Lost Art Press

17th-century-style Side-hung Drawers

Posted on by fitz
The top drawer of the Sawyer cupboard, dovetailed and nailed. That joint stays put. Photo by Gavin Ashworth

The following is excerpted from Peter Follansbee’s latest book, “17th-century Essex County Cupboard.”

Making the side-hung drawers is a fun challenge. I don’t do it often enough to have a systematic step-by-step approach; I’ve done it this way and that over the years. First off, the stock I use for the drawers is all radially riven and planed well ahead of time so it’s nice and dry. The drawer sides in particular need to be good, clear stock.

After assembling the case, I take some final passes with a sharp plane to size the drawer fronts to their openings. Three of the drawers have applied mouldings and turnings decorating the fronts. This work can be done once the drawers are assembled. The second drawer has a carved front, and I do that work before assembly. I’ll address the carving separately.

Let’s look at the drawer construction. It might confound some modern sensibilities. Three of the drawers use half-blind dovetails to join the drawer sides to the fronts.

Plow the groove in the drawer side before cutting the tails.

The backs of the drawers are not dovetailed; they’ve got rabbet joints and nails to attach to the ends of the drawer sides – except for the deepest drawer, which has through-dovetails front and back. You could give yourself a headache trying to understand why this particular mix of techniques appears on this cupboard. I don’t even bother. Some of the related cupboards used dovetails in the drawer fronts; most just used nailed rabbets. Which gives you plenty of leeway.

The deep drawer (7-1/4″) has two tails on the drawer sides; the others have only one. The only difference between them, as I noted, is that the large drawer has through-dovetails and the shallower drawers have half-blind joints. I plow the groove in the drawer sides before laying out the dovetails. Then, when I lay out the tails, I arrange them so the groove runs through one. The groove placement needs to agree with the notches in the stiles for the drawer runners. As discussed in the section on framing the lower case, you can make the notches in the frame first or the groove in the drawer sides first. Doesn’t matter. But make them agree – that’s critical. So much has been written about dovetails that I don’t want to add my two cents’ worth. The photos and captions cover what I know.

Assembling the drawer is simple enough. The rabbets are just nailed; out of habit I glued the dovetails in addition to nailing them. I’ve seen some period dovetailed drawers without nails; thus glue is implied. Make sure the nail heads don’t protrude from the drawer side as this could interfere with the drawer’s fit. I often hollow an area with a gouge to sink the nail head in. Nail the joint through the drawer back into the ends of the drawer sides, again with reamed pilot holes. After assembling the drawer, make two saw cuts to open up the groove through the drawer’s ends. Then knock out the waste with a chisel and mallet. It doesn’t have to be your neatest work; it just has to allow the drawer to slide along the runner.

Drawer Bottoms
Seventeenth-century drawer bottoms appear in several configurations. Hardwood, softwood, riven, sawn – I’ve seen them all. Some run lengthwise, some front to back. I like to make drawer bottoms from white pine boards running front to back. This can be a good use for short bits of wood. In this particular case, though, they are all riven oak, a bit less than 1/2″ thick. The log I had on hand yielded boards 6″ to 9″ wide, so there are about five or six boards per drawer. They butt up against each other with the same V-shaped joint used in the cupboard’s floorboards and soffit.

Pilot holes are a must. Be careful nailing into the front rabbet; a bit of an angle helps prevent blowout.

My drawer bottoms are finished on one face and rough-planed to thickness. I start each drawer by installing the outer boards at each end. These need one edge and the front end square. The inner edge doesn’t need to be parallel to the outer edge. Then flip the drawer upside down on the bench, lay the bottom in place in the rabbet and flush with the drawer side. Then, scribe the bit hanging over past the drawer’s back to get its finished length. Trim that length and joint the second edge. The same steps for making the V-groove in the soffit and floorboards apply here. Nail the drawer bottoms up to the drawer sides and back, and into a rabbet in the drawer front. The drawers use up a lot of nails, depending on how many boards make up the bottoms.

