We just got our first working prototype of a kit that lets you build an Anarchist’s Square with less than an hour of work.
I’ve made dozens of these squares since “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” came out. The square was originally a student project. Tool monger Patrick Leach said he has found many of them in the U.K. during his career, and he suspects it was part of a curriculum at a school.
When I teach students to make the square in a class, it takes two days. There are a lot of lessons involved, from sawing accurate half-laps to truing long edges to perfection to sawing perfect little beads.
But thanks to this kit, you don’t have to do all that.
The kit parts are made from 1/2”-thick Baltic birch. All the joinery and decorative details are already cut. All you have to do is a little cleanup with sandpaper then glue the parts together. The prototype turned out dead square with little effort.
Then you can finish up the square however you like. You can leave it unfinished or tart it up with paint, oil or a film finish. Because it’s plywood, it’s unlikely to ever go out of square.
I am greatly looking forward to getting some of these kits in house because I don’t have any more of these squares. I sold most of them and gave away my personal one – the one I built for the book – to Anne Briggs (aka Anne of All Trades) as a gift.
I miss having some of the squares around and using them. I had some with accessory fences that made them even more useful. So I’m sure I’ll shoot some video of making, using and modifying the square.
When? I don’t know. Soon, I hope. How much? Again, I don’t know for sure. Less than $50 I hope.
They’ll be made in Ohio and shipped out by Mark and Gabe.
— Christopher Schwarz
Tart it up? You do have a way with words that makes me laugh. Good timing, these should be a very cool Christmas gift. I’d like 3 please.
Yeah “tart it up” sounds like he has been hanging around Richard Maguire. Part of the fun of watching Richard’s courses are the words he uses.
Dimensions?
Each of the legs is 23″ long.
I’d guess there is but is there a description of how to make one (not from the kit)?
Yes. But you need to register and endure the endless popups: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/english-layout-square-2/
This is the episode about it on “The Woodwright’s Shop:” https://www.pbs.org/video/the-woodwrights-shop-english-layout-square-with-chris-schwarz/
I made mine after seeing you do one with Roy. I still use it.
When I was in Tech doing my apprenticeship 1996 in the UK (Belfast, Northern Ireland) during one of the bench exercises we had to make a gallows bracket’s similar to these squares.
I was reviewing previous posts last evening and hit upon the October 30th entry. For some strange reason, I did not scroll past the poster. Then I saw this square, and the Workbook, and the bookmarks. Along with Ftiz’s DTC book, I patiently wait…it is after all a virtue.
Very cool! Just out of curiosity, were the decorations on the original 19th-century versions made using molding planes (before cutting up the stock)?
Unlikely in my estimation. Cutting a cross-grain bead. Then resawing the parts free from that? Never seen that mentioned in any book.
thanks for explaining!
I’ve seen this design (and many like it) a dozen times. They look great and would be fun to use around those who don’t do woodwork (something fancy to show off). But I’ve never made one because there’s no lip to catch the edge of my work, unlike other squares. Laying this square so the edge is flush with the work seems fruitless, since it would be so easy for it to move, requiring me to go back and flush it up again. So… what am I missing here?
Well you can add a lip. I’d done it before. But it works fine without, like a framing square. Not every cut needs to be laid out at 90.00000000° in woodworking. Thank goodness.
Anne of All Trades appears to be somewhat of an anarchist, as Chris would define it.
This looks like a fun offering. I can see it followed by the Melancholia, Roubo, and Seaton squares.
The Melancholia is next on my list. It’s a fun afternoon project!
Waiting, impatiently. 😃
Are shipping these to Australia ?
Mike in Perth
We don’t ship outside the U.S. But we have a supplier in Australia (Lie-Nielsen Australia). If they want to carry them, they will be able to.
There is a God! And a Chris Schwarz! I’ve been lusting after one of these for years. I’ve gotta get mine before they sell out!!!
Let’s not forget, it makes a great level also.
In the spirit of your recent blogpost on the implications of maintaining a list of available books (either pdf or paper), it would be interesting to know what are the costs of videos. How you estimate the price, what are the difficulties? I’m pretty sure that we (the “consumers”) not see all the mechanics.
I know the prices of our videos seem steep. Here’s why.
Our business model. The only money we make is from selling books, videos and other items to you. We don’t get money from sponsorships, affiliate programs, trust funds, the government, third-party advertisers or licensing. This approach to business is the heart of who we are. We are able to tell you what we want to say without thinking about the implications for third parties (such as advertisers).
You will not see ads in our videos. So we have to pay (a lot) every month to host the videos and stream them. This is a fixed cost that does not vary with the number of videos sold or viewed. We also have to pay to serve the videos through our store.
Videos take a lot of work, and we don’t sell as many videos as we do books. To make the videos worth producing, we have to charge more to make it worth our time. Otherwise, we would be better off making more books.
The videos are immediately pirated. So they have a very short shelf life in the store.
Thanks for your reply. I imagine you also thought about a fund raising and you can strong cons. I think it doesn’t fall in your first point. At least, this would make sure that the production fees are covered + extra money for future investments and no need to pay for hosting the video: vimeo or elsewhere would be enough.
are these available yet?! I must have one! please do not sell them all out without me buying one! thanks!
They are being manufactured now.