Got a woodworking question or a question about what’s cooking at Lost Art Press? It’s your lucky day –it’s time for Open Wire!
You have until 5 p.m. Eastern to pose your question in the comments section below, and we’ll respond – hopefully with a informed and useful answer…but no promises on that front. (And it’s possible your fellow readers will have answers, too – and perhaps you’ll have an answer for someone else!).
– Fitz
p.s. The remaining Open Wire dates for 2025 are October 25 and December 13.
I have been inspired by Chris’s travels abroad and his trips to see furniture in the museums. My wife and I are planning a trip to Scotland and Dublin in the September and was wondering if anyone has suggestions for us–well, really me–to see any old furniture. Thanks for any help.
In Dublin, the National Museum of Ireland has some good furniture to see. The Irish Agricultural Museum at Johnstown Castle has the best public collection of Irish vernacular furniture that I’ve seen. https://johnstowncastle.ie/irish-agricultural-museum/
I don’t know Scotland well enough to give you and guidance. Look for open-air museums. Museums of farm/rural/folk life. That’s how I do it.
A Woodworkers Travel Guide would be an amazing resource! Does anything like that exist?
I’ll be in Ireland for a week in September and have been adding folklife museums and other destinations to our itinerary, but it would be fantastic to have a central resource for “must-see” sites for woodworkers around the world.
If you happen to visit Germany (As Chris) There is a map with wood dealer, sharpening services and Wood related Museum on the page of a German wood journal: https://www.holzwerken.net/finder/
Cheers Pedder
Question for the community: looking for recommendations of car boot sale locations or vintage stores in greater London that may have vintage woodworking tools. Thanks.
Chris, how do you do find the time to write blog posts, substack posts, respond to comments, teach classes, do personal woodworking, develop new glue and paint recipes, test tools, etc etc? It;s crazy impressive. How many hours do you sleep per night and would you ever consider using an AI version of yourself to help write posts?
Thanks (I think). I sleep eight hours per night. I think my output is a product of:
1) My training as a newspaper journalist. Writing is easy and quick for me
2) I’ve given up hobbies (mostly playing music) to focus on woodworking
3) This is what I do for a living. I don’t have a real job
As to the second part of your question, I haven’t seen a single bit of AI that impresses me. The writing it turns out is pale garbage. The “art”… even worse. It’s great for summarizing documents and donkey coding work. But as of now, I have no interest in using it for much.
If you’re open to it I’m really curious about the business model of LAP. It has been referenced in some places in mention of its goals but the structure/specifics haven’t been laid out that I can find. Sorry if that’s like asking to see your underwear.
I’m always happy to answer questions about our business. The “model” is pretty simple. Pay authors the highest royalty possible so they will write excellent books. Make everything in the USA so you are helping your neighbors (and not helping people who exploit/enslave others). Don’t focus on growing the company, focus on making it un-killable. Have no debt. Pay employees well so they stay. Treat everyone the same. Sell direct to the customer (no distributors; no Amazon).
And mostly, be happy with the fact that this kind of business will not make you rich.
What is the most recent version of your saw bench design? Where can I get a copy of those plans?
We make two “models.” I wrote about one of them most recently here: https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/shop-projects/handworks-build-a-saw-bench?srsltid=AfmBOorNnPbvJnhalTcbWZfO9TTM1b70ZDtIAZYK7yExWOlF09E66_a1
And the other one, with through mortises…I’m pretty sure the article in the Autumn 2006 Woodworking Magazine is the most recent (PopWood owns it – they might have it posted, though I can’t find it right now)
This is my favorite of all the designs: https://blog.lostartpress.com/2008/02/10/this-year%E2%80%99s-model-the-2008-sawbench/
It’s basically the plan in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest: Revised Edition” with simpler lap joints. You can download that book for free here:
https://lostartpress.com/products/the-anarchists-tool-chest
Chris/Megan: I mentioned in a previous openwire the concept of a “hybrid” toolchest, with aspects of the Dutch and English (Anarchist) designs you have been focusing on the last few years. You were not aware of any attempts at this. I have nearly completed such a “bastard” , and was wondering if you were interested in photos and a description of some of the conundra I ran into while constructing it. Where can I send the photos/notes? Its not anything as extensive as Mattias Hallin’s opus magnus. If you’re not interested in it , no problem, I don’t mind and understand. Suffice it to say there are good reasons to stick with the designs you’ve been writing about, and this is definitely not a weekend classroom project.
