Today I got to tour the factory of Blue Spruce Toolworks in Sandy, Ore. I wrote about the details of the tour on my blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine. Check it out here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Today I got to tour the factory of Blue Spruce Toolworks in Sandy, Ore. I wrote about the details of the tour on my blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine. Check it out here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Years ago I received a frantic phone call from a friend who needed to know who owned the H.O. Studley tool cabinet. He wanted to do a 3D scan of the cabinet so he could then program a laser-cutting machine to make all the parts of the cabinet for a kit.
Customers could then order the kit for $300 and build the Studley tool cabinet. In Baltic birch plywood.
I listened patiently to his pitch and then told him that I didn’t know who owned the cabinet. This was the truth, as it was many years before I’d met Don Williams and was taken to the secret Studley bunker in Kentuckistan.
As I hung up the phone, I remember thinking: People want to build the Studley tool cabinet?
After years of talking to woodworkers, the answer is: Apparently so.
So during the 10 seconds before I first saw Studley’s tool cabinet, I remember checking my bag to make sure I had all the measuring tools needed to create a mechanical drawing of the cabinet for the book “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley.” Tape measure? Rule? Caliper? Check, check and check.
When I saw the cabinet, however, I forgot about my measuring tools and any plans for measured drawings. Does a book on the Taj Mahal require 100 pages of blueprints so you can reproduce it in your back yard?
At that moment I knew we would be making a book that was unlike the normal woodworking book, the stuff I was accustomed to churning out 11 times a year as a magazine editor. I set my measuring tools aside and resolved to treat this object in a way that was foreign to me: As pure 100-percent high art.
This was not easy. As someone who has devoted his life to writing about tool chests, workbenches and handwork, my first urge was to dismiss Studley’s work as impractical and something that should not be imitated. But after four years of dealing with this chest (I think I’ve unloaded and loaded it at least four times) I have nothing but the upmost respect for the maker and his intent.
Henry O. Studley’s tool cabinet is not for us to copy. It is for us to decipher.
I defy you to stand before this chest and not be changed as an artisan. It is beyond language. I freely admit that as a writer. You need to see it.
So this sounds like an advertisement for the May 2015 exhibit of the cabinet and workbench in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. And to be sure, if you have two sheckels to rub together, you should be there. I have bought tickets for my friends, family and mortal enemies. You won’t get another chance in this life, so fly or die.
If you can’t be there, I urge you to check out our book on the cabinet. Last week I reviewed the digital proofs for “Virtuoso” and was on the verge of tears as I scrolled through the book’s 216 pages. (Full disclosure: I have all the emotions of a protist, so this is fairly unusual.)
Henry Studley, a slim, balding and upright member of his community, managed to make something for the ages.
See it. One way or another.
— Christopher Schwarz
When I work with beginning woodworkers, I’ve noticed a strange and consistent tendency relating to the tidiness of their work.
When building something small – like a marking gauge or a dovetailed box – they fuss over every fiber, inside and out. That’s a good thing because small objects receive close scrutiny.
But when building something large – like a trestle table – they are much more sloppy and tolerate a surprising array of defects and mistakes. For some reason, the overall form is more important than the details.
I see the same sloppiness creep into projects that are simple. Because the thing is nailed together, it’s suddenly OK to have some tear-out on a show surface or to spelch a corner. Complex projects, on the other hand, tend to get a lot of love and attention.
The best woodworkers I know will build a crate with regularly spaced nails, flush surfaces all around and even chamfers where you grab it. They take the same care with building a shop jig as they do a veneered chest of drawers. There is only one level of quality.
This is a hard lesson to learn when you make furniture for money because you can starve. But if you put in the long hours doing everything the best way possible, you will quickly become swift at setting nail heads flush without damaging the wood, your show surfaces will be clean and your doors smartly hung on the first try.
Start small with this approach. The next time you have to hang a picture for your spouse or install some hooks for coffee mugs, aim for perfection. Then let it creep into all aspects of your work.
— Christopher Schwarz
Lost Art Press hooded sweatshirts are now available for international customers with a reasonable shipping fee.
The mid-weight sweatshirts are made in the United States by American Apparel and the fit is a bit slim. So you might consider ordering one size larger than normal. The sweatshirts are available in sizes small to 2XL. We wish this product were made in larger and smaller sizes, but it is not.
All of our shirts are printed in California and shipped from there by a service that specializes in custom apparel. Because of the company’s volume, the shipping charge for international customers is reasonable – $10 to Canada and $11 anywhere else in the world.
You can order the sweatshirt here.
— Christopher Schwarz
You can now order “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley” by Don Williams from the Lost Art Press store. The book is $49 and will ship in mid-May.
Orders received before May 13, 2015, will receive free domestic shipping. The first 1,000 orders will receive a nice commemorative postcard featuring a beautiful shot of the open tool cabinet shot by Narayan Nayar.
When you order, you will have the option to pick up your copy at Handworks in Amana, Iowa., on May 15-16, or have the book shipped to you. All shipping will occur after Handworks.
Retailers for ‘Virtuoso’
While we are certain that many of our retailers will stock “Virtuoso,” we do not know which ones yet will opt to carry it. When we have that information in the next couple weeks, I will definitely post it here.
Why No Digital Version?
There will not be a digital version of “Virtuoso” at this time. We have experienced a significant amount of pirate distribution of our titles, so we have decided that for this book, the pirates will have to manually scan and assemble the book if they want to rip us off. Our apologies to our law-abiding customers for this difficult decision.
Other Studley Products
We will have more news on other Studley-related products in the coming weeks, including posters, a feature-length DVD and toilet-seat covers (oh wait, no, those are for “The History of Wood”).
Thanks for all your patience during the last four years since we announced this project at Woodworking in America. A team of people has poured thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars into the research and production of this book. I think that effort will show in the book, and I hope you will be pleased.
— Christopher Schwarz