We’re delighted our 24″ Joiner’s Rules got a mention in the April 2026 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine – thank you, FWW editorial staff!
We’re also happy that our brass-bound Joiner’s Rules are now back in stock for the first time since the holidays. All of us have pitched in over the last few days to scribe and ink the lines that help your eyes more easily see quarters and eighths. (And, er, one lucky person will get the special one I stamped yesterday with the Crucible logo between 10″ and 11, instead of our usual spot between 11″ and 12″. It’s sure to be a collector’s item!)
Join me and my dovetail saw February 20-21 at the Forge Nashville for a Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event. I’ll be working on a stepstool or a Shaker tray…or some other fun, small dovetailed project as time allows. Plus I’ll have a selection of our books available for purchase. (But if I’m away from my post, look for me at the amazing Alf Sharp’s bench!)
At the event, try out all the LN tools and get expert guidance as you learn from the LN staff, talk to guest demonstrators and hang out with a passel of fellow hand tool woodworkers. Plus, you can check out the Forge itself, a non-profit organization with wood and metal shops, a makerspace and gallery, private studios and more. You can find out more about the event here.
The Forge is at 217 Willow Street, Nashville, Tenn., and there is on-site parking. Hours are Friday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
One of Ed’s many reproductions of the Declaration Desk.
In December of 2024, I traveled to Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, to meet Ed Zappen (and his lovely family – thanks again for the cheese curds, Kathy!) and take pictures in his shop for his book, “Jefferson’s Declaration Desk.”
We should, barring catastrophe, have the book to the printer this week or next, so look for it in about two months. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some glimpses inside.
Below is Zappen’s introduction.
– Fitz
The baize-covered writing surface of the reproduction.
My interest in the events leading to the Colonial separation from Great Britain led me to a little writing box that Thomas Jefferson used to write the Declaration of Independence. I contacted the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., where the desk was located. They put me in contact with senior Curator Harry Rubinstein, who invited me to the museum on two separate occasions to study, measure and photograph the desk. That started me on a 15-year journey to learn more about the desk, its history and how to make the best possible reproduction. I decided I should share this information with other woodworkers and the general public rather than keeping the history and plans for the desk to myself. Hence, this book.
Known as the Declaration Desk, Jefferson’s writing box is typical of writing boxes used among the upper classes in Colonial America and England. These desks were small, portable and often had a sloping area covered with baize, a coarse woolen cloth used for gaming tables, and suitable as a writing surface. Various compartments and drawers in the desk allowed the 18th-century professional to carry correspondence, writing materials and other items similar to those that might be found in a briefcase today. I call this an “18th-century Laptop.”
This is a story about that writing box and its place in American history, and it describes in some detail how to make an accurate reproduction of Jefferson’s Declaration Desk. Failure to place the desk in its historical setting presents this piece as just another vintage writing box that can be purchased in antique stores on the East Coast or eBay for a small price. So that is where I shall begin.
You can now order The Stick Chair Journal No. 3 from our store. This issue features plans and construction information for a Lincolnshire Windsor chair, the earliest-known form of Windsor. Plus lots of other articles that will help you as a chairmaker.
If you buy the Journal from us, you’ll also receive a pdf of the journal and a pdf of full-size patterns for the Lincolnshire chair in this issue. The printed Journal (with the digital extras) is $25.
You also can buy just the pdf of the Journal plus the pdf of the full-size patterns for $12.
We have sold out of all the printed back issues of the Journal, but you can purchase digital copies of back issues at the same page.
The printed Journals are made to a ridiculously high manufacturing standard. We print the journal on #80 matte coated paper, plus we sew the signatures (no “perfect” binding for us). No ads. No sponsorships. Just stories.
Issue No. 4 is already in the works, and I plan to have it out this fall.
What other craft would be interested in Welsh chairs? Try the workwear industry.
Recently TOAST sent a crew to Williams’ shop in Wales to interview him about his chairmaking and Welsh chairs in general. They produced a lovely little feature on Williams that you can read (for free) here.
And then last week, Paynter featured Williams’ book in their online newsletter as one of the books they’re reading. See the image above.
Both of these workwear companies are influential in the workwear market. Heck, I even own a couple Paynter garments (a jacket and a wool vest/waistcoat – good stuff).
Congrats to Williams for finally being recognized as the fashion icon that he is.
