4 New Products in the Store

I’ve just added four products to our store that are about to be released. We aren’t taking pre-orders, but you can sign up easily to be notified the moment these products arrive in our warehouse.

Here’s some information and links.

‘Backwoods Chairmakers’ by Andrew D. Glenn

Megan and I have been working nonstop on this book since summer, and the author has been working on the book now for years. “Backwood Chairmakers” by Andrew D. Glenn is a much-needed book that chronicles the lives and work of ladderback chairmakers in Appalachia. 

Andy spent years traveling back roads with his camera, chasing leads and talking to chairmakers all over this region, which typically gets little positive attention. Andy’s work picks up where the Foxfire series of books left off. He approached the job as much as a chairmaker as an ethnologist. And the interviews are wide-ranging and fascinating. 

But the book is not just a travelog. Andy focuses on the work of chairmaking. The methods and techniques used by these makers (motor oil as a finish, for example). And the final two chapters of the book show how to make a settin’ chair and a big rocker using many of the techniques and design cues Andy picked up along the way.

The book will be $47, which is a bargain. This is a huge book: 304 pages with hundreds of photos. All printed and bound to the highest standards possible – and in Tennessee.

We hope this book will ship by the end of the year. Sign up to be notified of its release here.

‘By Hammer & Hand’ Letterpress Poster

This gorgeous letterpress poster is sitting in our warehouse, ready to sell. All we need are the dang shipping boxes. This 13” x 19” poster is the only poster that has ever made a profit for us. During the last eight years, readers have implored us to release a new run.

After contacting the artist, we have a deal (he’ll get royalties, and we’ll handle the printing). The poster was printed via Letterpress in New York by Boxcar. It is a gorgeous and tactile thing. And I doubt we’ll do this again. Price $25.

Sign up to be notified of its release here.

The ‘Lost Art Press Workbook’

Based on accounting ledgers from the 19th century, the “Lost Art Press Workbook” is a permanent record of the things you have built, the finish you used and who now owns the piece. It also is an excellent place to record the hours you spent on a project, new designs and so forth.

You can’t buy a decent ledger shaped like this anymore, so we decided to make one. The “Workbook” is a 64-page ledger printed on lovely #60 smooth and undyed paper. The pages are sewn and casebound in thick, cloth-covered boards. (We are using the same printing and bindery plant that does all our color books.) The book measures 4-1/2″ wide x 11-1/4″ tall.

This book will be released by the end of the month. Price $27. 

Sign up to be notified of its release here.

The Anarchist’s Square Kit

This has been a difficult project. We hoped to have these kits available this week, but our CNC provider is having trouble dialing everything in without the piece slipping a bit.

But when it arrives it will be great fun. 

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. 

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.

Price $45. Sign up to be notified of its release here.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Hello international people. Before you ask whether these products ship internationally, here’s some helpful information. We don’t ship internationally. “Backwoods Chairmakers” and the Anarchist’s Square Kit will be offered to our international retailers. The other two products don’t have enough margin to sell through retailers. You can use a mail forwarding service to buy them. Details here.