The Moxon Vise Aftermarket

Customer and blogger Paul-Marcel has built his Benchcrafted Moxon vise with some slick options. Nice job Paul-Marcel! And thanks for the laughs.

Tapping Moxon Handwheels Video

Our first run of Moxon Vises sold out in short order, and we've been busy getting the next run finished up. They are almost done and should be shipping in less than two weeks.

Earlier this week we were tapping hand wheels and thought it would be interesting to show how this is done.

For those of you without machine experience, running acme taps in this size is demanding work. Unlike machine screw threads, where there is relatively little material to remove from the largest diameter of the thread, acme threads feature a flat bottom and almost square-shouldered threads, requiring lots of material removal. Acme taps either come in pairs (roughing and finishing), or in tandem form (a single tap with two stages, roughing and finishing). The tap in the video is a tandem. The first half of the tap gets rid of most of the material, while the second, finishing section refines the profile and leaves a smooth finish.

Email, Postage, Packing and Paper

While we spend a lot of time developing and producing some great products here at Benchcrafted, believe it or not, we also spend an enormous amount of time practicing the mundane.  So to clarify a few points and explain a bit about how we go about getting those products to our customers:

Email:  We're huge fans of email.  In fact we don't even publish a phone number.  We realize this is a bit unusual but it saves us lots of time and energy, both of which we'd rather be putting back into development and actual production.  Unless we're out of town (rare), we typically respond to emails within a hour or two during work hours.  It's not uncommon to get a response from us in those wee hours, we're not always conventional.

With that said, our responses aren't always exhaustive or sugar coated.  While we often make a lengthy reply when called for, short and sweet (maybe not always so sweet, but pickles are good too, right?) is the de rigueur.  We're not saying that you'll never get a snide response from us, but we do put the customer first, always, and any missteps by us are just that.

Postage:  We ship everything as economically as possible.  Small packages typically go out USPS, large go UPS.  We never charge for "handling", though to be blunt we probably should.  Most people would be surprised to find out how long so called handling actually takes.  It's not uncommon to spend hours per day packing and shipping.  We also never charge more than it costs us.  We know that shipping charges can be pretty thrilling (you know, like a car accident), but we don't take a cut.  In fact, we're not always the sharpest tools and oftener than we'd like to admit, we take a loss.

Packing: Though we've not received any comments, we're guessing some of our customers have been left scratching their heads at some of our packing material.  We're pretty professional about most our image but there's no place for fancy schmancy in the packing material world.  We always use new boxes for stability but our packing, in it's many forms is strictly hand-me-downs.  In fact we do one better than most of the "recycled" packing those green companies use, our packing is 100% re-purposed.  We source all our packing from a local company that deals in large amounts of electronics materials where we get all our myriad supplies.  What's this mean?  Well as many of you already know, it means unpacking a box from us doesn't bring to mind "corporate" or "professional", but it gets the job done AND again, it saves money.  I guess we're also happy it didn't require a second round of petroleum product manipulation either, though Uncle Ted probably wouldn't care one way or the other.


Paper:  Similar to that drivel directly above about packing, many people probably notice we never include invoices or packing lists in our shipments.  In this internet age, where DARPA has made all of us so happy, we don't really see the need of using more ink and paper just to confirm what you already know via the email receipt you received.  You probably also don't need a packing list to confirm what you are holding in your hands, only the sweetest piece of hardware you'll ever be able to hand down to your grandchildren!

A Roubo in Two Days and WIA 2011

This week I worked solo in the Benchcrafted test shop getting some things ready for WIA in September, where we'll be exhibiting everything Benchcrafted at the year's best woodworking show.

