As a chairmaker, a small sliding bevel is essential to my work. The tool guides most of the joinery. It also is a companion when I explore historical chairs to understand how they work.
When we completed work on the Crucible Type 2 Dividers, designer Josh Cook and I wondered if we could adapt that tool’s ingenious tension/locking mechanism for a sliding bevel. The answer is yes. And thanks to tool designer and machinist Craig Jackson, we have a bevel in the works that exceeds any expectations I had for the tool.
The Crucible Sliding Bevel is unlike any other sliding bevel I know of. It locks the blade position so tightly that you have to be quite strong to get the blade to move off your desired setting. And if that’s all it did, I’d be happy. But it does something else, too.
Thanks to Craig, the Crucible sliding bevel has dual controls that allow you to do some helpful things. The screw up by the blade controls the rotation of the blade. It works like the adjustment mechanism on any sliding bevel. You can use it to lock the blade, loosen the blade or set the tool’s tension so the blade rotates but with some effort.
The second screw near the back of the tool is used to adjust how the tool’s blade slides in its slot. You can use these two screws to control separately the rotation and the sliding of the blade. That means you can:
- Lock the rotation of the blade and then slide the blade to a different position in the body of the tool.
- Lock the blade so it won’t slide, but it will rotate.
I know this might sound complicated, but it’s not. Much like the dual controls on the Tite-Mark, my favorite marking gauge, these become second nature within a couple minutes. Also good to know: You don’t have to use the dual controls. You can simply use the control at the pivot point to work the tool – bringing in the second control only when necessary.
Some Specifications
We are making the bevel in alloy steel with a 4″ blade, which is my favorite size. The blade is 3/32″ thick, so it is impossible to mangle. The body of the bevel is 11/16″ x 3/4″ x 4-3/8″ and weighs a nice 10 ounces. The bevels are being made in Kentucky. The control screws are the same size as the screw on our dividers (so perhaps we’ll make a screwdriver soon).
One of the other nice things about this tool is that it is extremely easy to assemble and disassemble. So we will offer a 7″ blade that fits in this tool’s body in early 2022.
So when will these begin selling? We are waiting on a large steel order. The production fixtures have all been constructed and the programming is complete. Depending on when the steel arrives, there is a chance we will offer the first batch right before Christmas.
And the price? This is the most complex tool we’ve made so far at Crucible, and there is a lot of milling to make the custom parts. The retail will be $200, and I think the tool is worth every penny. (As always, if you’re feeling salty about the price, I encourage you to give small-scale domestic toolmaking a go. I love it, but sheesh – making stuff is hard.)
I don’t know if we have enough margin in these tools to offer them through our foreign and domestic retailers. But a few months of production will give us that answer.
In the coming weeks I’ll make a video that shows how the bevel operates.
— Christopher Schwarz
Excellent aesthetic. Wonderful size. Best of luck!
May we pre-order?
Thanks for the enthusiasm! I’m afraid we cannot take pre-production orders.
I can’t wait to get one!
Looks to be an amazing design, sign me up! looking forward to USA made tools! I’d pay more for a well made American tool any day.
My tool box has longed for a really ingenious sliding bevel – I must be quick tho – I feel, even at 200 bones, these will go quickly!
We are going to make enough so that everyone who wants one, gets one.We do everything in our power to keep tools and books in stock at all times.
I want one. Is there a waiting list?
Yep, yer onit with the restofus. 🙂
Looks great! What is the width of the blade? Just curious as recently made some angled tenons using the blade width as the tenon length.
The blade is 3/4″ wide.
huh?! one screw for rotation only and another for sliding only? That’s some voodoo magic in there. I guess I’d have to buy one just to gut it to figure out how it works!
Pretty tool, I hope it does very well for you! I am curious as to why you decided against some sort of thumb screw for tightening; do you think it will be obnoxious to need a screwdriver to set the desired angle?
Old ones used screwdrivers. Our dividers use screwdrivers. The screwdriver allows you to tighten it tighter. We might offer a thumb screw in the future
Interesting! I guess I’ve never seen one that needed a screwdriver, but tool collector/expert I am not so that isn’t horribly surprising. I’m sure the screwdriver tightens things up much tighter, and that would be very handy at the bench. Last time I used my sliding bevel I was hanging off of a ladder much too high off the ground making some trim pieces for a soffit, hence my thoughts of having to juggle another tool. I suppose normal woodworkers don’t build chairs on ladders, so that is less of an issue…
I have an old early Stanley bevel with a large thumbscrew and the thumbscrew gets in the way 80% of the time. Recently almost bought a shinwa to avoid this issue but this one looks much nicer.
I love it! I can see so many uses for being able to lock the rotation but still slide the blade. Well done!
Salty about the price? Folks don’t need to make tools; all they have to do is try and calculate how much to sell their woodworking items for to realize this. It’s mostly why I decided to keep my day job and just make nice stuff for myself. I get to make exactly what I want and not worry about if I am charging enough so I can afford to live in the San Francisco Bay Area where most homes entry level these days are on the order of a million dollars.
Are the screws accessible on both sides? As a lefty, this is one of the dumb things I gotta consider before getting excited about new tools.
Nope. The screws cannot pass through the body. But this is not a “handed” tool in my opinion. You can hold it in your right hand and manipulate the screws using your left.
You should make a guard for the pointy tip, to keep idiots from gouging themselves.
Blade Condom ™ is in the works.
