Lost Art Press

Author: Lost Art Press

Publisher of woodworking books and videos specializing in hand tool techniques.

Tool Chest Livestream this Saturday

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If you have questions, concerns or declarations to make about the Dutch tool chest, read on.

We have upgraded our video and audio equipment during the last six months and are ready to attempt another livestream. The host will be our own Megan Fitzpatrick. The topic will be “Dutch Tool Chests: Design, Construction & Use.”

The livestream will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 30) and go for about an hour. We are on Eastern time here in Covington, Ky. On Saturday, I will post an entry here where the livestream will be broadcast. You can also go here to watch it: https://vimeo.com/638790876.

If you can’t tune in live, we will post the video here on the blog so you can watch the question-and-answer session.

To submit a question for Megan, send her an email at fitz@lostartpress.com before 5 p.m. Friday. We’ll pick the best questions and provide the answers on the livestream. We’ll also have two or three Dutch chests here in the shop to use as props.

I hope you can join us, and I also hope we can get Bean the three-legged shop cat to make an appearance (he almost has enough screen time for a SAG card).

— Christopher Schwarz

Anarchist Gift Guide Day 5: Starrett 12″ Machinist Level

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Some woodworkers scoff at owning a level because it is regarded as mostly a carpenter’s tool. Furniture doesn’t have to be level and plumb, does it?

A small level – about 12″ long – is a great thing to have in the workshop. You can use it to level your workbench. And then you can learn a lot of things about the chairs, stools and boxes you build there. 

For me, a 12″ level is indispensable when leveling the legs of any piece of furniture – including a chest, table or chair. You can buy a cheap aluminum or plastic level from the home center. Or you can spend a little more and buy a vintage Starrett machinist’s level for $20 to $40. (Yes, there will be a temporary shortage and price spike because of this blog entry. But it will go away because Starrett made tons of these.)

These cast-iron Starrett levels are gorgeous. The three vials are replaceable. The tool’s underside is relieved so it sits nicely on a round surface, such as a chair stick. This level will remind you of how things used to be made for people in the trades.

There are fancier levels out there (Davis Tool and Level for starters). And there are some modern makers out there who do stunning work that is worth supporting, too. So get a level. And get one that makes you want to take care of it.
One more thing: If you want to get fancy, buy an inclinometer, too. These can help you precisely dial in the pitch of a chair seat, for example.

— Christopher Schwarz

Read other entries from The Anarchist’s Gift Guide here.

Anarchist Gift Guide Day 4: Sticky Putty

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When I design a new piece of furniture, I start on paper, but I almost always mock things up before committing my ideas to joinery and glue. And a big part of mocking things up involves arranging parts temporarily then physically stepping back from the mock-up to give it a gander.

For this step of the process, I use a removable adhesive that goes by a lot of names, including Sticky Putty. It’s basically the stuff that you use to hang posters on the wall without push-pins. You can get it at any well-stocked grocery store for $2-$3 for a lifetime supply. It’s reusable, and it’s valuable for a wide variety of other workshop tasks.

In addition to holding furniture parts in place temporarily, I also use it to temporarily secure tools while I work. A dab can hold a square or sliding bevel as I sight against the tool to drill a hole (note: apply the putty to the side of the tool’s handle, not the base). The putty doesn’t leave residue behind or interfere with gluing, finishing or mind-control waves.

I keep my putty in a zippered plastic sandwich bag to keep it fresh and clean, though I don’t know if that’s necessary. The putty says it never dries out, but “never” is a long time.

— Christopher Schwarz

Read other entries from The Anarchist’s Gift Guide here.

Anarchist Gift Guide Day 3: SPI Black Rules

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Earlier this year I wrote about these rules after conceding defeat in making our own versions under the Crucible brand name. If you haven’t bought your own, what the heck are you waiting for? Are your eyes getting younger?

The black rules with white marking are extremely easy for older eyes to read when it comes to the quarters, eighths and 16ths on one face of the rule. Turn the thing over, however, and it’s a white smeary mess of 32nds and 64ths. Basically unusable for woodworking or machining. So ignore that face of the rule and just use the quarters, eighths and 16ths.

We use three rules in our shop. The typical 4R 6” rule, the flexible 6” rule and the 12” 4R rule. All are useful in a woodworking shop, but if you have to buy one, get the 6” rigid 4R rule. As of today it is $6.90 – a huge bargain.

We asked SPI if they could make us a couple thousand 4R rules without the 32nds and 64ths. They said no. Then we asked to become a retailer, and the wholesale price wasn’t any cheaper than the retail price at MSCDirect (which owns SPI). 

So just buy them from MSC and be done with it. 

The rules are fairly durable. The only problem I have found with them is that the white paint in the engraved numbers gets a little yellow with use. But you don’t notice it until you compare it to a new rule.

No it’s not a Starrett. But you can read it with old eyes and it’s durable enough for the long haul.

— Christopher Schwarz

Read other entries from The Anarchist’s Gift Guide here.

The Fancy Lads Return

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I posted this list on Twitter in a scattershot manner earlier. Some people (Lucy) complained that they somehow missed big parts of this list. So here you go.

You might be a wiener woodworker if:

  1. You call yourself a “master” woodworker without the documentation.
  2. You write and talk about yourself in the third person.
  3. You name simple jigs and processes after yourself.
  4. Wear a cape around town.
  5. You have used the words “epistemological” or “hegemony” when discussing woodworking.
  6. You name your finished pieces like Roman goddess + fancy verb + graduate thesis word + a number. This taco corral is titled: “Vester Remediates the Oligarchy No. 4”
  7. You demand that your apprentices brush your teeth.
  8. You relish every chance to talk about the difference between “art” and “craft.”
  9. You have more T-shirts in your web store than furniture pieces.
  10. Your “formal apprenticeship“ was a weekend pen-turning class.
  11. “Old-world craftsmanship“ is just the nickname of your narrow-crown stapler.
  12. The only two things you’ve ordered from Rockler are hairpin legs and pourable epoxy.
  13. You own more beard wax than beeswax.
  14. “Every piece is built one at a time” because, well, you’ve only built one piece so far.
  15. Your clients (mom and aunt Hazel) come from all over the globe (Paris, Kentucky, and Rome, Georgia).
  16. There are honest-to-God un-ironic jars of glitter in your shop.
  17. Your business card features two of these terms: bespoke, artisanal, handmade, crafted, maker, “and wedding DJ.”
  18. Your headshot on your website features more naked skin than flannel.
  19. You have more tattoos than router bits.
  20. Your workshop has a logo but no insurance.

— Christopher Schwarz