This week I received a couple of parcels all the way from La Crosse, Wisconsin- yup, a few new products from Bad Axe Tool Works.

Bad Axe Bench Hook with 14" Sash Saw

I’m still ‘test driving’ the really cool items and will fill you in on all the details next week but for now I thought I’d let you see the new and improved bench hook sets.

New and improved you ask?

If you remember my old set of Bad Axe bench hooks, it’s a two-piece set made from quarter sawn red oak and come with miters already cut into the fences so you can get straight to work. The main hook is double sided so when one wears out you can flip it over and get twice the life out of it. The second component of the set is a support rest for working with longer stock. I use mine every day and leave them sitting on my bench top ready for use.

One fine day this past winter I was making some small boxes and needed to plane down some thin stock. I decided to add a thin fence to the support rest portion of my set essentially transforming it into a small planing board. I figured it would get more use being a planing aid as well as the support rest it was designed as. (you know me with dual purpose appliances)

So to make a short story longer…???

Walnut planing stop on support rest.

I told Mark about my ‘bench hook add on’ and he decided to revamp these great work shop aids and sent me a sample that arrived this afternoon. Of course being the perfectionist he is, instead of just nailing a fence across the support rest as I did on my old set-  he made these things ‘bomb proof’ by locking the planing stop fence into a dado cut into the support rest. The dado holds a walnut fence along with a dash of TiteBond III making these things practically indestructible. The two fences on the main hook are also made in this fashion so you can be sure they’ll never budge. I tried the miters and the planning stop tonight and am happy to say they’re spot on.

Well, that’s the news for tonight-better get back at it…in this last shot you can see these new bench hooks arrived just in time~ only a few more cuts ’till I’m through my old ones!

Just in time!