and assemble a Moxon vise entirely with hand tools. 

Mike Bandte

An ongoing series of Mike's Split Top Roubo build, in German. Mike also has a series on building our Moxon vise. 

There are many others out there, and a "Benchcrafted" search on Youtube will yield loads of results.






Thursday, June 15, 2017

There and Back Again.........Moxon wood

A few years ago we offered complete Moxon kits, the hardware and all the wood needed to make a complete vise, milled and ready to go.  It wasn't fancy, but all the parts were there to spec and all the holes drilled.  We offered this mostly because there was a demand.

At some point we got so busy we simply couldn't do this anymore, other things were taking our time.  We still get requests though, so in that vein, we are now offering these kits once again.  The new kits are a shade nicer than the old ones, still made from hard maple but these are finished just a smidgen better and the stabilizer batten now comes glued up to the rear chop.

So here wee are again, the complete kits are ala cart on our Store page.


Unsolicited Plug

We don't really plug other products much.  But on occasion we like to toot a horn about this or that.

At Handworks recently we met Janet Switzer of Camp Robber canvas.  We immediately liked her wares and started thinking of things to make.

One of the things on the top of our list was a flat bottomed satchel in heavy duty waxed canvas for the trunk of our cars.  I shot her some dimensions and within a week (!) had a bag in my hand.  Not only was it spot on what I had in mind but it is built like a tank.  I can't imagine it ever wearing out.  These would make an excellent tool bag.

Her Instagram is here and her Etsy store is here.






Video: Swing Away Seat



We shot this short video to show our new Swing Away Seat in action. We have them in stock and ready to ship.

Further details here.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Lost and Found: temporary post

We're going to leave this post up for a short while only.

Someone left a camcorder battery (looks to big for an SLR) on our bench at Handworks.

If this is yours let us know.



Monday, June 12, 2017

Swing Away Seat Instructions


We've uploaded the installation instructions for the Swing Away Seat. We offer some tips and guidelines for installation, as well as fastener recommendations (which are not included with the seat.) We suggest you read up on the installation while waiting for you seat to arrive so you can have your hardware in house when the seat arrives.

Download the document here.

Also available on our downloads page.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

New Mag-Bloks

A week of new stuff in our Store page.

Brand new Mag-Bloks, Quartered White Oak, Quartered Sycamore and Spalted Maple now regular stock items.  Clockwise from upper left:  Quartered Sycamore, Spalted Maple, Quartered Oak.



For Sale: Fresh Classic Workbench


We have for sale, for immediate delivery or pickup, a freshly-built-to-spec example of our Classic Workbench. Made of hard rock maple (rock on!) it's outfitted with our Classic Leg Vise, Planing Stop, Hand-forged Holdfast, and Swing Away Seat. For full specs, see our Classic Workbench Plans page.

This bench was completed a couple weeks ago on May 15, displayed in our booth at Handworks, then placed back in storage. The bench is in the white, that is, we didn't apply any oil/varnish shellac to any of the surfaces. You can either leave it that way or apply a finish of your choice (we hope you leave the top unfinished, or at most one thin coat of oil.)

The bench is assembled entirely with in-compression-for-eternity drawbored mortise and tenon. It's as solid as humans can make it, short of growing a tree in the shape of a bench.

The bench is available for pickup near Cedar Rapids, IA (contact us for details) or white glove delivery, in which the bench is wrapped in moving blankets, transported in a moving van used for furniture delivery only, then unloaded at your address and brought inside by the delivery techs. The first time you touch the bench will be to use it. It costs a bit more to ship this way, but less than you might imagine.

Price is $2600. Delivery fees extra. Contact: info@benchcrafted.com SOLD

Now Available To Order: The Benchcrafted Swing Away Seat


After over a year of development, we're excited to announce our Swing Away Seat is available to order. To read more about the development of the seat, read this.