-M Robert Weiss
Sure! Send them to help@lostartpress.com
Nice hairs cut. Groovy looking shirt too.
Thanks. It’s too hot to have long hair.
How does the open working time or your Piggly Wiggly glue compare to traditional hide glue?
PNW is a liquid hide glue, with salt added to extend the open time to 15-18 minutes. Traditional hide glue is hot hide glue, which can tack within 30 seconds.
Hot hide glue gives you two minutes of open time before it gels (depending on the temperature in your shop). Liquid hide glue gives you 10-20 minutes, depending on the temperature in your shop.
Chris: in your recent blog “3 Tools from Overseas” you say you used the Abranet ACE HD sandpaper to “saddle seats in red elm and oak.” Is that to say you ONLY used the sandpaper to do that job, or did you hog out the bulk of the material first then use the sandpaper to clean it up?
Sorry that I wasn’t communicating well.
Power sanding is about three minutes of the process. I scorp out most of the waste. Use a travisher to clean that up. Then a little sanding/scraping to blend all the surfaces.
I do not shape seats with sandpaper.
If I recall correctly, the late, great Bob Flexner stated and you agreed that finishing pieces from both sides is unnecessary and wasn’t typically done in pre-modern times. Are there caveats or exceptions to this?
I recently glued up some 3/4” thick, 1 1/2” wide rift and quartersawn oak strips into cabinet doors. I milled the strips dead straight and they stayed that way throughout the process. I had one strip left over, which I used for testing finish options (Osmo hardwax oil, some Liberon oil, and the LAP shop finish). It was from the same tree as the other strips and milled identically. I applied the finish test areas on one side of the strip only, and within 15 minutes it had clearly bowed along its length towards the finished side.
Does the ”not finishing both sides rule” only apply in cases where the finished piece consists of glueups and joinery that keep the piece in tension, resisting deformations? I can’t explain the bowed strip in any way that doesn’t involve its single side finish when none of its siblings deformed at all. I even let the strips rest for a day between the milling and the glueup.
Bowed along its length? That’s weird. I’ve not seen that happen as a reaction to finish. Usually the whole argument is about cupping across the width.
Wood is weird, so I can’t make any proclamations. And little strips of wood can do goofy things. But it sounds to me like the the strip had some tension in it.
Any thoughts about LAP branching into books about Asian woodworking tools and techniques?
If presented with the right author and material, we would absolutely publish the work.
Hi I am new to hand tools, and all the talk about how high of a grit to sand to for finishing. How does this apply to hand planned surfaces?
Is there a good reason to use regular shellac (with wax) versus dewaxed shellac for a final finish? Specifically I’m using either the Bullseye regular Shellac or the Bullseye “sealer”, which is dewaxed.
-Sam
Not quite “woodworking,” but I hope that it will still prove acceptable: any suggestions on how to sharpen the curved portion of a brush hook? They get banged up a lot on rocks, old barbed wire, etc.
Good morning, my wife and I will be in Cardiff this fall, aside from St Fagan’s National Museum of History, what are the other suggested places to see (woodworking or pub)? Thank you.
Cardiff’s a compact city but St Fagans is on the outskirts, about 5 miles out going west. Even so, be prepared to spend all day there.
It’s free entry and you may consider taking a packed lunch if the weather’s good…. Essential really, as it is a huge site – many acres and it is all walking. Basically, it concentrates on preserving Welsh vernacular buildings intact, moved lock0stock-and-barrel from all corners of the country and re-erected, so furniture is scattered all over in various buildings.
