News and Updates- The Benchcrafted Shaker Bench

We've been getting some emails about lead times and when customers can expect to see their vises. We've been right around 6 weeks for some time and we are working diligently to get that whittled back down to our previous 2-3 week lead time. One reason for this is that we've been having some quality issues with our handwheels. When we updated the Benchcrafted Tail Vise a couple months ago we changed handwheels and initially were quite pleased with the quality. A number of customers received vises with these hand wheels (the one pictured above, and currently pictured on the website). The second run of these wheels, however, was totally unacceptable. We were only able to use 5% of that batch and the rest were rejected. In order to maintain our lead times (and obviously not extend them further) we're now using our original hand wheel (pictured below) for all BC Tail Vises. The quality is the same as its always been: excellent. Ultimately we'll have vises in inventory and there will be no lead time. For now that's our goal and we'll make sure and let you all know when this happens.




In the Works: The Benchcrafted Shaker Bench

Earlier this year we helped Ron Brese build a new woodworking bench for his personal shop. For more about this bench, see this post.

At the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events in Tampa, FL and Atlanta,, GA Ron brought his new bench for displaying and demonstrating his line of hand planes. As he predicted, he got as many inquiries about the bench as he did about planes. So in the coming months we'll be drawing up plans for a Shaker-style bench very much like Ron's. One feature it will have: The Glide hardware will mimic Ron's layout. It will be completely hidden within the cabinet. We think Ron's installation is so clever that we just had to go with it.