First, Lost Art Press pencils are back in stock. Made in the USA to our specifications, these pencils are robust shop companions and come in a nicely fitted box.
Second, here’s why they’re back in stock, despite these dark days.
When I got my first taste of corporate publishing in 1996, I learned all about the print brokers in Hong Kong. These wizards managed every aspect of your book’s production and delivered a very high-quality print job – plus they did it for half the price of any domestic printer.
The only disadvantage to the system was that your book could take six months to make its way from China to your warehouse.
When we started Lost Art Press in 2007, it would have been easy to call my contacts at Regent Publishing Services Ltd. and crank up book production cheaply and quickly. But John and I decided to do everything in the USA. Why? The toolmakers we admire – especially Thomas Lie-Nielsen – manage to manufacture things here. And one morning before sunrise, I watched Thomas lead his employees in stretches and then hand out everyone’s paychecks – thanking each employee as he handed them a check. That image stuck in my craw. Or was it my gizzard?
We have nothing against the Chinese – I promise. But we feel we have a responsibility to help our neighbors. And keeping the money here in the States certainly does that.
OK, back to the pencil story. We’ve had problems getting paper and cotton cover cloth during the last 18 months. But our problems are nothing compared to other publishers. In Europe and the UK, some publishers are completely out of paper and won’t be printing again until next year.
Because we make everything here, we don’t worry about container ships lined up at ports. Sure, things are a little slower than years past, but it’s a small miracle to call up your pencil supplier, order 1,000 and see them arrive – just four weeks later.
To which I say: Thanks, neighbor.
— Christopher Schwarz
I’ve been happy — ecstatic — to buy books produced here. Don’t ever change.
So glad you guys take that into account, especially when “Everything” is delayed right now from overseas. We should produce more items stateside, thanks for giving back.
Odd question, have you tried threading these pencils with a die or even just a 3/8 nut? I made a jig that uses an old .375 threaded pencil which recently reached it’s end of life, I went to a local store to get a replacement and the new ones don’t thread well. It’s a mushy mess.
Have not. Sorry.
What replacement brand did you try, Jeremy? At the very least, I’d give Ticonderoga a try. They make good pencils and still use cedar.
If that doesn’t work… I could send you a Blackwing. Maybe two. BUT NO MORE THAN THAT. Just shoot me an email.
We should have plenty against the chicoms. Slave labor and genocide (sharing purposes with organ harvesting from Uighurs, and other political prisoners, maybe including some of the people you used to deal with in HK, or their children), and of course a pandemic. Their leadership are not good people. At all.
And the best thing to do about racism? Laugh at the stupidity of it. Search Google for Father Ted Racism (a short video clip from the Father Ted series). I’d like to tell you there is lots of woodworking in Father Ted… but that would be lying. But it should make you laugh and laughter is good for ya. Cheers
The comment wasn’t about race, it was about Communists in China. Read more carefully. Use your mind. Thinking is what it’s there for.
And a big Thanks to you and your Crew too. I have never had to wait for more than a few days to receive anything I’ve ordered from you folks. What go’s around, Comes around.
Thanks Chris
Hallelujah to that!
I too admire Thomas Lie-Nielsen. Some say his planes are expensive. They are wrong. A Lie-Nielsen plane costs me from ‘less-than-a-day’ to roughly a ‘day-and-a-half’ of my work, depending on size & type of plane. They are faultless pieces of perfection and will help me make a living for the rest of my life (and with luck, my successor’s) — and are a joy to use and own, to boot! I cannot think of any better way to invest my money, although a good book would be a close second by a fine shaving. Lie-Nielsen and Lost Art Press are good examples of how business should be done. If / when the unlikely and highly unstable edifice commonly referred to as ‘global capitalism’ grinds to a halt because a butterfly flapped it’s wings, for instance in the shape of a container-ship stuck athwart the Suez Canal, or falters under the weight of it’s own complexity, confused by a myriad of perverted incentives and generally despised for it’s venality and disregard for nature and human beings I suspect there will be businesses and people who will weather the ensuing storm better than most.
The parasites will not be missed.
Oh! and Merry Christmas !
Being from Oklahoma and knowing your Arkansas roots, I must admit to a little disappointment that ‘noodling’ had nothing to do with hillbilly hand-fishing.
We caught our fish the old-fashioned way. With dynamite. (JK)