Lost Art Press

Author: Lost Art Press

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

A Reluctant Sale: ‘Anarchist’s Design Book’

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On sale until Jan. 19.

We are temporarily lowering the price of “The Anarchist’s Design Book” to $37 (down from $52) in a sincere effort to clear out a huge section of our second floor devoted to warehousing this title. This is not a junk title – “The Anarchist’s Design Book” is our second best-selling book of all time.

We have more than 400 *boxes* of this book – nearly a three-and-a-half year supply, which we ordered during the dark days of the pandemic when it was next to impossible to get inventory. We are trying to move all our inventory to one location in Covington – right now it is spread over three locations, which is expensive and complicated.

The sale on the book starts today and runs through Jan. 19. 

A few pallets of the design book at our Covington warehouse.

“The Anarchist’s Design Book” is the second book in the series and begins with the question: 

“The people who could afford high-style furniture also owned mega-farms, factories and (sometimes) entire towns. This is not a knock on their wealth. But it is a simple way of asking a question that rarely gets asked among amateur makers: Why would you want to imitate the taste of your boss’s boss’s boss?”

The book offers vernacular furniture forms – classic and simple pieces that have changed very little during the centuries – that can be built with simple tools. Things like six-board chests, backstools and solid freestanding bookshelves.

“The Anarchist’s Design Book” focuses on two simple joints, nails and the staked mortise and tenon, to build all the pieces. It is designed for beginning and intermediate woodworkers. And it is a different path (and destination) than the one most woodworkers take.

“The Anarchist’s Design Book” is a massive hardbound book at 656 pages. Casebound, with a bookmark ribbon and made in the USA.

We very rarely discount products (unless we are closing them out). We hope this short sale will give us the space we need in our warehouse and put this book in the hands of some eager woodworkers.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. We have notified all our retailers that they can also lower the price during this period if they wish (and we have reduced the wholesale price for them, as well).

New: Lost Art Press Iron-on Applique

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Now you can brand almost any garment with Lost Art Press using our iron-on applique. All you need is a household clothes iron, plus a cotton or cotton/poly sweatshirt or shirt.

The applique letters are vinyl with a soft “flocked” coating, so they are nice and fuzzy, and they recall the T-shirt kiosks of 1980s shopping mall culture.

It is shipping now and is $27. Buy it here.

Instructions:

1. Select a clean and dry garment and lay it flat on an ironing board or a folded towel on your workbench.

2. Set your iron on “high” – you need a minimum of 315° F to activate the glue. (Most irons easily go to 345° when on high.) When the iron is heated, iron the area where the applique will go to flatten it and warm it up.

3. If desired, cut the applique so the logo will cross a zipper. Or to rearrange the words to your liking. 

4. Put the applique in place on the garment and put a sheet of parchment paper between the iron and the transfer sheet.

5. Press the iron against half the sheet. Shift the iron a bit as you press for 30 seconds. Then press the iron against the other half of the sheet for 30 seconds.

6. Remove the iron and let things cool for a couple minutes. Carefully peel the plastic backing from the letters. Wait 12 hours, then garment can be laundered and dried as you normally would.

If the letters ever come loose, you can glue them down with a fabric adhesive (we use Aleene’s Fabric Fusion for repairs). 

Made in the USA. Garment not included.

The 10 Best-selling Products of 2023

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People love the pocket books.

I’m always a bit surprised by what sells well each year. I look at our sales every morning, track inventory and try to figure out our next step. But rarely do I step back and look at the big sales picture. Except for today. Here are the 10 best selling Lost Art Press/Crucible products of 2023 by units sold.