This year we're debuting our new Benchcrafted Moxon vise at the conference. And in order for as many people to try it out as possible, we're building a special bench. But in order to have enough room for it in our booth, I knocked out this small Roubo bench this week (its only 18" x 60"). What you see above was built in only two days, including installing a Benchcrafted Tail Vise. If it weren't for the angled stretchers (the rear of the base is built on a wider footprint for stability) I would have finished the Glide install on the second day. That's the beauty of using 12/4 lumber. You can knock out a massive bench lickety split.This bench will make the journey to Cincinnati so folks can try out our Tail and Glide Leg Vise in real time, on a monolithic bench.

We're also building a massive 40" x 40" sawbuck-style bench to hold four complete Moxon vises, so four woodworkers can have a go with them without bumping shoulders with anybody. Each Moxon vise will be outfitted with a test board and a brand new Bad Axe "Doc Holliday" Dovetail Saw. All four complete Moxon vises will be for sale at a special price, and customers can take them home Saturday evening or Sunday, as will the Dovetail saws from Bad Axe.

If you bring a set of dice, we may set this up as a craps table. But only if someone shows up dressed like Wyatt Earp.

Dovetailed Chest in Birdseye Maple

I finally finished the chest from this post and had a chance to get some pictures taken last week.

The Bridge City Jointmaker Pro performed flawlessly for cutting the dovetails in this chest. After assembly the joints planed up flawlessly.

The one thing I'm not happy about is the selection of the front boards. Viewed from one end, the joint blends, but from the other end the upper board appears lighter and the joint between upper and lower boards becomes too distinct. And I spent a lot of time choosing these boards. I guess I needed to spend some more.

The chest is finished with several coats of Minwax Antique Oil, hand rubbed with 600 grit paper after the first couple coats. It's silky to the touch. I didn't build the finish to perfect uniformity. I didn't want to chest to look pristine. Hardware from Horton Brasses and Whitechapel Ltd.

The Benchcrafted Moxon Vise

Last year Christopher Schwarz resurrected Joseph Moxon’s double-screw vise described in Moxon's 17th c. book “The Art of Joinery.” He covered it at his blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine and later published an article in the magazine itself. The vise took off and woodworkers started building Moxon vises left and right.

But not long after the article came out we began hearing from people moaning about wood threading kits, their tricky setup and the tendency for wood screws to swell tight in their holes, and asking what we were going to do about it. 

Then our wheels started turning, so to speak. 


After a bunch of prototypes (I won't share the first version, it was a mutt of a vise) we hit on something that works great, looks cool, and is fun to use, whether you're clamping wood or not. And its fast. 

Here's what makes our Moxon unique. We like vises to focus all their potential power and precision on actually holding your work. That makes workholding easy. So like our Glide and Tail Vise, which are not weighed down by their own mass, the Benchcrafted Moxon works on a similar principle. The screws on the Moxon do not move. Instead, the precision rolled acme screws are bolted to the fixed jaw and we've tapped the cast iron handwheels for the 3/4" diameter acme screws (a time-consuming and labor intensive process.) Since the screws do not rotate inside the movable jaw, there is no friction to slow the operation of the vise. If you like how our Glide Leg Vise works, you're going to love the Moxon. Spin the wheel and start working. You don't need to adjust both wheels to hold work. Set one, then use the other to open and close the vise. The suede-lined jaw completes the tenacious grip.

The Moxon vise can be attached to your bench with two F-clamps, between dogs (your dogs need to be spaced close to the front for this to work), or with two Gramercy (or other) holdfasts.

We're offering Moxon vises both as complete vises (a little assembly required) or hardware only--everything but wood. With the latter, you can build several sizes, or different vise configurations, like a benchtop bench. We're so excited about this new vise that we're offering our first run immediately, which we expect to go quick. The first run vises will start shipping August 15. After the first run is out, we'll immediately begin another run. You can place an order anytime.

For more info, visit the Benchcrafted Moxon Vise page.

You can also download complete Moxon Vise plans and instructions, for free, from our downloads page.

Why Build The Shaker Bench?