In the centre of Cardiff is the National Museum, just a stone-throw from the castle, also free entry and it is HUGE. Another all-day visit to do it justice and an excellent art gallery there, one of the best outside London.
Pubs? Most of the old pubs I used to drink in are long, long gone, cleaned out… but as Rugby is the second religion in this part of the world, try to look up ‘The Old Arcade’ in Church Street; it is much change (modernised) – an old Rugby haunt, especially on international match days. ,
It still sells a decent pint. It is at the side entrance to the Old Market where you can get all sorts of what is now termed ‘street food’, and just two minutes’ walk from the Castle.
There is a lot to see in the Capital, but try to travel north in the country, there’s much more beside.
Da iawn, bach, croeso i Gymru! Welcome and have a good time.
As always, thanks for doing this. I am building the Curved Arm Stickchair from the book and I do not have a lathe (I have one but it’s pen sized and not large enough to turn legs). I like the non-tapered look and sharper transition into the tenon, but I am struggling with getting the end tapered enough to seat into the tenon cutter. I know you need to be around max 1″ for the length that will go into the tapered tenon cutter but am struggling to get the taper to look right for the leg.
Second, the 1″ Veritas tenon cutter looks to be out of stock, so I am considering the plug cutter or the bandsaw method in the Make a Chair from CaCa book. Any preferences ?
Finally, did you ever find a source for the chamfering tool ?
Thank you
My two cents. The working time seems to be the same with Piggly and Old Brown glue. It’s all dependent on temperature. In summer the Old Brown needs very little warming to make it flow. The Piggly is thicker and definitely needs warming. I use both, depending on what I’m doing. Sometimes thicker is helpful, sometimes runny is.
I have made 2 pieces of boarded furniture and I like the style. Do you think that you will ever write or publish a book on boarded furniture?
Does anybody make wrought clenching nails?
On YouTube I see knife sharpeners using diamond past on strops. Do you know if it is better than the green compound woodworkers use?
What is the white glue I see European woodworkers use?
Do you make any money from the videos Popular Woodworking sells that you made.
I’ll be in Kentucky in November, and plan on visiting the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village for a couple of days. I know there are more Shaker settlements in that general area. Is there much to see and do at those other sites?
The Whitewater Shaker Village is 20 minutes west of Cincinnati. It’s unrestored and the buildings are rarely open to the public. But it’s worth seeing.
https://www.whitewatervillage.org/
The Harmon Museum in Lebanon (20 minutes east) has a very large collection of Western Shaker furniture.
https://www.wchsmuseum.org/
Go next door to the Golden Lamb and have lunch (very old tavern). Then explore the upstairs and you will find some rooms that are viewable that have Shaker pieces.
https://www.goldenlamb.com/#view-1
Otterbien Senior Life has the old Union Shaker Village meeting hall as its offices. They have furniture on display. And if you ask nice, they might take you upstairs into the attic…..
https://otterbein.org/find-a-location/lebanon/
https://blog.lostartpress.com/2018/05/20/union-the-lost-shaker-village/
This is a few minutes away from the Harmon Museum.
If you are willing to drive 3 hours to Bowling Green, Kentucky, the South Union Shaker Village is the biggest goldmine of Shaker furniture I’ve ever seen.
https://southunionshakervillage.com/
So, there is LOTS to see.
Fitz, is this the bench you mean?
https://media.popularwoodworking.com/app/uploads/2010/10/Sawbench.pdf
It is!
:thumbsup: The first bench I ever built was the one you linked to. I like it but I found out quickly that the long brace interferes with a holdfast
Chris, do you use your American Trestle Table with a tablecloth, or leave it bare?
Bare. With soft wax.
Good morning. Two questions please.
1.) Any suggestions for stick chair leg forms that don’t leave deep depressions in pile carpet?
