Though Katy has her final exams this week and is studying upstairs, she is also trying to keep wax production going. Several people have asked for an update when she has made more soft wax, so here it is: Katy made 33 tins last night and has put them up on her etsy store here.
She’s also been working on customer service this week – we had a mistake in the last batch. Here’s the funny thing: It was my fault. I was helping her pack tins and grabbed the wrong label. I should be fired.
Getting inexpensive and effective die-forged nails is about to become a lot easier in North America. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks will start carrying a selection of Rivierre nails within the next few weeks, says Deneb Puchalski at Lie-Nielsen.
The shipment is on its way from the 19th-century factory in Creil, France, which is about 50 kilometers outside Paris.
For starters, here are the types of nails Lie-Nielsen will carry and the sizes:
Diamond-Shaped Head, Black Steel Nails: 35mm/40mm/50mm/55mm
Hammered Head, Blued Steel Nails: 30mm/40mm/50mm
Hammered Head, Black Steel Nails: 30mm/40mm/50mm
Extra Large Hammered Head, Blued Steel Nails: 30mm/40mm/60mm
Deneb says they will likely expand the types of nails they carry from Rivierre (the company boasts it makes 2,800 types). And that the director of Rivierre was willing to discuss making other types of nails the company does not make now, such as clench nails and headless brads.
Deneb visited the factory earlier this year to see the operation and meet the employees, who work in a gorgeous late 19th-century factory that looks virtually unchanged from when the company started in 1888.
Founded by Theodore Rivière, the factory originally made nails for upholsterers and cobblers only. After two years, Theodore died and his wife, Marie, took over the factory operation at the age of 27 and ran it for 35 years. The factory was then run by Forges et Aciéries de Commercy, bombed during World War II and rebuilt. It was sold to its current director, Luc Kemp, who is running the factory as it was in 1888 as much as possible.
Because of this, Rivierre was named a “Entreprise du patrimoine vivant” (Living Heritage Company by the government.
“It was incredible to walk through the building. All the machines are where they were in the 1890s and everything is completely covered in (vegetable) oil,” Deneb says. “The owner, Luc Kemp, is a determined man. He will not be denied. This is a labor of love.”
(And why vegetable oil? Deneb says Rivierre uses that because their upholstery and cobbler customers hold the nails in the mouth while working. So it’s for safety.)
The nails start as round wire that is first stretched to the appropriate gauge and then fed into a machine that presses the wire into the square-shanked tapered shape in a die. Then the nail is headed and pointed in separate motions.
Nails are deburred in a rotary bin filled with wood chips (the owner had to buy a company that made wood chips to get what he wanted, Deneb says). Then they are heat-treated and colored black or blue – or left as raw steel.
Then they are packaged. For some customers, such as Lie-Nielsen, they are put in plastic bags of 100 nails. The company also makes heavy folded paper boxes using an origami-like process for packaging nails in 4 or 5 kilo orders. If demand is strong, Deneb hopes they will also start carrying the larger quantities in the folded boxes.
As you can guess, I am quite excited that these nails will become available here in the United States. Since discovering them last June, I have used easily 5 kilos of nails on a variety of projects. The hold remarkably well – better than any other nail I’ve used – are finely made and look fantastic. You won’t believe how nice a nail it is for the price.
Stay tuned to Lie-Nielsen’s site (and this blog). When they are available for sale, I’ll post an announcement here.
On Friday morning i finished my first comprehensive edit of Ants Viires’s “Woodworking in Estonia,” the next book we’ll be publishing.
In many ways, “Woodworking in Estonia” is unlike any other book we’ve published during the last decade. It’s an ethnographic study of the wood culture of a Northern European country from the 10th to the 20th centuries. There is no direct “how-to” information in the book. It has thousands of footnotes in Russian and Estonian. And few Americans can point to Estonia on a map. Here, let me help remedy that.
But at the same time, it’s a lot like every book we’ve published. It is an account of what has been lost. If you are willing to dig into this book, the rewards are substantial. It is a comprehensive overview of the flourishing, plateau and decay of a wood-based culture. It is told without romanticism. No politics. And it has hundreds of beautiful hand illustrations and photographs of things that I want to build. (I never knew I wanted to build a sled before!)
Today I started my second comprehensive edit of the text. This job should take a week – as opposed to the three months I spent on the first edit. Then it will have a quick (I hope) copy edit and will be off to the printer in June.
I know that some of you out there will be bemused by the book. Some of you will buy it only to support us (thanks!). But some of you will dive in, you’ll weather the odd-sounding place-names and technical jargon, and you will see incredible beer mugs. Fascinating workbenches. Rakes. Spinning wheels. Latvian chairs. Hollow vessels made from tree trunks. Boards fastened with bird feathers. And on and on.
It’s an important book for green woodworking and woodworking in general. And we are proud to be bringing it to you with the full support of the Viires family (more on that in a future post).
Stay tuned for more information on this book in June.
As a favor to the Early American Industries Association (EAIA), we’re opening the Lost Art Press storefront in Covington, Ky., this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The EAIA is holding its annual meeting this week at the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Ky. I wish I could be there, but I have books to edit (more on our progress this weekend). On Sunday, members will be driving home, and so we are opening the storefront for the curious.
If you are also curious, you are welcome to stop by as well. I’m working on a Danish Modern chest of drawers in some incredible curly oak and will have that on the bench – not to mention all our books, T-shirts, posters, stickers and a few leftover tins of Katy’s soft wax.
The storefront is at 837 Willard St., Covington, KY 41017.
If you are looking for a reason to tempt your spouse to make the trip, dangle Otto’s brunch before them. The Benedict Otto’s with a side of goetta is something I dream about. Get there early – it fills up. If you get closed out there, try the brunch across the street at Main Bite. Or at Keystone a few blocks away.
My daughter Katy finished up another batch of soft wax that is now for sale on etsy. You can check it out here. The 4 oz. tins are $12 each plus $2 shipping.
Katy plans to continue to make the wax during her summer break while she isn’t working as a bagger at the local grocery store. This grocery job will be her first “corporate” gig, and I’ll be interested to see how she likes it.
She’s gotten a lot of questions about the soft wax via email, customers at the storefront and her older sister. Here is a sample:
Q. Is it a food-safe finish?
A. While all finishes are food-safe once the solvent has evaporated (according to the FDA), why take a chance ingesting some unevaporated turpentine? We don’t recommend it for cutting boards or spoons. Try a non-drying vegetable oil instead.
Q. Can I use it on my workbench top?
A. Yes. But it will reduce the friction between your workbench and your work. We recommend straight oil or no finish on workbenches.
Q. Can I use it over other finishes?
A. Absolutely, yes. It is like adding a wax barrier over the finish. It won’t be as hard as a paste wax or floor wax, but it is easy to apply and renew.
Q. Can I use it on my face and lips?
A. Please don’t. Turpentine will irritate your skin.
Q. Can I use it on tool handles?
A. Absolutely. It leave a nice finish on old tool handles.
Q. Is Katy going to make any other products?
Q. We have discussed making a “bench finish” using a recipe I’ve discussed here 100 times. But her sister, Maddy, wants a cut of the family business. We’ll see.
As always, thanks so much for supporting Katy’s efforts. She does it all of her own volition (I’ve got enough on my plate) and is thrilled that people buy it and like it.