Finished drawer box – just add decoration.

Free Shipping on ‘Benchwork’ for 30 Days

Posted on by Lost Art Press

We are offering free shipping on Michael Pekovich’s new book “Benchwork” for the next 30 days. You can order the book here, and we will ship it tomorrow.

“Benchwork” is Mike’s third book, and this one focuses on making your work at the bench the best it can be. He shows you how to make his simple workbench, plus tool chests, wall cabinets and important shop appliances (do check out the “risers”….).

And Mike discusses in detail his kit of hand tools and how each one has earned a place in his shop.

Like all of our books, “Benchwork” is made to high standards. The heavy coated paper takes color beautifully. All the pages are sewn together, then backed with glue and fiber tape. Then we wrap the book block with heavy boards, cloth and a dust jacket. This is a permanent book – made in the USA.

Note: Lost Art Press ships only to US addresses. If you live outside the U.S., consider buying the book from one of our retailers. Or use a mail forwarding service. We hope that all of our retailers will carry “Benchwork,” but that is up to them (as it should be). 

— Christopher Schwarz

2026 Labor Day Weekend Hours

Posted on by fitz

The Lost Art Press storefront will be closed this Friday (Sept. 4) because we’ll be in Iowa at Handworks, and the following Monday (Sept. 7) so we can

a) recover from Handworks (here’s hoping Chris and I don’t once again bring home a bad case of Covid…or a not-bad case of Covid, for that matter) and

b) because it’s the Labor Day holiday

But the doors are open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. today, tomorrow and Wednesday (Aug. 31, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2)

– Fitz

Check Out K and Monroe’s New Video About Dick Proenneke’s Cabin

Posted on by Kara Uhl

K Schubeck, Monroe Robinson’s wife, recently released a short YouTube production about their time at Dick Proenneke’s cabin.

Dick spent 31 years living alone in the Alaska wilderness, building his cabin and nearly everything he needed to survive. His adventures were documented on the program “Alone in the Wilderness” on PBS.

After Dick left his cabin, Monroe and K spent 19 summers caring for it and giving tours.

Fans of Monroe’s book, “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke,” will enjoy K’s YouTube production, which includes video content taken at Dick’s cabin as well as new photos not featured in the book. It’s a fun watch!

While Monroe’s book focuses on the tools and objects he made and includes hundreds of Dick’s journal entries along with Monroe’s commentary, it also highlights what life was like for Dick, such as this journal entry, written during a not-so-balmy August day 48 years ago, along with Monroe’s commentary.


“My peak.” (Photo by Dick Proenneke, courtesy of the National Park Service)

Dick Proenneke’s journal entry:

August 2, 1979:

Clear, Calm, & 36 degrees.

I woke up at four and saw the sun light the mountains down country soon after. Another pretty day and I was up to stay at 4:15. Today would be a good day to go up Hope Creek and climb to my peak at the head of the 2nd canyon. A few clouds would only make the pictures nice but I didn’t want the Kijik River’s upper reaches in shadow.

It was going to be a warm day if it stayed clear so I would dress cool. Give those beefed up crampons the test for it is a good climb and some rock.

Clouds forming and coming over the high ridge at a good clip. A mile to go and a snow patch leading nearly to the ridge. I changed to hiking boots and crampons. The snow wet near the bottom but became more solid as I climbed and I suspect it froze a little high up. At last the ridge looking towards Redoubt and Illiamna Volcanoes. Cotton clouds, lots of them hanging about the many peaks.

The sun moved around and Redoubt was framed by clouds. A beautiful scene and worth the climb to see it. No watch along and it is seldom that I carry one any more. Illiamna Volcano came in the clear and still putting out that huge volume of steam.

