This week we launched two new substacks that you might want to check out.
Never Sponsored
For the last 28 years I have been neck-deep in the world of woodworking tools. First as a user and reviewer of tools for Popular Woodworking Magazine. Then as a designer, maker and user of them for Crucible.
But most of all I have been an observer. I’ve watched toolmaking rise and fall and rise again during my lifetime. And I want to make sure that you – the person who buys and uses tools – has a good set of tools with only a few regrettable purchases.
“Never Sponsored” is an extension of my 2011 book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” In that book I urge woodworkers to own but a basic set of tools, but to buy the best.
But what are the best tools? And which are the worst?
“Never Sponsored” is the answer to those questions. Every Wednesday, Megan Fitzpatrick (also a long-time tool user) and I will post a review of a tool (or class of tools) on the substack. Lots of people do something similar. Here is how we are different.
We have never taken money from tool manufacturers. We don’t do affiliate programs or sponsorships or anything where tool money flows to the people who write about tools. And we never will.
So we can afford to tell you the truth (as we see it). Yes, we have biases and opinions. But they are earned with our own money, and they are earned in a working shop.
You can read our first post here. “Never Sponsored” will be free for the first two months. Then it will have a paywall. Most posts will be behind the paywall, but there will always be some free entries. So it’s worth getting a free subscription. “Never Sponsored” is $5 a month or $50 a year.
The Anarchist’s Apprentice
Earlier this year we hired Kale Vogt as an assistant editor at Lost Art Press. Kale spends half their time at our warehouse fulfilling your orders and the other half at our workshop on Willard Street, learning to become a furniture maker.
“The Anarchist’s Apprentice” is a weekly journal of our progress.
Every Thursday we post a journal entry written by Kale, Megan or me about the process. We’ve been journaling about Kale’s training since the first day it started. We don’t exactly know where it is headed. Kale is remarkably talented with an eye for detail. Megan and I have lots to teach. It sounds a bit like a reality television show, and it really is that (but without the hair-pulling).
If you have ever wondered what a modern apprenticeship might be like, this is a peek at the process. So far it has been both messy and joyful. Kale is a wonderful addition to our staff. I hope we don’t ruin things.
Like “Never Sponsored,” this substack will be free for two months. After that it will feature both free posts and paid posts for subscribers. Our first post is here.
The American Peasant
And don’t forget my substack, “The American Peasant.” During the last 18 months I have posted 244 entries that have pushed at the limits of language and thought in woodworking journalism. I’ve also posted nearly all of my next book, “The American Peasant,” there for you to read in its almost-finished form.
Please note that my substack is PG-13. If you are easily offended, may I suggest this instead?
Finally
Please don’t think that we are abandoning this blog here at Lost Art Press. We’re not. Instead, we’re growing. For most of LAP’s 17-year history, we’ve had zero employees. Now there are six of us. We all have things to say and different points of view. These new substacks allow us to share what we know (and what we don’t). This blog is still the foundation and is how we communicate to our customers and friends around the world.
Boomshanka to you all.
— Christopher Schwarz
“We all have things to say and different points of view.”
This is the exact right way to run a company. This is why your work and the books and tools you produce are as excellent as they are. Love this.
I’m in. Previously, you had mentioned a discount for subscribers of The American Peasant, do we have a way to pay for all three?
Hi John,
Right now, substack doesn’t support this sort of bundling. So what we did instead was make the new substacks the lowest price allowed by the platform (which is $5/month. They recommend starting at $8/month). So until we can bundle things, this is the best we can do. Apologies for my speaking out of turn.
It’s a scam. I signed up for a trial to check it out but then got blasted from several others that I was automatically signed up for. Don’t needed nor appreciated.
Scam is a bit harsh. When you subscribe there is an additional area of the page with other suggestions for you. Uncheck them before you proceed.
My mileage with substack suggestions has been good. I’ve found a few other publishers with content of interest to LAP fans.
Sorry about that. That’s not how we roll. I got into the back end of the site and found a few levers to pull to turn off that stuff. I hate that as much as anyone.
Much appreciated. Enjoy you guys.