Would that be a Marvel or DC character, or has Lost Art just become a comics publishers to boot? My name is Blade….Blade Condom..tm
Impressive, beautiful, and intriguing. Unfortunately, my small shop is full — as in FULL. Fortunately, I inherited my grandfather’s piece. And it’s already paid for!
Congrats!
Seems like offering a purpose-built screwdriver for these may be prudent, or at least asserting that the only one you endorse for this is [insert name here]. I could see a lot of people trying to send theirs back when they ruin the screw(s) using the wrong driver.
So, in order to fold the blade into the tool for storage, you’d need to loosen both screws and then tighten both back, correct?
The Chicago screws are for a common No. 10 slotted screwdriver. I use a Grace USA driver, which has parallel-ground tips. If someone does bugger the screw slot, these fasteners are very cheap, very common off-the rack screws.
On storing: There are as couple options. 1) What you suggest. 2) Leaving the rear screw a little slack and tightening the front screw.
What does the little divot at the end just past the slide screw do?
Although that price will ultimately be too steep for me, it admittedly seems about right for what someone would need to charge to make a profit. The independent locking feature is particularly cool.
I fail to understand. The traditional sliding bevel is a simple and beautiful tool. It is very cheap and it works very well. Is this just a luxury good to keep justifying the spending habits of those well off enough to spend $200 on a totally unnecessary gadget?
Thanks for calling our work a “totally unnecessary gadget.”
AlI I can say is that rotgut whisky will get you just as drunk as good whisky. So if you just want to get drunk, go for the rotgut.
As an independent woodworker, publisher and toolmaker, I can’t possibly afford the economies of scale that would allow me to make a $50 chair or a $35 sliding bevel. So I can either got to work for corporate America, or I can make them myself and charge what I have to. But I’m not unnecessary – nor are the things I make.
Put another way, the people who make the most money in toolmaking are the guys who make the 20-cent drill bits.
Sorry, I obviously got that wrong: your tool is indeed very useful, like sliding bevels are, just like my old £5 one is, which begs the question…
Can you add metric dimensions to your drawings. I am wanting to send the drawing to China and have a few hundred gross made to sell to Mr. Bezos. I guess I could try to figure out the dimensions but I need to get back to selling time shares. Thanks When you look at me like that it’s a joke.
Nice tool. I like that it looks strong and heavy enough to stay put when used to guide a drilling angle. I also like that the adjustment screws are flush with the body. Protruding thumb screws, although very convenient, often get in the way.
While I do think this is a beautiful tool which I know will be well crafted coming from you, I feel like now that I’m used to toolless bevels this one would just annoy me. Not for me I guess but I’m still glad that there’s another quality bevel entering the market.
There’s almost nothing you do that I don’t support in a heartbeat. Your books are the best hand tool woodworking guides around. The Stick Chair Book is one for the ages. Your lump hammer is something I use every day. But this feels like the Crucible Tools version of the Apple Newton. Expensive beyond imagination. And needing a tool to make it work, instead of the appendage I already have. There are so many bevels, vintage and new, that work quite well without tools and for much lower cost. I just can’t see this. I wish you well with it, but this is one of the first times your direction has me scratching my head about practicality.
We may not sell many, and that’s OK.
I use a sliding bevel constantly in my work – as much as a combination square. I need one that locks tightly to prevent a critical error. A 2° error in a chair leg is a complete failure. Because of that, I am willing to use a screwdriver to adjust it. We use the same mechanism on our dividers (same screw, in fact).
Personally, I am to the moon with this tool. It has the heft and movement of a fine mechanical watch. But not every woodworker needs a bevel that does what this does. And I can live with that.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Now if you could make a square in which the blade only has 1/8ths, I would gladly pay $200 (and yes, I know that would be more than a Starret). I hate having 32nds and 64ths on mine. How much do I hate it? Well, apparently $200 worth.
Joe you and I are defiantly in different worlds ……Wow only 1/8ths………….So that would make 3/16″ be 1/8″ and a half 1/8″………..Being a machinist this post makes my head hurt………. .125″ is as close as is needed………. Okay, I maybe jealous it would be very nice not to have live in a +, – .005″ world……. I need to go lay down.
I use my sliding bevel (Stanley no. 18 thank you) probably a couple times a year, and at this point it’s usually more because I enjoy doing so than because I need to. But I got to say this looks great, the dual action is genius. It might even inspire me to actually do some woodworking.
This is fantastic and truly innovative. I’m no pro, but many times I have set the angle on my Stanley 18 (my current fav bevel gauge) with a protractor and then find it doesn’t flush against my work b/c the blade was slightly less than fully extended. Being able to control angle and slide separately would be great. Additionally, being able to get the inverse by sliding the blade without worrying about resetting the angle would also be a time saver. I sincerely hope Crucible and Mr. Jackson applied for a patent on this functionality.
I’ve never spent this much on a hand tool, but with my aspirations to one day truly make a living making things, I would view this as an investment.
Looks great. If the bevel is as good as the lump hammer or dividers, then I’d probably fork over the cash. I will say that I prefer the logomark on the lump hammer / dividers. I like the simplicity of the single line (almost looks like it’s marked by hand). It’s a strong brand mark. The version on the bevel looks fine too, but the type starts to become a little busy. However, I understand that you need make compromises with what looks cool vs what’s good for the brand. Looks like you’ve done a decent amount of experimenting and have your reasons. The tool itself looks great and seems like a great fit with the rest of your stuff.
Very excited to have another quality 4″ on the market. I look forward to purchasing one. Nothing is worse than having your bevel move a degree or two and not noticing it.
These look great. Good luck with the production runs.