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I have lost track of how many vises I’ve built or installed on workbenches. So my early-morning giddiness about the Benchcrafted Crisscross is worth note.
This week I’m putting a leg vise on my Holtzapffel workbench that will have both the new Benchcrafted Classic vise screw and the Crisscross Retro (instead of a parallel guide). I’ve used vises with the Crisscross installed, but this is the first Crisscross I’ve installed personally.
It is surreal.
When you install a Crisscross on a leg vise, you should install the Crisscross first. (What’s a Crisscross? I’ve been writing about these devices for many years. Here’s my first article from 2007.) Once the Crisscross is attached to both the chop of the vise and the leg of the bench, the chop floats in and out.
“Floats” is the only word, and it’s a word rarely applied to workbenches.
Today I also shaped the chop of the vise and got everything ready to add the Classic’s vise screw. But I am missing one Forstner bit that will finish the job.
— Christopher Schwarz
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