2.) Can you have round leg tenons and stretchers?
Thank you.
Hi guys!
I have heard in interviews and blog posts over the last couple of years that Peter Follansbee is working on a book about craft genealogy with LAP. Is that still a live project and can you share any details?
Thanks
Martyn, UK.
It is still going. But the best way to stay on top of it (until it’s published) is Peter’s substack.https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/
For the “Never Sponsored” Substack newsletter, have you ever considered reviewing the merits and demerits of various kinds of the humble marking gauge, metal and wood? There are some, like Jeff Hamilton’s, that never seem to have been properly evaluated and judged in any magazine of which I know. I’d love to see comparisons between the variety of gaugees, whether Jeff’s, Tite-Mark or older traditional gauges (such as those manufactured by Marples or Crown). It’s such an essential tool, I’m just surprised, from all I know, no one has carefully reviewed them. (David Charlesworth, I’m aware, preferred more pointed gauges so he could make more precise marks. Others like fences that are wider or ones where the cutters aren’t exposed to your fingers (like round, rolling cutters are). And then there is the weight and the ergonomics to take into account (not to mention clamping power and whether it will roll off your bench, or whether you can use it with your material flat on your bench, not hanging off). I take your reviews very seriously, as I’m sure many do. Thanks for considering this.
Roman work bench question:
Would the bench be too tippy at 10” wide? Should I bring the legs out wider closer to the edge? Or leave the same? Is 10” wide too narrow for the bench top anyway? I would like to keep the legs under the bench like the video to avoid tripping over them.
Thank you for doing this!
Knockdown workbench question. For attaching workbench legs to stretcher, for a knockdown bench, you could run lag bolts through the leg to the stretcher. Same for the top, run a lag bolt through the top stretcher into the bottom of the top. However if you disassemble too many times the threads in the wood might get messed up. What about putting a threaded insert into the bottom side of the top (Rampa in Germany makes good ones) then attach a carriage bolt that runs through a hole in the top stretcher (hole could be larger than the bolt to allow for wood movement)? Or is there an alternative?
No questions but just wanted to support this with a big thank you. It’s very interesting to read the array of questions & answers.
Morning folks… two quick questions… do you plan on making a “pocket” for your other pocket reference books similar to the first aid one? And secondly… what’s your source for decent pine needed for the tool chest build. Here in central Ohio, I can get great great quality hardwoods, but the pine that’s available is… well… underwhelming.
Thanks.
My local source for sugar pine (brought in from the west coast) dried up – so now we get it from Alexander Brothers in VA https://www.alexanderbrothers.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqB-cydRoHhcIAkgnUY3mzPRT1WVSpNMgELjXtTVUT3Al3DdpMx
And on the pocketbooks, we’ll have one soon w/special artwork by Katherine for the “Wood Worker’s Pocket Book.”
I came by an old rocking chair made by the Sikes Company in Philadelphia circa 1906. The back slats were broken out and the rails damaged. Planning to repair and wondered about anyone’s experience with disassembly assuming construction was with hide glue. Thanks
Greetings!
Thanks for taking the time…
Not really a question, but more of an opportunity for someone.
I recently built a “bench on bench” and often wonder why I didn’t do so earlier in my woodworking journey. My back now thanks me many times over! There are many problems however with a smaller, portable bench. Specifically, storage when not in use, and limited bench top size when dealing with a large project, but need the height.
Anyways…the opportunity is for someone to design/build a height adjustable bench that can take a pounding. Maybe something for the next workbench book?
When assembling my Bulls%$t chair, I ended up with a crack in the arm. As soon as I noticed it, I got as much glue in the crack as I could and clamped it. The next day I took the clamps off, and it feels solid, but I’m wondering if I should do anything to reinforce it?
Photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TkhS8-7Cg9DfsG24WbXjBszOExqBPjaG
I’m building a trestle table inspired by your American trestle table. I’ve made the top thicker, 1-7/8” and am making the legs and feet thicker: 3.5”. I’ve wondered if I should make the profile of the legs/feet/braces rectangular instead of square. I’m pretty sure I want the size and strength of the square but thought I’d ask for a designers input.