Heading for home and just below the peak a very long and steep snow patch leads down. A better way if you don’t lose your grip and slide and maybe roll and tumble until you hit a rock out crop below. Otherwise it was travel the ups and downs of the ridge back to where I had climbed. Some hazards in the form of loose rock there too. I lashed on my spikes and eased over the edge. Kick a good foothold before letting go of the last one. It was slow but going down instead of scrambling over the minor peaks. The snow was wet and soft now. It would ball up under the crampons and make the spikes ineffective. Stop and rap them a good one with my walking staff to dislodge it. No spills and I was soon traveling at a rate that would take me to Hope Creek in 45 minutes.

Monroe Robinson’s commentary:

“My peak” is four-and-a-half miles up Hope Canyon, and 3,500′ above Twin Lakes on a rocky, rubble hump along the extended ridge separating the watershed of Twin Lakes from the rugged Kijik River drainage. It is not a towering mountain and this fits what I know of Dick, that it is this ridge-line peak he referred to as “my peak” or “my mountain.” We now call it Proenneke Peak. From the valley floor the peak is slightly more than a half-mile in distance and up 2,000′ of loose scree and rotten rock. Dick’s description of choosing between the “very long and steep snow patch” and “loose rock” creates an understated image of descending either route from this ridge.

Dick loved to hike to “my peak.” The view is stunning. In 2001, not knowing its significance in Dick’s life, I laid on this ridge watching a gyrfalcon escort a golden eagle out of the area more than a thousand feet above me. Once the eagle was on its way out of the gyrfalcon’s defended territory, the gyrfalcon dove on me before circling ever closer, just a hundred feet overhead. Minutes later I spotted the gyrfalcon’s fledgling sitting on the cliff below.

In 2003, Dick’s ashes were buried near a flowering spotted saxifrage on Proenneke Peak. K. and I, along with four park service employees including historian John Branson, ranger/pilot Leon Alsworth, head ranger Lee Fink and ranger Warren Hill, took part in Dick’s Last Hike. Dick’s brother Raymond was part of choosing this spot for Dick’s ashes. As we approached the peak a few Dall sheep walked from the peak. They stood below, feeding as we held a tribute to Dick.

On the way down we picked blueberries. I made sourdough blueberry pancakes using Dick’s starter. Sitting outside Spike’s cabin we looked through a spotting scope and watched the Dall sheep standing on the peak.

In 2016, K. and I, along with our friends and volunteers at the Lower Twin ranger cabin, Dan Molina and Jennifer Jones Molina, took Raymond Proenneke’s ashes to leave next to Dick’s unmarked site. Again, Dall sheep were on the peak as we approached. Having looked through the scope at Proenneke Peak dozens of times through the years, I wonder the meaning of seeing sheep there only on those two occasions.

Revised Stick Chair Video is Free for Previous Customers

Posted on by Lost Art Press

We just released an entirely revised video on how to build a comb-back stick chair. But before you consider purchasing it, check your email. If you bought the original video sometime during the last four years, you should’ve received an email giving you free access to the new video.

If you didn’t get the email, log into your account at lostartpress.com. After you log in, click on the button that says: My Downloadable Files. If you bought the previous video, the files for the new video will be there.

If you didn’t buy the previous video, here’s some important news: You can buy the new video for 50 percent off for the next 30 days. Here’s the link. Like all of our videos, this one has zero DRM (digital rights management). That means you can download the files and transfer them to any device. The files won’t ever just disappear (unless you delete them).

If have trouble accessing the new video, ask [email protected] for assistance.

Why the Revised Video?

During the last four years I’ve come up with a lot of ways to simplify and streamline the process for building a comb-back stick chair. The new video shows all these processes. The new techniques are the result of teaching chairmaking to hundreds of students during the last four years and building 100+ more chairs on my own.

This video is suitable for anyone who wants to start making chairs. No previous chairmaking experience is needed. And the tool list is mostly stuff you probably already own.

Later this year we plan to update the video on building a Gibson chair as well. And we’ll distribute that revised video the same way we’re distributing this one.

— Christopher Schwarz