LAP is out to help (not affiliated with LAP) , take it or leave it without such hogwash comments – not nice. There is so much free advice in the bog and videos I can’t see anyone complaining legitimately; sad. Really this wasn’t worth commenting on but couldn’t help it.
“Really this wasn’t worth commenting on …” yet you did. As Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Fitzpatrick mentioned, “Yes, we have biases and opinions.” Bob E. was giving his opinion of his experience. Maybe you did not see Bob E’s subsequent post thanking LAP for addressing his issue. Bob E’s opinion of complaining legitimately and your opinion of complaining legitimately are probably different. To me, this is why we have conversations that do not devolve into harsh comments or name calling.
I’m very sorry Bob, I guess the word “scam” got me and took it to literally, please forgive me calling your opinion hogwash.
No apologies needed. No harm done. Life is good.
BobE
Boomshanka. Classic.
Chris, I’ve never found your reviews to be biased in any way and always appreciate them, but I’ve seen your comment that you’ve never taken any money from tool manufacturers many times and I’ve never been able to square it with the fact that Lee Valley was the sponsor of your blog at PopWood and certainly sends you checks even now for the books they sell. Isn’t that taking money from a manufacturer of tools?
To be clear, I don’t think it invalidates your reviews, but it always sticks out to me.
As much as I love the tools and woodworking, I’d be very interested to read some posts on the fulfillment end. Unloading a shipment, putting stuff away, filling orders. It may be boring to some, but it’s important and interesting to me.
Sure! We all do that part of the job. I find it very enjoyable, to be honest. And I get to see the material lift working….
I dislike speaking for other people, but Popwood was not Chris. It was obvious to me that he would not prostitute himself for free tools. It was obvious that Popwood put money first, and selling ads is what they did.
I don’t think there is the tiniest thing wrong with Lee Valley, Classic hand Tools, Dictum, et. al selling LAP books. It’s the best way for woodworkers overseas to buy these things. I can’t see that he’s beholden to them in any way. And certainly not in a way that is detrimental to us.
I will note that Colonial Homestead in Ohio sels Lost Art Press books. I would be happy — eager — to say that Chris Schwarz is in bed with the Amish. That would actually make a great tee shirt. But I don’t have enough talent to design it.
Actually, Dan Raber is Anabaptist. And I do get 10 mules every month from the Anabaptists. Busted.
I didn’t take that money. I don’t even know if Lee Valley gave the magazine any money for that (I wasn’t an employee then). It might have just been part of an advertising package. PW paid my fee, and the vast majority of my salary came from subscribers.
As to Lee Valley buying books from LAP: So does Lie-Nielsen. So does Highland Hardware. They all pay the same price, too. And again, whether it matters or not, the vast majority of revenue at LAP comes directly from consumers. If we stopped selling books to retailers, our business wouldn’t change much.
I am specifically referring to sponsorships. Where tool companies send influencers money to pimp their products. Or affiliate programs, where we get a cut of every tool sold. That’s the stuff I don’t do. That’s the stuff that colors reviews in my opinion.
I’ll be more specific in the future.
Neither Chris or I ever got a cent beyond our salaries at PopWood (or now, for that matter). The sponsorship $ for his PW blog when I was editor flowed to the corporate staff, and had zero effect on what we wrote about or did not write about.
I was looking into American Peasant before but Decided not to subscribe as it didn’t tell the cost up front. I wanted to know the potential monetary commitment before I gave out my email address. Now that you have told about the subscription cost I would feel more easily about subscribing to one of the substacks.
More ‘Young Ones’ references. Please.
I appreciate your commitment to transparency and honesty in the reviews you’ve provided. I don’t mean to cause any conflict, but I hope you will include information about the site of manufacturing and/or assembly when it’s available. I try to support local makers, and like to know not only where a tool is designed, but also where it’s made. Some companies are more up front, while others seem to obscure those details.
If you haven’t already, please go to this link and enjoy a smile with all the others who have done the same. Thanks for LAP!
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/boomshanka
The Care Bears link was hilarious, but I nearly peed my pants at Boomshanka. I enjoy these bits of humor.
How much will The Anarchist Apprenticeship cost per month? Assume $5.00 or $50 for the year? I assume it is the same as Never Sponsored. Thanks.