Also, when you flatten your workbench, do you also plane down your vise chop so it matches?
I really like the tweaks to your recent comb-back chairs, particularly the arrangement of the back sticks in this example https://blog.lostartpress.com/2025/05/12/for-sale-comb-back-stick-chair-in-red-elm-oak/ .
It looks like the outer long sticks have some bend to them. Is this a trick of perspective and they are just in a different sight line? If they are bent how much do you plan to bend a stick when you’re laying out the seat, arm, and crest?
Hello!
I love the grocery store glue and happily have been using the recipe since it was first published in the American peasant substack. I recently had a problem where I left things (specifically an applied moulding) in clamps for only an hour and that was massively insufficient. I would love to hear if folks have a more nuanced rule of thumb on clamp time for the grocery store glue.
Good morning. I like the hide glue and have used it in several situation, but I am curious whether it would soften or lose strength if the furniture was exposed to very hot conditions, like an attic in summer. Have you had any experience with this, or tested for this?
I suppose it could, but FWIW, I have a hide-glued table on my top floor (aka attic) that is regularly subjected to 100° F temps in the summer and it hasn’t fallen apart yet. But given that you can reverse hide glue with water and heat, enough of those together could be a problem.
Perfect! Thank you… and can’t wait for the “pocket” to be available!
If you need more pockets…those are made by Teas Heritage, and our other pocketbooks will fit in them: https://txheritage.net/generalstore/p/pocket-book-slip-case
I understand that LAP avoids VOCs more than most woodworking outfits. Hence the use of milk paint, linseed oil paint, and soft wax. I am curious if y’all use BLO at all, given that it has those heavy metal driers and usually calls for being cut with mineral spirits.
We have, and sometimes still do (we have a can in the finishing cupboard and it gets used for our “shop finish” (https://blog.lostartpress.com/2020/01/23/our-shop-finish-recipe/) – but these days we tend toward the purified raw linseed oil in most cases.
I do not. We use purified linseed oil. It dries just as fast as the home center stuff that is poisonous.
I just finished a desk made of red oak and was going to use Tried and True Danish Oil to finish it. Would you consider soft wax to be a better alternative?
I know what’s in our finish, and I don’t know what’s in the T&T, so I do prefer hours. I am biased. But better? I don’t know. That’s kind of a personal question. I suggest you do test boards on off cuts of your wood and see which one you prefer. Neither of them is going to offer a lot of long-term protection, but both can be reapplied as necessary.
I swear I’ve read something from Chris/LAP about arranging boards for a table top so that the grain aligns to mimic one large slab… where joints aren’t that noticeable. I can’t find it. Any help?
Hmm…There’s this, from PW, but it’s from a long time ago. I suspect Chris will weigh in on this, but I don’t think he’s quite as fussy with the marks these days – a simple cabinetmaker’s triangle is sufficient. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/editors-blog/better-panel-glue-ups-little-glue/
Thanks! Ill need to rework my visit. I’m looking forward to staying in Pleasant Hill itself. But there’s so much to do.
Long time listener first time caller here with a question about drawbored joints. When Chris built the trestle table back in 2006, it looks like he both wedged and drawbored the mortise and tenon joints. But the Anarchist’s Workbench just has them drawbored. If Chris were to build the table again today, would he still both wedge and drawbore?
I’m thinking making my own stain. One thing I don’t want is to keep cans of solvent product in the shop I will eventually need to dispose of. The DIY milk paint video got me onto this vision of having an environmentally and economically friendly shop. Have you done much exploration in this part of finishing or do you have any recommendations? Things you like or don’t like?
I’ve read this before, but I can’t remember where. Could you reiterate, or tell me where to look, please:
Optimal angles for seat, chair back. Lounging, desk, table use, etc.