Last week we released our Shaker Bench Plans at the Lie-Nielsen 30th anniversary open house. We received lots of questions about the plans, but mostly "which bench should I build".

That's a fair question. Here goes.

Unlike some huge corporations that have a whole set of people to come up with new ways to make money, just for profit's sake, we work in the opposite way. That is, most of our products are the direct result of customer requests, or products that grew from other products we produce.

We're not about to offer bench plans for every conceivable bench configuration, just so we can sell you a set of vises. The bench design must work, and fulfill the principles set our by our favorite bench scientist, Christopher Schwarz. The kitchen door test must pass muster here (If you're unfamiliar with this concept, read this book) and our Shaker bench does it well.

We're also not going to argue the merits of the Shaker bench design. All those Shaker craftsman who build the great communities can speak for themselves. Although dead, their words are loud.

So why choose the Shaker over the Split Top Roubo?

The Roubo is a massive bench. Just moving the tops and leg sections, once joined, is an act of physical exertion. It's a demanding build. The Shaker bench on the other hand is built up from lighter parts to make a final monolithic structure. It's easier to build since you're working initially with lighter components.Once you're done, the Shaker bench is like working on a giant wooden cube. Filled with tools (or empty) its solid as a rock.

The Roubo has no storage, aside from the single shelf in the base structure. The Shaker has storage (dust free) in spades.

You can use holdfasts with the Roubo. You can use use holdfasts with our Shaker bench too. You'll need to lop off some of the shank, but you'll still get a few inches of capacity. More than enough for almost all work. 

The Shaker bench has a beautiful aesthetic. Yes, we've all heard the arguments about great craftsmen building incredible furniture on a hollow core door and a couple sawhorses. But if you were interested in that "bench" you wouldn't be reading this. I've been building furniture professionally for most of my adult life, and I am still inspired by a beautiful workbench. Would you rather work in a dark concrete sweat shop, or a spacious timber-frame filled with natural light?

You need to add storage to your shop. Yes, you could build a bank of floor cabinets, but why not build them with a robust top and vises? You'll have your storage, and a second bench to boot. See the picture at the top of the post? That's the 14-foot Shaker bench at Mt. Lebanon, (zoom in and check out the dog holes and tail vise) loaded with storage and sporting two vises (the face vise has been removed, it fits in that square mortise at the left). See what I mean? Awesome.

So what's the final conclusion? It mostly boils down to aesthetics. There are some functionality differences, but nothing that makes one bench light-years better than the other. I have a Roubo in my personal shop. When I have the space and time, I'll be adding this Shaker bench to my shop for it's looks and storage potential.

Rosewood Handwheel Knobs

When we moved from chrome-plated hand wheels to our satin iron wheels, we changed the thread for attaching the rosewood knobs we supply with vises. This left us with some orphan knobs.

I've tried my hardest to replace all the handwheels knobs on my machinery with rosewood (yes, people think I'm nuts when they see these in my shop) but I've used up as many as I can. So as we make room for our new Moxon vise, we're clearing out some shelf space.

The 1 3/8" dia. knobs have a 3/8-16 stud. Once you install them, the rosewood will spin free. The fastener is chrome-plated.

We have a limited number of these knobs, so first come, first serve.

Price is $22 per knob, including priority mail shipping. To purchase, drop us an email and we'll tell you how to pay. When we sell out, we'll post an update here. If you don't hear back from us by email, it means we've sold out.

UPDATE: 

We also have some of these knobs WITHOUT fasteners. Same specs. They use a 1 3/4" shoulder bolt with 1/2" shank, available at most hardware stores. Price is $18 per knob, including priority mail shipping. To purchase, drop us an email and we'll tell you how to pay. When we sell out, we'll post an update here. If you don't hear back from us by email, it means we've sold out.

More New Stuff, Skraper Update

After many requests over the past couple years we're finally offering the hardware to make the roller brackets from our Glide Leg Vise.

