Site is Down!

Our servers are down this morning over at the website so please be patient! It's dinged our header here also!

Maybe we should upgrade from our vintage IMSAI? Or maybe it's just a bad punch card in the loop?

Next Batch of Vises on the way.....

We're happy to report the next batch of tail vises shipped today. We've only a few left from the Black Friday influx and we'll be caught up.....

More Tail Vises Heading to Shops Nationwide...

Here's another quick update for those patiently awaiting the arrival of their Benchcrafted Tail Vise. Another batch of vises is awaiting packaging, and will be shipped out Monday, January 12th. Another batch will soon follow. Thanks again for your support and patience!

UPDATE! Tail Vises Now Shipping!

For those of you who ordered a Benchcrafted Tail Vise on Black Friday, and have been patiently waiting these past few weeks, we have some good news. Today we shipped the first of several runs of vises that we've been making since then. We greatly appreciate your patience during this incredibly busy time of year. We've been working our fingers to the bone trying to get these finished asap. (By the way, the Benchcrafted Tail Vise is made in the USA!) If you were among the first who ordered, expect your vise sometime this week. The rest will be shipping at regular intervals. If you're desperate for your vise, just think how extra sweet it will be when it finally arrives! We think it will be well worth the wait.

One other item. If you've ordered a vise, please download and print the installation instructions from the vise page (link). Instructions are not included in the box. If you don't have access to a printer, drop us a line and we'll be glad to drop a hard copy in the mail.

Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Getting Schwarzed

A small batch of rosewood knobs in production for tail vises.

A few weeks ago we got Schwarzed. What is "getting Schwarzed"? It's when Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine editor Christopher Schwarz decides to blog about a recent tool he's picked up, without of course notifying the manufacturer of that tool. In this case, it was a multiple whammy. The Benchcrafted Tail Vise went on sale last month on Black Friday, and Chris decided to blog about the sale (again, unbeknownst to us!). We got swamped with orders, and sold out of our existing stock within a few hours. Then within the space of a couple weeks Chris blogged about installing his own Benchcrafted Tail Vise in his Roubo bench no less than four times. Thanks Mr. Schwarz. And I don't mean that with any hint of sarcasm. Well, not entirely! :-) Since then we've been scrambling to get parts and materials ordered and delivered (that's a task in itself during the holidays and the nasty midwest weather this time of year) the steel milled and fabricated, the hardware assembled and the rosewood knobs turned. Our usual turnaround time for vises is 2-3 weeks. With the sale, the huge response from Chris' blog and the other delays that are common this time of year, amazingly we're only a couple weeks behind that goal. If things go as planned (do they ever?!) another batch of vises should be heading to those first Black Friday purchasers by the end of the week. In this case, the early bird gets the vise.

In case you missed Chris' review of the vise, check out his blog post. We couldn't be more pleased with his review.

We recently uploaded another glowing review of the tail vise from infill plane maker Ron Brese. You can read it here.

In addition, we've also uploaded a newly edited video to the vise page showcasing the function of the vise. Direct download here.

Another Olivewood, er.....Spalted Maple Custom BLOK

Well we've yet to get our hands on any large pieces of olivewood. That said, we're not terribly dispointed in the spalted maple we've laid our hands on! This is just one of 2 custom jobs we've done lately (32" x 3"). We love this stuff. Just imagine your set of fine Japanese steel on this.

Maybe there's more to come.............in smaller sizes?

Woodworking Magazine and the Tail Vise

The Benchcrafted Tail Vise was recently featured on the Woodworking Magazine Weblog. Magazine Editor Christopher Schwarz installed one the vises in his Roubo-style bench. You can read about his experience and thoughts here: Woodworking Magazine Weblog.

We're proud that Mr. Schwarz, who is responsible for much of the recent interest in traditional workbench design and use, has chosen the Benchcrafted Tail Vise for his bench. We're excited about offering this vise in the coming months and years, and even improving on its design. We think it fills the niche between traditional tail vises, and wagon vises made from bench screws and other hardware not necessarily intended for wagon vises.

Thanks Mr. Schwarz and Woodworking Magazine!

Black Friday at Benchcrafted (Tail Vise price drop!)

Late Thursday (right about the time I'm making a turkey sandwich) the price of the Benchcrafted Tail Vise will drop. But only for a day. If you've been considering picking up one of these, this would be the time. The price will be, well, check the Home page Thursday around 10pm to find out. There will also be special pricing on Mag-Bloks. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Barnacles & Cocobolo

Though we're not into full production yet, we are making some custom barnacles. These 9 are a matching set for the 18" Cocobolo MAG-BLOK the customer requested.

Woodworking in America Conference

Ron Brese at his bench, featuring the Benchcrafted Tail Vise.

This past weekend a new and unique woodworking event took place. Fine hand-tool manufacturers from all over the world converged on the Berea College campus in Berea, KY for three days of classes, lectures and demonstrations. For the first time, top hand-tool makers such as Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Lee Valley Tools, Tools for Working Wood, and Wenzloff and Sons Sawmakers, among many others, were assembled in one room, available to conference participants to answer questions or demonstrate their products. Participants were invited to use the tools and receive instruction from the exhibitors. Through the generosity of Czeck Edge Hand Tool and Brese Plane, we were able to present the Benchcrafted Tail Vise and field questions throughout the conference. Ron Brese installed one of our vises on his portable bench for the conference. Woodworking In America was a rousing success and we heard nothing but great things from the participants and exhibitors. As for the next WIA conference, we can't wait!