Lost Art Press

Author: Lost Art Press

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

Now Shipping: Crucible Redneck Pencil Gauge

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We use pencil gauges as much as marking gauges or cutting gauges. That’s because a pencil line is sometimes the better choice, especially when marking out bevels or curves.

When we construct our shop-made pencil gauges, we include a “face plate” or “curve attachment” to one face of the gauge’s head. The face plate – basically two bumps – allows the gauge to mark both inside and outside curves. You can also use the gauge against a straight, flat edge. The face plate is an incredibly handy feature that was patented by Stanley in 1886 (the patent has long expired).

For years, I’ve wanted to make a Crucible pencil gauge with a face plate, but we have never found a way to manufacture it economically. During the pandemic, however, I devised a way to make an inexpensive gauge by MacGyvering a British marking gauge made by Joseph Marples.

Marples agreed to sell us 200 basic gauges at wholesale for an experiment. When the gauges arrived, we pulled out the steel pin (it’s included in the package if you want it). Then we drilled a hole in the gauge’s beam that will hold most pencils with a tight compression fit (and we’re including a pencil). And we added a stainless steel face plate (a part that we sourced from the kennel-making industry).

The result is our Crucible Redneck Pencil Gauge that works like a charm and fits your hand beautifully, thanks to the half-round shape of the head. But it is a little rednecky (I can say that because I’m from the Ozarks). If I were going to design the gauge from scratch I would use a brass thumbscrew and machine the face plate from solid brass. It would look nicer, but it wouldn’t function any better and it would cost you three or four times more.

Now available in our store for $37 plus shipping.

Specifications:
Beam: 3/4” x 3/4” x 8-1/2”
Head: 1-1/16” x 2-3/16” x 2-5/8”
Weight: 4 ounces
Pencil: Made by Musgrave USA, included

Why We Stick With the Screw

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Our sliding bevel with a knurled-head thumbscrew.

Occasionally we have customers who are bewildered that we use Chicago screws to adjust our Crucible Type 2 Dividers and Sliding Bevel. Why don’t we use a thumbscrew or wing nut or some other device that doesn’t require a screwdriver?

The answer is simple, but not what they want to hear: Because nothing works as well as a slotted screw and a screwdriver.

During the development of these tools we tried a variety of thumbscrews and other devices to lock the tools in place. Nothing even came close to using a simple Chicago screw and a driver. With a small twist of the screw, you can lock the setting in so it is almost unmovable.

I say “almost” because I tried an experiment where I locked the screw and then threw the tool across the workshop like a baseball. About half the time the tool held its setting. The other half it moved a bit. So, I don’t recommend throwing tools across the shop.

This week I found a few more thumbscrews worth trying in the tools. I am always looking to improve things. The screw thread is a 10-32, and the threaded section needs to be about 3/8” long.

Here are three thumbscrews worth discussing (a few others were total fails).

The Knurled Head Tumbscrew (above), looked promising because it also offered a slot for a screwdriver. Unfortunately, the head has such a low profile that you cannot tighten it by hand enough to lock the blade. You have to use a screwdriver to get a good lock.

Raised Knurled-head Thumbscrew.

The Raised Knurled-head Thumbscrew was easier to grip, but it still didn’t lock the blade. Plus, there was no way to further tighten the thumbscrew with a screwdriver.

Hex-head Thumbscrew.

Finally, the Hex-head Thumbscrew looked cool. But you can’t grip it with your fingers. The only way to tighten it is with a box wrench (which worked really well).

If you resist our tools because they require a screwdriver, consider this: Many early bevels, marking gauges and mortise gauges were locked with a screwdriver. Plus, when I use these tools (and I use them every day), I get immense satisfaction locking them down all the way. It reduces any anxiety I have about the tool moving by accident.

This anxiety, I might add, was caused by other tools going out of adjustment and ruining a piece of work. 

