Hovarter VX-20 Available For Pre-order

I am very skeptical when it comes to--just about everything.  Heck, the title of Pragmatic Woodworker should give a clue as to how calculating I can be.  Part of my skepticism is:

     A) try not to ever do anything first
     2) do not conform to the pack, and
     iii) never spend money unless you know what you are getting

The Hovarter VX-20 is the exception that proves the rule.  I was hooked on this unit merely from recommendation and marketing video (youtube).

I've already placed my pre-order to avoid the rush.  Head on over to http://hovartercustomvise.com/ to be part of the pack clamoring for this new vise.  :)

I will definitely report on my experience with the VX-20.

I've decided the VX-20 is going to be the center piece (well, left of center) for my new bench.  One of the features I'm drawn to is the quick release mechanism.  The new bench will have a leg vise on both front legs.  I don't want to buy two vises, and I don't want two on at a time.  However, I would love to quickly move the vise from one leg to the other to accommodate the handedness of any operation.  The VX-20 is the only thing I've seen that gets close to my imagined nirvana.

Handedness of any operation?  You see, I was born sinister, cursed to feel the world in my right mind: I'm left handed.  I've learned to do many many things with my right hand.  This handedness issue comes up a lot in woodworking.  Almost every operation has a mirror image of itself as part of completion.  Things like dovetails and tenons generally like to be bilateral in form.  In my world, I often switch hands to achieve bilateralness.  Moving work between sides of the bench is a fact of my woodworking life.

Hopefully I'm not thowing money away on a rose colored vision of the future.

Box Problem

I recently received a new tool--a Lie-Nielsen tongue and groove plane.  I was moving things around in the toolbox to see where the new tool could live.  In the process I realized I have a box problem.

I have a number of Lie-Nielsen boxes that I can't seem to part with.  Pictured above are boxes spanning literally years.  The small box at the top right is a chisel box and is about 3 years old.  The chisel sits in the rack of my first Dutch tool chest, but the box now houses my small files.  The middle box holds a router plane.  The tool and cardboard box go into the Dutch tool chest.  On the left is the new tongue and groove plane; still looking for a home.

I haven't even had a chance to use the T&G plane--it's killing me.

There are also a couple more chisel boxes laying around.  Lie-Nielsen is by far a minority of my tool collection, yet I have all these silly boxes.  I think it is time to part with ages old cardboard.

Boxes for sale!  Get your small cardboard boxes here.  Get 'em while their hot, people!

When A Recess Becomes A Hole

I've been working on another Dutch Tool Chest, but this one has some surprises.  So, SURPRISE: this Dutch chest has a drawer!  Shocking, right?  Every good showman and politician knows to cover with hype what is weak or boring.

What isn't hype are the pulls I purchased for this chest.

Tonight I was doing some test fitting.  The pulls are meant to be fully recessed.  The problem is that they are just shy of 3/4" deep--the same depth as the wood.  I'm too cheap to redo all the front parts in 5/4 wood, which leaves me with a hard choice.  Either I get new pulls, or mount these above the drawer front.  Here are a couple photos to illustrate.

 I'm mostly posting these so I have place to refer to them as I try to decide which way to go.

  

I"m tempted to go ahead and risk the tight tolerances and mount the pulls anyway.  The chief problem with that approach is the screw length.  The screws have to be filed down to fit the remaining wood.