The Swing Away Seat is cast in gray iron and powder coated in satin black. When you buy the seat you'll receive two castings: the larger part called the mount, and the smaller part which bolts to your bench, called the bracket. You'll also receive two black oxide-finished steel pins that marry the parts together. They are loose pins, just like you'd find in a door hinge. So if you need to remove the mount from the bench for whatever reason, you simply lift the two pins and the mount comes off.

Mounting the seat to your bench or table is easy with two 1/2" lag screws or through bolts. Bolts are the stronger option, and if you've got 3" or less of wood to bite into, we recommend bolts. Lag screws, driven into properly-sized pilot holes in hardwood are extremely strong. However, since we can't control your mounting situation or skills, we can only make general suggestions. As such, the Swing Away Seat does not come with mounting hardware. Be wary of hardware store and home-center lag screws. They are usually total junk (but  not always) with soft steel and shallow threads. We source ours from the excellent Blacksmithbolt.com. The 1/2" square head lags in black oxide work very well with the Swing Away seat. We also recommend their rub washers under the head of lag screws for a smooth connection. These aren't so necessary with through bolts. For further installation info, download the Swing Away Seat document from our downloads page.


The Swing Away seat is  available two ways. Castings only, for us woodworkers who want to make our own seats, or packaged with a finished, ready to mount wood seat. The wood will be offered in one species only, quartersawn white oak with a chestnut stain and satin lacquer finish. The seat is 11" in diameter and ~1" thick. Each wood seat will include three screws to attach it to the mount.


Like our vises, the Swing Away seat is overbuilt. We haven't done any testing on how much weight the casting can take before it breaks, but our empirical knowledge tells us its more than anyone need worry about. Since the seat is cantilevered off its mounting surface, one does have to be mindful of the mounting structure. Obviously a free-standing structure could be prone to tipping, depending on the weight of the structure and the sitter. Again, there are lots of variables at play here that we can't possibly anticipate. Our Classic Workbench (pictured here) is not a super heavy bench, being somewhat narrow at 20" with a 3" thick top. Yet it supports a 250 pound body (me) without tipping. If you're planning to use one of these on any free standing object, keep this in mind. Again, see the installation document for further details. The Swing Away seat will pivot a bit over 180 degrees.

The Swing Away Seat is $199.

The Swing Away Seat with quartersawn oak seat is $249.

You can order through our Store Page.






Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Roy Underhill at Handworks 2017--The Video

Here's Roy's presentation from Handworks 2017.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Win a Hayward Bench at Handworks, But Only If You're Short


We wanted to do something special for Handworks 2017, so here's what we came up with. A bench for kids!

Vol. 4 of "The Woodworker" features a basic bench as its first article. We had three planks of yellow pine gathering dust in the corner, so we tossed together this bench over a couple days last week. It's 24" high, which should be perfect for a wide range of kids. To scale it down, we drew the major components in Sketchup full size, then scaled the model down based on the shorter height. It scaled great. Joinery is half lap dadoes on the front and read skirts, and a pair of 10mm Dominoes in each joint.

It's outfitted with our Hi Vise, which makes an excellent leg vise for smaller full size benches, or obviously for kids' benches too.

The bench will go home with one kid, free of charge, courtesy of us!

Here's how to win the bench (parents, read this to your kids).

We'll have a piece of clear, easy to plane basswood chucked in the vise. With a sharp Stanley #3 that we'll leave on the bench, the kid will try their best to make a full width, full length shaving from the edge of the board, under the coaching of their parent or us. They should practice making the best shaving they can. Once they are ready to make their final excellent shaving, they'll write their name on the edge of the board, plane it off, and put the shaving in a box. On Saturday afternoon at 3pm we'll draw one shaving and that kid will go home with the bench.

There are only two rules:

1. The kid must not be taller than 54".
2. One shaving per kid goes in the box.

Parents feel free to make the final perfect shaving for your kid if they can't. Hopefully that kid will win the bench so they can practice back home.









Thursday, May 4, 2017

Handworks........is the Midwest just too far or remote?