— Christopher Schwarz

For Sale: A Welsh Stick Chair by Chris Williams

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Welsh chairmaker Chris Williams is teaching classes in our storefront this month and has brought over one of his truly remarkable Welsh stick chairs, made from Welsh woods in the old tradition by a 100-percent Welshman.

Chris is, quite simply, the best stick chair maker alive. He’s the one we all look up to, and he’s always pushing the design of the chair forward in terms of design and backward in terms of using armbows made from curved branches – the traditional way that the best chairs were made.

In fact, I would put up his work against any fine furniture maker in terms of fit and surface finish. Chris absolutely tortures himself to get it right. And it shows in the results.

Chris, the author of “Good Work,” was shown how to make Welsh stick chairs by John Brown, and Chris worked with JB for many years, making these chairs.

Here’s a little about the chair from Chris:

Dimensions:
Overall height: 41”
Seat height: 17-1/2”
Seat depth: 16-1/2”
Seat width: 24”

The hedges in Wales where Chris sources the wood for his chairs.

The chair is made from timber I source myself from around my home village of Llanybri in Wales. Small-diameter ash logs are split by hand and are used to construct the legs, stretchers and sticks. The three-piece ash arm bow is made from naturally curved ash from the hedgerows, which is cut in winter and seasoned for a few years before use. I follow the tradition that the armbow dictates the shape of the seat, which in turn makes Welsh chairs visually and uniquely distinctive from other chair forms. The two-piece elm seat is jointed with loose tenons and the oak pegs which are used in this construction technique form a pattern on the seat which is visible when a raking light casts across it. The chair is stained with a black dye and topcoated with a linseed oil finish. The open grain of the timbers is clearly visible through the matte/satin finish.

Typically, Chris has a buyer for the chairs he brings over. But for this one we decided to offer it up in a silent auction here on our blog. All the proceeds go to Chris. (We never take a cut when we sell other people’s work.)

Purchasing the Chair

This chair is being sold via silent auction. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.) If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Thursday, June 15. In the email please use the subject line “Welsh Chair Sale” and include your:

  • Your bid
  • First name and last name
  • U.S. shipping address
  • Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)

This chair has a reserve. The sale price will include shipping to anywhere in the lower 48 states. Or you are welcome to pick it up in our storefront here in Covington, Ky.

Where to Put Your Carver’s Vise

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Sorry Megan, I drilled a hole in your bench.

I know some readers are loath to drill a new hole in their workbench (or file the mouth of a handplane, or reshape a saw handle) without a court order. Today I’m putting on my robes and firing up the wooden gavel. Judge Crissy is in session.

The advantage of the carver’s vise (on sale at Grizzly until August – not sponsored) is that it can go anywhere there’s a hole. But where should the hole go? 

Here’s my thought. Put it at the far end of your bench, where a tail vise would go. Drill the hole about 3-1/2” from the front edge of the bench and 3-1/2” from the end of the bench. That allows the vise’s sheet-metal base to contact the benchtop fully. And it allows you to stand anywhere in a 270° arc around the vise to use it.

But here’s the best reason: It will speed up your work with a tenon cutter. By rotating the vise diagonally, as shown above, you can tenon both ends of a stick without reclamping it or re-leveling it. It’s just level the stick, clamp the stick, tenon one end and then tenon the other.

The second advantage is that I usually have a garbage can under the bench there, so about half my waste from tenoning ends up in the bin automatically. And the rest is easily brushed from the benchtop and into the garbage can.

— Christopher Schwarz

LAP Open Wire, June 10, 2023

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Because Chris Williams has been teaching a class in the bench room, I’ve been doing some design work at my desk.

You are stuck with me again for the LAP Open Wire this week. (We have a special guest lined up for next week, however.)

So let’s hear your woodworking questions.

Here’s how it works: Type your question in the comment field. I will post my answer. It is that simple.

Before you ask a question, please read this.

  1. If you could limit the number of questions you ask to one or two, that would be appreciated. 
  2. If your question is your first comment here, it will automatically be flagged for moderation. Your question will appear after I approve it.

Comments have been closed. See you next week!

— Christopher Schwarz