We're happy to announce that the Benchcrafted Carver's Vise is finally ready.
This
whole process started seven years ago (almost to the day) when Chris
Schwarz blogged about Louis Bois' carver's chops from La Forge Royale.
Read more about that post
here.
Then one night during a
WIA conference,
Louis Bois pulled his original carver's chops from the trunk of his
Nissan Juke, and pitched the idea of us making the metal parts for a run
of vises. We bit.
After
19 months we finally have all the bits and piece ready to sell. It was
no easy task to design the parts for the vise. We wanted to basically
replicate Louis' example in every detail, and we've come darn close. Our
version is about 97.6% faithful to the La Forge Royale original.
The
components are made entirely from cold rolled steel, and every part is
machined to precise dimensions. There are no stamped parts. 95% of the
vise is manufactured from scratch by us. We've even gone to the trouble
of incorporating some different machining techniques to give a hint of
the hand-wrought look of the original.
The
rear of the vise is the part that moves, and is completely removable
once the screw is unthreaded all the way. The two sliding brackets
feature an integral lip that traps the rear jaw, keying it onto the
slide rails that run along the base of the vise. The rear jaw traverses
the base smoothly, and does not rack or shift during use. The 7/8" dia.
acme screw is the same size as the original.
The
base of the vise attached to a bench via a mounting screw with a large
square head. This head slides up through a mortise at the end of the
base, and holds the base down on two 1/8" thick steel bearing plates
that attach inside the mortise. The entire vise can swivel 360 degrees,
and can cantilever off the edge of a bench while still remaining rock
solid. This is very handy for doing spokeshave work on chair parts, or
the like. A cover plate keeps shavings and dust from fouling the
mounting screw.
Engaging
the mounting screw is a tapped cast iron handwheel which cinches down
the vise with great pressure and is easy to adjust by reaching under the
benchtop. A thick steel washer takes wear and distributes the holding
pressure on the underside of the bench. Changing position of the vise is
quick and easy. You can even pick a favorite spot on your bench for the
vise, mortise for the square head of the mounting screw, then let the
head drop into the mortise when not using the vise. You can keep the
mounting screw, washer and handwheel on the bench at all times. To mount
the vise simply place the base over the square head, push the screw up
and engage the rails in the vise's base. Quick and easy.
The
head of the main screw is branded with the the Benchcrafted name and
logo, and "USA". We're proud to say that this vise is manufactured (like
all our vises) in the United States. For demonstration purposes we've
filled the stamped brand with white enamel. Vises will be supplied with
unfilled brands. We like the minimalist look (we're not big fans of
overt branding) of the unfilled lines, but if you'd like to fill your's,
by all means feel free. We simply painted on the white enamel, let it
set for about a minute, then wiped it off with a paper towel wrapped
tight around a cork block. We wet the towel slightly with lacquer
thinner to remove any surface film. Below is an unfilled example.
All
parts of the vise (except the nut, mounting screw, handwheel and
bearing plates) are finished in hot black oxide and oiled. Your vise
parts will arrive wrapped in paper and oily. You should remove most of
the oil before you begin building your vise. Use a paper towel and a
little mineral spirits. It's okay to leave the parts a little oily.
The
Benchcrafted Carver's Vise is available in kit form only. That is, the
metal parts pictured above. You will need to build the vise around the
metal parts. It is an enormously satisfying build, much like building a
great bench, without all the heavy lifting. It's also a great project
for a special piece of wood you've been holding onto.
For
those who don't have any of that special wood, we have a limited number
of 16/4, mixed rift and quartersawn American beech billets that we are
offering along with the vise components. This is excellent quality
beech, and is completely traditional for tool making. Wood being wood,
we can't guarantee the blanks, or accept returns on these. The vise
pictured above was made with the same wood we're offering. The blanks
will vary slightly in width. Each billet will provide more than enough
wood to build one complete vise.
Prices:
Benchcrafted Carver's Vise (hardware components only): $379 plus shipping
Benchcrafted Carver's Vise (hardware components) & Beech Billet: $439 plus shipping
Vices will go on sale at 10am (CST), Friday May 24. You can place an order through our
store page.
If you're attending Handworks, we'll also have vises (and beech billets) at the event.
Measured drawings and construction notes will be available for free download in the next few weeks.
Note:
Unlike our other products, this is a
limited run. When they are gone, we may or may not make them again. We
won't have a page on our website about this vise. This blog post is it.
If you want one, again be sure to check the store page on the May 24th
after 10am.
Refresh your browser if you don't see the carver's vise on
the page.
Carvings generously provided by Louis Bois and Andrew Lunn.