Handworks is now just 2 weeks away.  This will be the third bi-annual event and as we've said many a time before, you never know when there will be another.  Though we've followed the bi-annual pattern so far, we literally never know if there will be another one until some months later.  So if you are on the fence, better act if you can.

In the past, and probably still now, there have occasionally been some comments like "why Iowa?" or "it's too far from the coasts".   To be frank, we never really doubted that people would come to the Midwest, or anywhere really, if the event had the right spirit.  That said, we can understand some of the apprehension concerning travel and expense.  With that in mind here are a few points of interest:

- It's free
- It's in an historical village with a rich woodworking history
- It offers something for everyone, literally, if you or someone with you can't find something of interest in Amana or at one of the event venues then you probably have a hard time finding interest anywhere.
- It's low key (yes it can get crowded but in a good way)
- It offers a chance to both handle tools and learn quite a lot from a group of vendors that overall are more interested in craftsmanship than they are money.  You would be hard pressed to find another event that offers the same kind of hands on with so many experts short of a lot of dedicated, costly and time consuming classes
- There's even a dedicated section of the camp ground set aside for HW attendees


As for travel and attendance.  Yes, it can get crowded, registration is well over double the previous event, but we've spread things out this year into 5 venues, which should really make things nice.

As for travel, few of us in the States can complain (although we do have some people coming from AK).........Internationally we have registrants (aside from vendors) from Canada, British VI, UK, Germany, France, Norway (10!) Australia and get ready for it.......Indonesia.  So if these folks think it's worth the time and expense the least we can do is appreciate that the Midwest is equally far from everyone ;-)

See you there.

Monday, April 10, 2017

UPDATE. Miter Jack Kits: Metal Bits Now Available








Nick at Lake Erie is taking pre-orders for another small run of wooden bits. We've got a handful of the metal bits left from the first run. You can order the metal bits from us anytime (see our store page), but to get the wooden screw and threaded nut block, you'll need to pre-order through Lake Erie. More info here.

We've sold out of the La Forge Royale Miter Jack kits, but there's a silver lining. We made a double run of the metal bits which we're offering for sale. All you'll have to make is the wooden screw, and tap the nut block. The inexpensive wood threading kits will work (if you have a lot of patience) but we like the Beall products. The 1-1/4" is the one to get. If you don't want to bother with the threading, we recommend you contact Nick at Lake Erie Toolworks, who makes the best quality wood threads in the world.

The contents of the Miter Jack Kit Metal Bits are pictured above (minus the wood screw and nut block of course.) All the metal bit are manufactured in the USA by us. You'll also get a pouch with all the various screws needed to assemble the jack.


SOLD OUT: We have just 3 kits left, they do not include the various small wood screws and the groove pin (see below). Price is $30 plus shipping. If you want one just shoot us an email and we'll invoice you. Domestic shipping will be assumed unless otherwise noted.


Slotted Flat Head Wood Screws

#14 x 3" Qty: 4
#12 x 1-3/4" Qty: 8
#8 x 3/4" Qty: 3
#12 x 3/4" Qty: 1
#12 x 2-1/2" Qty: 2
#10 x 3/4" Qty: 1

3/16"dia. x 1" Center Groove Dowel Pin Qty: 1
Dowel pin available from McMaster Carr. Part # 98400A245
https://www.mcmaster.com/#98400a245/=17e8zjn

Monday, March 27, 2017

Crisscross Solo Blems


Just a heads up in case you're in the market for a Crisscross Solo and you're coming to Handworks.
We'll have a few blems available at the event for a discount price of $79. We usually don't have to offer blems or seconds because we usually catch them early on in the process. This time a few Crisscross arms made it all the way through powder coating. Here's the issue with these. During the casting process the moulds get transported from the mould-making area to the pouring deck and every now and then a mould gets jarred and makes the lines in the castings you see above. It's completely cosmetic. The arms function as intended. A few of the arms got the royal treatment at the powder coaters as well. The middle one above shows the result. You may need to run a file or drill bit through the holes to get the pins to pass. These will be priced at $79 and are available only at Handworks. If we have leftovers, we'll post them here for sale after all the hubbub is over.

