We are offering free shipping on Michael Pekovich’s new book “Benchwork” for the next 30 days. You can order the book here, and we will ship it tomorrow.
“Benchwork” is Mike’s third book, and this one focuses on making your work at the bench the best it can be. He shows you how to make his simple workbench, plus tool chests, wall cabinets and important shop appliances (do check out the “risers”….).
And Mike discusses in detail his kit of hand tools and how each one has earned a place in his shop.
Like all of our books, “Benchwork” is made to high standards. The heavy coated paper takes color beautifully. All the pages are sewn together, then backed with glue and fiber tape. Then we wrap the book block with heavy boards, cloth and a dust jacket. This is a permanent book – made in the USA.
Note: Lost Art Press ships only to US addresses. If you live outside the U.S., consider buying the book from one of our retailers. Or use a mail forwarding service. We hope that all of our retailers will carry “Benchwork,” but that is up to them (as it should be).
We just released an entirely revised video on how to build a comb-back stick chair. But before you consider purchasing it, check your email. If you bought the original video sometime during the last four years, you should’ve received an email giving you free access to the new video.
If you didn’t get the email, log into your account at lostartpress.com. After you log in, click on the button that says: My Downloadable Files. If you bought the previous video, the files for the new video will be there.
If you didn’t buy the previous video, here’s some important news: You can buy the new video for 50 percent off for the next 30 days. Here’s the link. Like all of our videos, this one has zero DRM (digital rights management). That means you can download the files and transfer them to any device. The files won’t ever just disappear (unless you delete them).
If have trouble accessing the new video, ask [email protected] for assistance.
Why the Revised Video?
During the last four years I’ve come up with a lot of ways to simplify and streamline the process for building a comb-back stick chair. The new video shows all these processes. The new techniques are the result of teaching chairmaking to hundreds of students during the last four years and building 100+ more chairs on my own.
This video is suitable for anyone who wants to start making chairs. No previous chairmaking experience is needed. And the tool list is mostly stuff you probably already own.
Later this year we plan to update the video on building a Gibson chair as well. And we’ll distribute that revised video the same way we’re distributing this one.
My first chairmaking students in a class co-taught with Alexander Bear at my home shop, the Kansas City Woodworkers’ Guild.
I started teaching chairmaking one year ago, fresh off a week assisting Christopher Schwarz’s Chairmaker’s Toolbox class. I had just a few chairs under my belt and probably wasn’t quite ready to teach anyone else how to make them, but I had a willing co-teacher and enough reckless abandon to try. We set off on a 10-week adventure, building chairs in three-hour chunks on Monday nights.
After a few weeks, one of the students came in and said, “I’ve been reading the book after class – you sound exactly like Chris!”
Learning to narrate your actions while also maintaining accuracy only comes with practice — which sometimes means messing up in front of an audience. Luckily that didn’t happen here!
He wasn’t wrong. I am a self-taught woodworker; the closest thing I had to a woodworking education was “The Stick Chair Book,” the LAP blog, and two weeks at the Willard Street shop. I pored over my notes before every class. It made perfect sense that I was teaching in Chris’s voice. Each week felt like a final exam that I was cramming for, hoping we could make it through the evening with everyone’s parts intact.
I had to cram because I wasn’t fluent in chairmaking yet – I knew the steps but I didn’t really speak the language. I studied and memorized so I could remember how to do something and confidently answer student questions about “what if?” or “why?”– even if those answers weren’t based in personal experience. In other words: I faked it ’til I made it. And we ended up with a batch of decent chairs.
I approach every visit to LAP with a specific goal. Last year I wanted to understand how Chris structured a class. This year’s priority? Stock prep and tool maintenance.
On the last day of the CMT class in 2025, Chris invited me back to co-teach the next one. I wasn’t ready when he asked me but I had a whole year to get there.
Fluency only comes with time on the tools and hours at the bench. I committed myself to making more chairs, from “The Stick Chair Book” and of my own design. I was determined to fix my mistakes (of which there were many: cracked arms, failed finishes, spelched mortises … the list goes on!) so that I could fix student mistakes. I challenged myself to build without referencing notes, relying instead on instinct and memory. It worked. Once I absorbed the processes, teaching became less like reading off a script. It morphed into something more creative, more fun. The act of teaching became a constant soothing affirmation: You know what you are doing. You Are A Chairmaker.
