We're putting the finishing touches on our newest product: The Benchcrafted Crisscross 14.
This has been on our drawing board for many years, but it was a request from our Chicago showroom (aka, Jeff Miller Handcrafted Furniture) to make it possible to install a Classic Leg Vise into a Noden Adjust-a-bench. We worked up a prototype and Jeff has been using it to great success for several months now. It wasn't long after that that we also sent one off to our friend Will Myers to test in his Moravian bench. Turns out the Crisscross 14 plugs right into this bench without modification. Shorter benches will also benefit from the 14, since its a full 5" shorter than the Crisscross. The mechanism occupies just 14 1/2" of vertical space in a 7/8" wide mortise. Very compact. Performance is nearly identical to the Crisscross, in fact, the average user would not notice a difference. But for us, who live and breathe our vises on a daily basis, there is a slight amount of feel that differentiates the two mechanisms. In use, that is, when you're actually just making stuff, there is no functional difference.
We don't have pricing quite nailed down yet. But even though the Crisscross 14 is made entirely from steel (not the less costly cast iron) the price will be a bit less than our standard Crisscross Solo.
The Crisscross 14 will work flawlessly with our Glide and Classic Leg Vise, and will be offered along with both those vises instead of a Crisscross, if you need the extra space. We'll always default to recommending our Crisscross Solo or Retro, but if space is a concern, the 14 will deliver.
Stay tuned to our Instagram @benchcrafted for more frequent updates.
