Lost Art Press

‘The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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After six years and hundreds of hours of work, our biggest publishing project is finally coming together.

“The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years” is a massive compilation of the best writing at The Woodworker magazine while Charles H. Hayward was editor, from 1936 to 1966. Many of the articles were written and illustrated by Hayward himself, but this authorized compilation also features stories from other great workshop writers such as Robert Wearing and W.L. Goodman.

When we say this project is big, we mean it. This 8-1/2” x 11” hardbound book will easily be more than 1,200 pages long and feature articles on all aspects of hand tool use, joinery, furniture styles and workshop philosophy.

The book has taken a team of people including myself, Megan Fitzpatrick, Phil Hirz, Ty Black, John Hoffman and Linda Watts years to put together. It started with us purchasing every single annual edition of The Woodworker from Hayward’s tenure, a $2,000 bill.

Then we spent many beer- and wine-soaked evenings sorting through all of the annuals, culling out the best articles, weeding out duplicates and trying to make a cohesive book that included a fair sample of Hayward’s pioneering publishing work.

That was the easy part.

Ty Black scanned all of the articles and wrote a program that would process the images and turn the stories into editable text, which then had to be compared against the originals.

And now Linda Watts is laying out the entire book in a cohesive, vintage-looking package that will present Hayward’s work to a new generation of hand-tool users.

I will be honest: We bit off more than we could chew with this book. It would have been easy to scan all the articles and reprint them as-is. We took the hardest and most expensive road possible in resetting all the text, reprocessing each image and creating new page layouts.

“The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years” will be published this fall. We don’t have pricing information. But you might want to start saving your dimes and English pesos now. It will be worth it.

As a small taste, here are all of the sections of the book:

1-Tools & Techniques
Sharpening
Setting-out Tools
Handplanes
Saws
Boring Tools
Carving
Turning
Veneering & Inlay
General Techniques
Miscellaneous Tools

2- Joinery
Panel Joints
Frame Joints
Dovetail and Carcass Joints
Miscellaneous Joints

3-Workshop Appliances & Storage
Workbenches & Workholding
Tool Chests & Storage
Appliances

4-Furniture & Details
Furniture Styles Styles
Projects & Drawings
Miscellaneous Details

5-Chips from the Chisel

And below is a bigger taste: The full table of contents for the book.

TOC

More details as they become available.

— Christopher Schwarz

37 thoughts on “‘The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years’”

  1. Really looking forward to this one! 1200 pages sounds like a huge book. Are you thinking of publishing it as multiple volumes?

  2. My first question after I glanced at the TOC is whether I’ll have enough time left on this earth to read all this

    1. Joe,

      I hear you. Couple things:

      1. It is in about 500 small, digestible bites. You can read an article in about 15-20 minutes. It’s an excellent reference book, too.
      2. It is addicting. Once I start reviewing pages I can’t not stop and read it – even though I’ve been through it twice now.

      1. Sir
        I’m not trying to blow smoke BUT if it wasn’t for guys like you things like this would get lost to the world.
        ThAnks to you and your “team” for the effort
        Joe

  3. Another great work to look forward to. The hits just keep on coming 🙂
    Joe Eberle, I am a great believer that when I buy a book I also buy the time to read it :))

  6. I appreciate what Lost Art Press, you and those like you, are doing to preserve the writings of the craft. Keep up the great work.

    I hate to ask, but why are there two listings under Tools & Techniques – Sharpening in the TOC called “Sharpening Your Saws”?
    LB

  9. I remember when you first recommendedHayward to me. You said start with “Woodwork Joints”, I did and have been a huge fan ever since. Of both of you.

    Thank you,

    Michael

  10. Considering that you probably read every book published by LAP 5 times forwards and backwards during editing and not counting the ones you wrote yourself and your personal library. Do you realize that you are on your way to becoming the most knowledgeably woodworker alive today on planet earth. And no I am not trying to get a free copy, I will buy it, just adding up the facts:)

  11. Looks like another winner from LAP. A real treat to anticipate for this Fall. Thanks for another monumental undertaking.
    Mike O’Brien

  13. Chris, you are quite the salesman. Between this and Furniture of Necessity, I may have to start collecting cans on the side of the road to afford dinner. Looking forward to both.

  14. could not agree more with Joe Eberle that you doing a great job in keeping these idea’s going in print [no delete key] . After reading TOC I also have the fear of age, it is longer than the Sunday New York Times !

  15. What, nothing about kitchen sinks, or navel lint? What a rip off. /sarcasm

    Holy shnikes, that table of contents is the woodworking equivalent of dropping the mic on the floor.

  18. Will this fall under the “as long as LAP is in business it will be printed” category or is this something special like The Book of Plates? Thanks.

    1. When we publish something that is in conjunction with another publisher, it’s impossible to say “forever.”

      It’s accurate to say we will publish this book for as long as we can.

      1. Wait, did I miss something, Chris? Are you saying that the Book of Plates is a one-edition printing? As in, once the current stock sells out, that’s it?

        1. We hope to keep “Book of Plates” in print. But because the printing bill is more than the cost of a typical Midwestern house, we can’t guarantee we will be able to.

          We have plenty in stock – about 2,400. So we won’t run out for a long time.

      2. Just found this in your FAQ post on BoP. Is it still accurate, or do I need to buy all the copies I’ll ever want to gift to friends in one fell swoop? Thanks for clarifying!

        —————–
        Question: How many are you printing? Will you sell out?
        Answer: To keep the price reasonable, we are printing several thousand copies of “The Book of Plates.” Unlike the deluxe editions of Roubo, this book is not a limited edition. We plan to keep “The Book of Plates” in print for many years. So if you cannot afford it now, it will be available in the future. No rush.

    1. Ditto! And Mr. Alaska, could you please go teach your neighbor Ana White how to use some hand tools? She’s ruined a bunch of my friends with all that pocket-hole stuff.

  21. Quite an opus! Just need to add an audio book of Roy reading Calvin Cobb to the catalog.

  22. Thank you for all your efforts! Adding this to my list to purchase. Coincidentally, my list is your whole catalog!! Your choice of material to publish is second to none! AND, you have something for every skill level. Please continue to direct the woodworkers of the world down a great path.

  24. This is the next most exciting thing after Roubo’s translated books to happen to wood working I have ever seen. I cant tell you how much I look forward to this book. I have 20 of Hayward’s books now and love them. I don’t care what it cost I will be buying it. Mark Lethbridge

  25. I love Hayward’s writing, and have all the annuals from those years, and nearly all the original issues as well. The main problem is that once you start browsing… it is impossible to stop. A great project that many people will enjoy. The next project is to distill the books Hayward wrote… 2017?

  26. Upon reading this post I began to quiver uncontrollably, my eyes rolled to the back of my head, and I began speaking fluent Aramaic. You better hurry up and finish this thing. Until my copy shows up at the front door I just don’t think I’ll be myself.

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