Yes. Both of the new substacks are $5/month or $50/year.
Substack (the company, not your Substack) has well publicised issue with far right content and a willingness to tolerate it in exchange for the money it brings. Here’s one article, but there are many – https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/substack-extremism-nazi-white-supremacy-newsletters/676156/
It’s caused some newsletters, including some big ones, to leave the platform and stopped me continuing my payment to American peasant. Has this crossed your radar at all? What are your thoughts?
Fair question.
I don’t know of any major platform that isn’t filled with wrong-headed nonsense. Facebook, IG, Twitter/X, Threads, YouTube etc. etc. It is everywhere. And it always has been everywhere (I used to cover the KKK for two newspapers). Crap content is just easier to find now and can be artificially amplified.
I support free speech, even when I don’t agree with it. The Supreme Court is clear on what is protected speech and what is not.
If you don’t like substack’s approach to speech, I support your decision to deprive them of money. And to speak out against them. And me.
C
We would likely find some things to disagree about when it comes to free speech, I’m not American and when taken to the absolute free speech level find it caustic to society rather than invigorating, regardless of your supreme court’s opinion.
That said I don’t think you are a bad person for using substack, though I won’t use it myself. All I’d ask is that if at some point you have cause to do any thinking about the platform you give some weight to the absent voices like mine. And keep an eye on the line between “there’s appalling people everywhere” and “I’m drinking in a nazi bar”.
Pete, thanks for asking the question. I had wondered the same. Chris’s response is surprisingly shallow.
Yeah I guess I also have some pretty strong reservations about yet another corporate platform like substack. One of the things I appreciate about LAP is your commitment to rolling your own and being fiercely independent. When you put your eggs into one digital platform basket, it’s really just a matter of time before the spreadsheet dudes start to do things that are good for their quarterly results but against the interests of readers and writers. Cory Doctorow refers to this process as “enshitification”: https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#intermediation
Journalist and author Analee Newitz has written a pretty thorough critique of substack that might be worth reading: https://thehypothesis.substack.com/p/heres-why-substacks-scam-worked-so
I’m glad you’re still planning to keep up the blog. I enjoy it (and the books of course).
My first stop every morning is right here at LAP. I thought when Chris and others went to the Stack that content here would suffer. It has for me but it can still be good at times . I have been reading Chris since 2000. I love his writing style, but I am not going to pay the Stack for it. When you become a celebrity things change and sometimes that changes the person too. In Chris’s case however I have not seen one iota of that. Yeah it sucks that his best writing is now behind a pay wall but the future is bright because the book from these writings is soon to be completed and available and I would rather put my money into a book and have it cradled in my lap and hands , put bookmarks on the pages I will return to over and over again and not have to stare at this tablet. Books are where it’s at. When things crumble and the lights flicker I can still read a book by candlelight. Not so much with the www.
Ha ha! The bank robbery Young Ones played right after and when he said “And remember the getaway car is the most essential part of any robbery,” all I could see was the Lost Art Press crew speeding away in the White truck from their job.
I love this. I am a frequent purchaser of your books and tools. I am not a skilled woodworker, but I do make a decent living(not at woodworking) and Iove your philosophy. I am a recommender of your books and an admirer. I also live in Kentucky. ;). My hope is that better tools will make me a better woodworker and if they don’t then my children will have quality heirlooms and fond memories of me tracking shavings into the house. I started late in life to hand tooling, but enjoy the community and the work flow. Because of what your team is doing for us, I will continue to support your projects as much as I am able. Looking forward to the Substack.
I’m probably in the minority here, but I wish you’d consider not doing this via Substack. I think it was cool to use it as an experiment for The American Peasant, but now that it’s been shown that there is a healthy market for this kind of support, I think it’s a mistake to continue hitching your wagon to Substack’s star.
Something like Memberful (not affiliated, just a user) would allow you to provide subscriptions to support your work from the same blog that you’ve been writing on for years, continuing to operate more independently (anarchism, anyone?) and with more control than you get from Substack while also sidestepping the progressive enshittification of that platform. You could provide a one-charge subscription that covers all the premium content you are offering as well as separate subscriptions for specific lines of content.