  1. “Sharpen This” This pocket book came out in September 2022, yet we’ve already printed 14,000 of these little suckers. It is my fastest-selling book (whatever that’s worth). If you buy it from us, I sign each copy personally and we include a PG-13 Slightly Naughty sticker.
  2. “The Woodworker’s Pocket Book” Another surprise, really. This has to be the best woodworking book for the bathroom. You can flip to any page and learn something interesting about finishing formulas, wood species or 18th century mouldings listed by furniture style.
  3. “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke” This book continues to sell thanks to the fact that 1) It’s a simply amazing read and 2) The incredible popularity of the PBS series about Dick. The author took care of Dick’s cabin for years and was the perfect (and authorized) person to write this book.
  4. “The Essential Woodworker” We reissued this book in 2010 with the help of the author, Robert Wearing, and it is now in its 10th printing. This book continues to sell because you can read it in a short afternoon and it connects all the dots with handwork. It is simple (but not simplistic), perfectly illustrated and simply the right book for those who want to work with hand tools.
  5. “Make a Gibson Chair” Video. This one isn’t a surprise. The video came out this year and shows how to make one of the most comfortable (and simple) stick chairs ever.
  6. “Workshop Wound Care” Another great and much-needed pocket book. This book should be in every shop. Not because it will help LAP financially or make you a better woodworker, but because you will need its advice some day when things go wrong. Not if – when.
  7. “Crucible Engraving Tool” We’ve sold more than 1,000 of these suckers, and I can’t wait to see what woodworkers do with them. We are out of stock this minute, but we have another 500 on the way in the next week or two. So sign up to get notified when we restock.
  8. “Euclid’s Door” This book, released in 2021, had a slow start but picked up steam in 2023. “Euclid’s Door” teaches you practical geometry as you build some very useful and accurate wooden shop tools. It’s fun and eye-opening. And the next book in the series (coming in 2024) will bring even more fans into the “By Hand & Eye” fold.
  9. “Karvsnitt” Jogge Sundqvist’s second book with Lost Art Press dives into the world of chip-carving, spells and color. Like all of Jogge’s work, this book is engaging, fun and inspiring.
  10. “With the Grain” Again, what the heck? This book is in its seventh printing and continues to sell and sell. I think I know why: It’s a no-nonsense guide to what you need to know about wood technology at the bench. There are much more scientific books out there, but you won’t find a more practical one.

— Christopher Schwarz

Author-signed Books – Offer Extended Through 2024

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All my books sold through Lost Art Press will be signed by me.

All my books that you buy through Lost Art Press will be signed by me through 2024.

It takes a few hours of my time each week, but we are thrilled we can offer this small personal touch now that we have our fulfillment center up and running in Covington, Kentucky.

We also will offer the PG-13 “Sharpen This” sticker when you buy “Sharpen This.” (Our bestselling product of 2023.

This personal-touch stuff is what we have always wanted to offer our customers, but we were hobbled by our efficient but inflexible fulfillment center in Indianapolis.

More personal stuff on the way (no, you won’t be able to buy my underwear).

— Christopher Schwarz

All copies of “Sharpen This” come signed by the author and with this free sticker.

‘By the Book:’ Working Wood in the 18th Century

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I have been stuck in a little too deep on peasant furniture and have forgotten to announce this: I am presenting at Colonial Williamsburg’s 26th annual “Working Wood in the 18th Century” conference Jan. 25-28. 

This year’s theme is “By the Book,” and it will focus on the relationship between the printed word and woodworking. I was asked to give a presentation on the history of woodworking books (one of my favorite topics), and I’ll also do a demonstration on using M. Hulot’s workbench for chairmaking operations.

Hulot’s bench is so ubiquitous among chairmakers that even Chester Cornett in Eastern Kentucky worked on one. And it is still used today.

Also Lost Art Press-related, Whitney B. Miller, author of “Henry Boyd’s Freedom Bed” will present a talk on Henry Boyd and the development of his life story into a children’s book.

Of course, the conference schedule is packed with demonstrations by top-notch woodworkers and carpenters, and I am excited to be able to sit in on many of the presentations. Check out the list here. I’m particularly excited to see Harold Caldwell, Mary Herbert and Shelby Christensen’s presentation on Joseph Moxon’s techniques in his section on carpentry.

In-person registration for the event closes tomorrow at midnight. So make a decision in the clutch and make the trip if you can. Register here.

If you register or already registered, please leave a comment below. If there are enough Lost Art Press readers going, perhaps we can organize a happy hour or a meet-up during the conference. 

I hope to see you there. This is my first visit to Colonial Williamsburg (really!), so be gentle.

— Christopher Schwarz