Lost Art Press

Author: fitz

Woodworker, writer, editor, teacher, ailurophile, Shakespearean. Will write for air-dried walnut.

Last Chance for Free PDF with ‘Dutch Tool Chests’

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Order “Dutch Tool Chests” (by me!) by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, to get a free pdf with your book order. Until then, the book and pdf is $39. At midnight on Wednesday, the pdf will cost $9.75 extra if ordered with the printed book.

“Dutch Tool Chests” gives you the in-depth instruction you need to build your own slant-lid tool chest (in two sizes) – from choosing materials, to the joinery, the hardware, the interior parts that hold your tools and the paint. Plus, plans for a mobile base that provides more storage and helps you move the chest around your shop. (Oh – and a brain dump on how to cut through-dovetails – the thing I most often teach.)

My goal in this book is to not only help you make a place to put your stuff, but to help make you a better hand-tool woodworker.

But my favorite part of the book is the gallery, which includes 43 chests from other makers, with ingenious ideas for using the chest’s tool bay (or bays). Clever rolling bases. Oversized (or undersized) chests. Imaginative uses of the back of the fall front and or/underside of the lid. And other unique storage solutions and uses that set them apart.

Like all Lost Art Press books, “Dutch Tool Chests” is printed in the United States. The pages are folded into signatures, sewn, glued and reinforced with fiber-based tape to create a permanent binding. The 192-page interior attached to heavy (98-pt.) cotton-covered boards (blue cloth, of course!) using a thick paper hinge. The cover and spine are adorned with a foil die stamp (which won’t help you build a tool chest – but it looks pretty nice, if I do say so myself!).

– Fitz

p.s. If you buy “Dutch Tool Chests” from Lost Art Press, you might wonder about that scribble on the half-title or title page. That illegible scrawl really is my signature – I’m signing every copy that ships from our Covington warehouse.

2024 Anarchist’s Gift Guide: Day 13

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Day 13: Blundstone Original Chelsea Boots

The only better (by which I mean long-lasting and uber comfy) boots I’ve ever had were Cole Haans with Nike Air insoles. They were of course discontinued before I could stock up. For the last decade or so, I’ve sworn by the Blundstone 510 – the original in black. I was seduced a year ago (or was it two?) by a “fashionable” version (#2343) with a blue sole and blue stitching…but I can’t seem to break those in – too many painful blisters. They’re supposed to be the same as the 500 series, just “prettier”; they are not the same. So I keep coming back to my 510s. And while they’re arguably a little pricey (though I’d pay more for good boots – worth it!), if I amortize the $200 cost over the five years each pair has lasted, they’re a great buy.

– Fitz

2024 Anarchist’s Gift Guide: Day 12

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Day 12: Aqua Net Extra Super Hold

This is a must-have if you have socket chisels – especially if you remove the handle from time to time. Once the handle won’t stay in anymore, spray the wood that goes into the socket, pop it in place then whack the handle top upside down on your bench.

This super-sticky hairspray will keep it in place until you knock it against the edge of the bench the next time you need the handle to come out (I only need to spray mine every few months, and I take my handles out a lot to maneuver the business end of the chisel into small places).

Also, when 1980s hair comes back in style, you will be prepared.

– Fitz

2024 Anarchist’s Gift Guide: Day 11

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Day 11: Milwaukee 50-piece General Purpose Utility Blades

We use utility knives all the time around here, and they get dull quickly. There is little more frustrating than trying to cut with a dull blade – plus it’s dangerous. But it’s a pain to go searching for that pack of blades you know is in the shop somewhere. Or fighting with a blade dispenser that is bockety (we’re looking at you, Stanley). That’s why we default to the Milwaukee blade pack. It’s easy to get a new one out of the dispenser, and the dispenser is large enough to hang on the wall. Also, it’s red, so it’s fairly easy to spot even if it’s in the bottom of your tool chest.

– Fitz

Psst: Need a ‘Shorty’ Benchcrafted Split-top Roubo?

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My current bench: a Benchcrafted ‘Classic’ 84″ (with custom hub bling).

A few years back, we decided we had too many benches in our shop, so I hired movers to transport and get my “Gluebo” into my basement. (Its weight almost killed us moving it from my former workplace to Lost Art Press in 2017.)

Then we decided we had too few benches, and that we should have a commercial bench on site so that we could try it out and perhaps recommend it to those who didn’t want to (or have time to) make their own bench. (And OK… we did the math, and realized our time was better spent on editing and things other than making a new bench.) So we asked Benchcrafted to make me a 30″-tall version of the 84″-long “Classic” (the standard height is 34″). At 5’6″ (OK…I’m a little shorter these days), 34″ is too high for me to comfortably plane atop for long periods of time – and I spend a fair amount of time at the bench. So I was happy that Benchcrafted agreed.

And it is an excellent bench; we do recommend it – though I wish it were about 2″ wider. (It would be easy to add a piece of maple to the back edge…I just haven’t done it.)

Now we need to move a bench over to our new storefront, so folks have one handy on which to try out Crucible tools (and so that we have one on site for photography). Kale is a couple inches shorter than am I…and I must have had on Birkenstocks the day we measured for that bench height. In my work boots (which I wear about 10 months out of the year), 31″ is a better height. So Kale is taking my Classic, and we have once again begged Benchcrafted to make a custom-height bench for me. We’re moving Kale’s current bench, the Holtzapffel, to the Anthe building

This time, we’re getting the Split-top Roubo, because people ask about it a lot. And having worked on one for only a couple weeks on and off while teaching at the Florida School of Woodworking, I don’t have an informed decision about it. So I’m about to find out.

It’s easier for Benchcrafted to do a run of benches at one time – and they don’t typically do custom. So if anyone else needs a 31″-high bench, get your Split-top Order in ASAP (I’d say by no later than Dec. 11), and send the Benchcrafted guys a note immediately afterword stating that you want the shorter height.

– Fitz

p.s. How do you know the right bench height? The way we figure it is to stand straight and let your arm hang down loosely by your side. Have someone measure the distance from the knuckle joint on your dominant hand’s pinky to the floor. That’s the ideal height for the top of your bench, if you do a lot of handplaning with metal planes; those who use wooden-stock planes might prefer a slightly shorter bench. To raise things to a comfortable height for sawing, I use a twin-screw vise.

p.p.s. We also plan to film a video in 2025 on making the Anarchist’s Workbench at 31″ tall. That one will likely become my bench (unless I fall in love with the split top), then I’ll take home my “petite Roubo” that found its way over here when we were still a bench short. I miss having that one at home. It is white pine – no need to hire movers (which is why we brought it here instead of bringing back the Gluebo). Then we’ll have enough benches for all our classes, and at various heights so that we can more easily match them up to people. Plus, lots of different styles so that folks can try out the different “models.”