Today is the last day to get a free PDF with your print order of “Sharpen This” by Christopher Schwarz and/or “Euclid’s Door” by George Walker and Jim Tolpin. After midnight tonight (Sept. 30, 2022), the combo of the hardcover books and pdf will cost more.
“Euclid’s Door” is Jim and George’s latest exploration of artisan geometry. In this new book they show you how to build a set of highly accurate and beautiful wooden layout tools using simple geometry and common bench tools. This practical application of geometry will train your hands and mind to use this ancient wisdom. And you’ll end up with a fantastic set of useful tools.
“Sharpen This,” Chris’s latest book, is one he wished he’d had when learning woodworking. It would have saved him money (no buying unnecessary sharpening equipment) and time in learning how to grind, hone and polish. It’s a short and blunt treatise about sharpening common bench tools: chisels and planes mostly. Chris explains how sharpening really works and what you need to do the job well – and no more.
If you were planning to order either (or both) and have not yet gotten around to it, today would be a good day.
— Fitz
Does the free PDF also apply for ordering with one of your international distributors?
I’ve been waiting with buying for Dictum (Germany) to have “Sharpen this” on stock since they are in the EU, opposed to your Swedish and Great Britain suppliers which are not, as they will have to charge additional shipping (and possible taxes).
Sweden has been a member of the EU since 1995, and to the best of my knowledge has no intention to leave any time soon, so you can certainly get the books from Rubank Verktygs AB without having to pay extra for duties or customs clearance. As it happens, Thomas at Rubank Verktygs AB told me only yesterday that they expect their next delivery from LAP to arrive on Tuesday next week, so I suspect these books will be available from them then.
As Chris explains below, ’twill be without the free pdf, though, but that’s no different from Dictum.
Cheers,
Mattias
Thank you for your reply Thomas, no offense, the currency threw me off a bit.
I’m well aware of the fact they are part of the EU, yet only have experience with steep shipping costs from Sweden (not particularly Rubank as I have no experience here), hence my “preference” for Dictum.
You/Rubank will have my order soon.
Thank you again, Cheers,
Ruben
Hi Ruben,
Just be clear: I am Mattias, not Thomas, and I don’t work for Rubank Verktygs AB, or any other tool sellers for that matter; I’m just a happy customer, who happened to talk to Thomas the other day, and therefore knew that they are expecting a delivery of tools and books from LAP soon.
And yes, depending on where you are, it may well be that postage from Sweden is more expensive than from Dictum, so if that is important to you, you might want to wait for Dictum to get the books that you want … ?!
Hi Mattias, sincere apologies.
Thanks
No worries, Ruben, and no need to apologise either – I just wanted to be sure there was no misunderstanding 🙂
Sharpen This shows as Out of Stock for Hardcover + PDF
Fixed.
I would buy both books now in order to get the rree offer but alas I’m in New cZealand. I shall definitely purchase when ie eilson Australia get stock, sas ‘ve done with a dozen other ost Art press titles to date.ut meantime can you please allow me to access the PDF. Like I’ve said harpenly before, it’s high time you accepted online orders from outside USA/Canada…
I’m running into the exact same issue here. Would the international resellers also provide the free PDF version? I’ve asked, however none of them replied so far, and always prefer to have both the hard- as well as the softcopy.
Hi John,
Every retailer runs their business in their own way. We have offered our international retailers the ability to serve/sell our pdfs, but none have taken us up on the offer. Perhaps because hosting, selling and servicing pdfs takes time and money, plus technical changes to the seller’s website.
Likewise, we have no way to service the customers of our international retailers. We don’t know who bought the book (as we don’t have access to their sales records).
I know it seems simple: Give me the free pdf. It’s not.
As to us accepting international orders, that is unlikely to happen. Lost Art Press is three people and a couple contractors. Accepting international orders would require a dedicated person to deal with the paperwork and taxes that are different for almost every country or regional trading unit.
Sorry to disappoint.
C
Hi Chris, thanks for the reply! No disappointment here, just nice to know what my options are!
i fully appreciate your points and will try to be understanding as I have total sympathy for your situation. Perhaps when Lie Neilson Australia supply the books to me, if in fact they do stock them, you can supply the PDF separately (I’ll write). I have a small publishing business myself in the Cook Islands where we publish the national daily newspaper distributing it to five of our 15 islands aalong with doing one off book projects; hence I know the pain of dealing with subscribers abroad including 100,000 odd expat Cook Islanders in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand(where I live nowadays in semi retirement doing woodwork for fun and sobriety), and they’re always asking for sevice as if the world owes them a damned living, pissing me oif like I do you!
It’s showing Sharpen This as out of stock. Makes it hard to take advantage of the offer!
Fixed.
Bought 2 no download offered
Hi John,
I just checked your order and it indicated that SendOwl (which serves our pdfs) sent you a notice and a link to download the pdfs. Perhaps it went in your spam folder. I resent the email just now, too.
If you continue to have trouble, send an email to help@lostartpress.com
I love that LAP offers the pdf and hardcover. Hardcover in my shop and the pdf on my phone for long flights. Sharpen This is excellent. Chris knocked it out of the park with clear, tight descriptions and the irreverent humor.
Currently assembling some riftsawn wood for the Euclid’s Door projects and wondering if Tolpin and Walker really made riftsawn blades for the Menancholia and Wierex squares and the drafting triangles (5-6″ wide except Wierex is 10″, thinking glueup but not catching glue lines in the photos). I see a framseaw in my future before the winter woodworking projects.
I hate to be the one to nitpick like the Internet does. The description of Sharpen This for sale on the website uses the bit about keeping yourself grounded and reads “think about want I want to leave behind when I’m gone.” I thought this was just a typo for the website. In my print copy I received today, page 99 has the same bit about keeps me grounded. Should it be ” think about what I want to leave behind when I’m gone?” I could be wrong. This could be intentional, like Roy Underhill pronouncing Christopher’s last name with a “T.” I’m not a writer or an author. I leave it in your hands
Not intentional; we’ve fixed it for the next printing
I purchased the books a few weeks ago. How do I get the pdf versions?
If you purchased them from us, there should be a link in your emailed receipt. If it’s not there, send a note to help@lostartpress.com