Paired with a T-handle metal bench screw, or a wooden bench screw,  a pair of roller brackets will make your leg vise spin freely. It's a nice upgrade that makes any leg vise move effortlessly.

The kit includes everything you need to make two brackets, except wood.

Download the templates for making the bracket HERE.

The bracket hardware costs $39, and all the components are made in the USA. The rollers are top-quality industrial-grade casters with ball-bearing hubs. The metal parts have a black finish and look very traditional in context.


If your chop goes all the way to the floor, you'll need to do some slicing and dicing to allow enough room for the roller bracket to mount below the parallel guide. If you love wood screws, this is a perfect way to improve their function for just a few bucks.

You can order the kit on our Order page.

We'll start shipping these next week, after we return from the Lie-Nielsen Open House this weekend. 

Skrapers

Chris Schwarz recently blogged about our Skraper. Naturally this put a severe dent in our inventory. Actually, it put more like a hole in our inventory.

We sold out within an hour.

We're about half way through the next run, and expect to ship about middle of next week for those of you who are waiting.Thanks for your patience.

Tomorrow we head east to Warren, ME. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by L-N Toolworks and say hello.

Shaker Bench Plans--Now Available

After almost a year, our Shaker bench plans are finally ready.

Last week, draftsman extraordinaire Louis Bois and I pored over the umpteenth iteration of the prints to make sure everything was accurate and clearly understandable. I think we're darn close on both counts. Louis is a perfectionist. If a certain line weight is off, he can't let it slide. Not even a little. So these plans have taken longer than we anticipated. But they have been worth the wait. We're extremely pleased with Louis' work.

This set of plans posed some challenges. How do you illustrate the carcase construction in a clear, easy to follow manner? Louis and I went back and forth over this for a couple weeks before our ideas met. While writing the instructional text for the plans I included pictures of the carcase construction at each major step. And that's when Louis' mind clicked.

Legos.

Louis and I are about the same age, and both grew up immersed in Lego building. So our minds, thousands of miles apart, were on the same page.

Show each step of the carcase, with each consecutive step adding parts to the previous step. This way the builder would see exactly in what order to build, and where every part goes.

We grayed out the previous steps' parts, leaving the parts to be added in black. Easy peasy.

For these plans we're adding a page at the end in full color, printed on a spiffy new Océ Colorwave 600 large-format printer. Our printer just installed this machine last week. It uses wax-based toner pearls (think crayons) that leave a lovely sheen in the color. In fact, as I write this these pages are being printed off.

The last page of the plans will feature some gorgeous 3-d renderings from Louis that not only look incredible, but also help explain how the bench goes together. Right now I'm wondering what some of the old Shakers would think of this? I think they would embrace it. It's efficient, simple, and beautiful.

The Shaker Bench Plans are $36, including shipping anywhere in the USA and Canada. You'll receive the construction notes PDF (35 pages) which includes written instructions and building techniques, along with the 3d E-drawing file within 24 hours of ordering, by email. The E-drawing is a CAD file that lets you see the bench on your computer in full 3-d (you need software, but its a free and easy download. Less than five  minutes, tops.) You can move the bench, take it apart, make parts transparent or hidden, even measure each part. It's a nice way to explore the bench away from the large prints. Then later in the mail you'll receive six pages of 20x30 prints rolled in a cardboard tube. Plans will start shipping July 19.

We're also offering Benchmaker's Packages for the Shaker bench. You get both vises, complete plans, and hardware to build the Shaker Bench. Everything you need except wood (and some common fasteners.)  You save $42 if you buy the package. Lead times for Benchmaker's Packages are dependant on vise lead times. Right now that's about 4 weeks.

To preview the construction notes, download the first six pages HERE.

And since I know some of you will wonder, the background on the construction notes cover page was taken from this 1920's photograph of a Shaker workshop at Mt. Lebanon, New York. The beautifully-crafted lathe is particularly nice.