Friday, March 24, 2017

The Benchcrafted Swing Away Seat


After over a year of development, we're excited to announce pricing and availability of our Swing Away Seat!

But first a few words about this product in case some of you are wondering what road we're headed down. When we started Benchcrafted it all began with a product that, although made of wood, was not a woodworking tool. The Mag-Blok. Only after we got a wild hair to build a new workbench for our shop did we take the leap in manufacturing our own woodworking vises. So, although we've become known as the "men of vise" we have our roots in making stuff we like to use, period. The other tools in our line reflect that philosophy too. We use everything we make, often on a daily basis. The Swing Away Seat is no different. And it just so happens that it's an incredible workbench accessory as well.

In early 2012 we began researching these seats after discovering a vintage example at a local food market. We were intrigued by the whole concept. How sweet would it be to have a seat for your bench that was always there, but also "never" there? We began compiling designs and searching the old patent record. Fast forward to last year. Prodded by our customers, we decided to put the Swing Away Seat at the head of the line. As is typical, it took way longer than we anticipated to complete the first run. A dead simple device, but there's more here than meets the eye. We also wanted to spend some time designing the thing so it didn't only look like something old.



The Swing Away Seat is cast in gray iron and powder coated in satin black. When you buy the seat you'll receive two castings: the larger part called the mount, and the smaller part which bolts to your bench, called the bracket. You'll also receive two black oxide-finished steel pins that marry the parts together. They are loose pins, just like you'd find in a door hinge. So if you need to remove the mount from the bench for whatever reason, you simply lift the two pins and the mount comes off.

Mounting the seat to your bench or table is easy with two 1/2" lag screws or through bolts. Bolts are the stronger option, and if you've got 2" or less of wood to bite into, we recommend bolts. Lag screws, driven into properly-sized pilot holes in hardwood are extremely strong. However, since we can't control your mounting situation, we can only make general suggestions. As such, the Swing Away seat does not come with mounting hardware. Beware of hardware store and home-center lag screws. They are usually total junk with soft steel and shallow threads. We source ours from the excellent Blacksmithbolt.com. The 1/2" square head lags in black oxide work very well with the Swing Away seat. We also recommend their rub washers under the head of lag screws for a smooth connection. These aren't so necessary with through bolts.



The Swing Away seat will be offered two ways. Castings only, for us woodworkers who want to make our own seats, or packaged with a finished, ready to mount wood seat. The wood will be offered in one species only, quartersawn white oak with a chestnut stain and satin lacquer finish. The seat is 11" in diameter and 1" thick. Each wood seat will include three screws to attach it to the mount.


Like our vises, the Swing Away seat is overbuilt. We haven't done any testing on how much weight the casting can take before it breaks, but our empirical knowledge tells us its more than anyone need worry about. Since the seat is cantilevered off its mounting surface, one does have to be mindful of the mounting structure. Obviously a free-standing structure could be prone to tipping, depending on the weight of the structure and the sitter. Again, there are lots of variables at play here that we can't possibly anticipate. Our Classic Workbench (pictured here) is not a super heavy bench, being somewhat narrow at 20" with a 3" thick top. Yet it supports a 250 pound body (me) without tipping.  If you're planning to use one of these on any free standing object, keep this in mind.

The Swing Away seat will pivot a bit over 180 degrees in total.

Pricing and Availablity

The Swing Away seat will be available initially at Handworks in Amana, IA, May 19-20. After the event is over, we'll post them to the website where they can be ordered any time. The Swing Away seat will be a stock item. We won't be taking pre-orders or deposits for the seats we sell at Handworks or later online. If you want to make sure you get one of the first ones, be at our space in the Festhalle Barn first thing Friday morning, May 19. We'll take credit cards, but cash will get you in and out of our space much quicker. Unfortunately we can't reserve a seat for you before the doors open, or hold one after you've paid. You'll want to take your seat back to your vehicle immediately since they are a tad on the heavy side. We will have both the seat only, and seats with wood for sale. We'll have several seats mounted to benches for you to try out at Handworks.