When I walked into the LAP shop two weeks ago, though, I was hit with a whole new set of doubts. I knew I could build a chair and teach a class, but what would it be like teaching in front of the person who taught me? Would the students ask me any questions or would they just want to talk to Chris? How embarrassing is it going to be when he hears me rip off one of his jokes? Am I just a bad bootleg?
Chris taught me how to build my first chair at the Willard Street shop in September 2023. I’m amazed by how far I’ve come and how much further I have to go.
Turns out I didn’t have anything to worry about. I surprised myself: I had built the muscle memory; developed my own questionable jokes (ask me about Tenon Town!); and developed the confidence to teach in my own way, injected with my personality and my experience. I didn’t feel like a mimic anymore; I felt like a part of a craft tradition.
And the student feedback this time?
“You and Chris are so different – you make a great pair.”
Our new “Smalls” pocket book contains plans for 18 on-the-wee-side projects that will help use up nice offcuts from your scrap bin. And if you ever need to whip up a last-minute handmade gift, “Smalls” will be a big help.
A few beginning woodworkers have asked us what tools they’ll need to build the projects in the book. So we compiled a complete list of tools mentioned in the book, and we listed them below.
Don’t freak out. You don’t need all these tools. Instead, you can choose from path A, B or C. Read on, and it will all make sense.
Saws • Band saw • Coping saw (with fine blades) • Crosscut and rip backsaws • Table saw (if not using hand tools for dados, rabbets and grooves)
A small band saw (such as a 10″ benchtop model) will allow you to make all the straight and curved cuts necessary to build the projects in the book. Or, if you want to do things by hand, get two backsaws and a coping saw to handle the straight and curved cuts. A table saw will let you make all the straight cuts – and it can help you make a lot of the joints, too.
Striking • Mallet • 8-10 oz. hammer • 16 oz. hammer
You could get by with just one of these tools if need be. I’d probably choose the 16 ounce hammer, which is a standard size in most workshops.
Engraving • Engraving tool
One of the projects (the six-board chest) uses our Crucible engraving tool to decorate its front.
You don’t need all of these tools. A combination square (either size) will be the most handy. If the project uses angles other than 90°, you’ll also need the sliding bevel and a protractor. The compass helps you lay out arcs and use the engraving tool.
I know, I know, that’s a long list of planes. You don’t need them all. You can get by with only one of the three general-purpose planes: block, jack or smooth plane. The next three planes are for hand joinery. If you have a table saw, you can skip these. And the beading plane is for decoration.
Chisels/Gouges • 1/4″ and 1/2″ chisel • Any “tight sweep” carving gouge
You need at least one chisel to make anything out of wood. If you are going to buy only one for this book, get the 1/4″ tool. Also, a carving gouge is helpful in adding decorative details.
Shaping & Finishing • Rasp (fine and coarse) • Sandpaper (#120, #220) • Fine sanding sponge
After you make your curved cuts, you’ll need to clean up the work with either a rasp or sandpaper. You don’t have to have both. The fine sanding sponge is for achieving a smooth finish after a coat of paint or film finish.
A drill/driver is a must in our workshop. You can use that instead of a drill press for almost any drilling operation called for in “Smalls.” A pin nailer is only necessary if you don’t want to drive your nails with a hammer. The next four items – 1″ tenon cutter, drawknife, spokeshave, 1″ auger bit – are necessary only if you want to build the stool in the book. And the adhesive spray is very helpful for attaching patterns to wood (the book contains a lot of patterns…).
I’ve taught woodworking at Dictum GmbH in Germany for many years. And it’s always a bit disorienting (but fun). I’m an American with a German last name who teaches people how to make chairs from Wales, Scotland and Ireland. And the students are German, Swedish, Mexican, Polish, Dutch….
And the class is in Bavaria. But taught in English.
Somehow we make it work, and the classes are always the highlight of my summer. During the last decade, I’ve made lots of close friends overseas through these classes. This year I taught students how to make an Irish Gibson chair, then we spent a week making a comb-back chair with steam-bent components.
Heiko Pulcher, one of my friends at Dictum, took the following video during my class on the Gibson chair. Check it out.
This class also represented a big step forward in my understanding of this Irish chair. I’ve been making this chair form for eight years now, and I have continually refined the process to make it simpler and to remove jigs and math.
I think I have finally nailed it.
This year I plan to film the new process. It will replace our existing video for sale in our store. If you bought the old video, you will get the new one for free. Stay tuned.