The Swing Away seat is $199.

The Swing Away seat with wood is $249.

See you in Amana...




Monday, February 20, 2017

Build A Bench with Jeff Miller this April



If you'd like to spend a couple weekends building a Roubo-style bench with Jeff Miller, here's your chance.

Over two weekends (March 31-April 2, and April 7-9) Jeff is offering the class at his shop in Chicago where you'll get instruction from one of today's best modern furniture makers. Jeff has extensive experience building this bench, and installing our vises. Most of the benches in Jeff's shop are outfitted with our stuff, and he has an intimate knowledge of how they install and function. Although Jeff will help you build a bench with whatever vises you wish, not just our stuff.

Jeff is also one of our favorite people. Always good-humored and cheery, two weekends with Jeff building stuff sounds like serious fun. And you'll walk away with not only a fine bench, but also a bunch of new skills and techniques.

For more info, see Jeff's website here. http://www.furnituremaking.com/workshophome.html

Photo by Narayan Nayar at FORP II.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Lead times, Crubber and dealers

First lead times.  Many of you may notice that in the past we have posted individual lead times for most of our products, especially vise products.  A short while back we changed this to nearly immediate shipping on all products because our production times have improved.  Most orders now ship within a couple days (and many of them ship the same day).

We tend to get a fair share of complaints when things aren't shipped immediately (like when we are closed for short breaks, which is fairly rare for us).  We apologize for these sometime delays.  On the other hand we rarely get any kudos for prompt order fulfillment.......that's ok though, we're used to it ;-)  We think the vast majority of our customers would give us high marks for the speed with which we not only fill orders but the lengths we often go to with special requests and responding to emails.

Crubber.  The demand for Crubber has been high.  That said, vise orders take priority for this stuff so that's where it goes first.  You will note that the ala cart Crubber now has a lead time.  We don't produce Crubber, so we have to wait just like you do.  We encourage anyone who needs to place a mixed order to make their Crubber order separate to speed up your order fulfillment, unless you are willing to wait, we won't ship other items in an order until the Crubber is in stock.

New dealers.  We have two new dealers, one for vise products the other for Mag-Bloks.

Vises.  Though they have actually been a dealer for about 2 years! we haven't added them to our dealer list merely out of stupid neglect.  Harvey is our China dealer and we're happy too say the dealer for MANY of our peers in tool making (Lie-Nielsen, Veritas, Bridge City, just to name a few).








Australia.  No specifics yet but we may be close to establishing a dealership in Australia.  We ship an inordinate amount of vise products to AUS/NZ and it's time we had a dealer there for our customers sake.

Mag-Bloks dealer.  We're happy to add The Cook's Edge of Prince Edward Sound to our Canadian dealer list for Mag-Bloks.  Quite a few dealers up North now so seeing a Blok in person is getting easier all the time.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

An Update for 2017


Last year was incredibly busy here at Benchcrafted. We designed and released several new things. The Classic Workbench Plans, the Hi Vise, the Planing Stop and we made good progress on the new "bench seat" (still haven't settled on a name yet.) We didn't have much time to blog about personal woodworking projects (which are always in the works here in the Benchcrafted test shop) but we hope that will change this year.

You might be wondering about our swinging bench seat, which we started developing about a year ago. It's moving along. To produce this at a reasonable cost we've had to spend loads of time designing it for efficient machining, then building the fixture for machining as much as possible in one setup. We're working on that right now. The brackets that hold the swing arm to the bench are 75% done. Right now we don't have an ETA on these, or a price. That said, if you're coming to Handworks 2017 expect to see these for sale in our booth. And if they are done sooner, of course we'll get them posted.