Lost Art Press

Author: Lost Art Press

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

Donate to Help Our Scholarship Classes

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At the request of readers, we have created a way for you to donate to help fund the two scholarship classes we are holding at Lost Art Press this fall.

In September, we are holding our second Chairmakers Toolbox class with six students. All students are from populations that are underrepresented in woodworking, including women, people of color and those who are gay, bi, trans or otherwise outsiders.

In November, Jerome Bias will lead a class of six African-American woodworkers as they build a blanket chest using hand tools.

I am picking up the tab for the wood and all the lunches during the classes. If you would like to donate to help with the wood or meals, simply click on this link, where you can make a donation with a credit card or with your PayPal account.

You will be able to designate which class the money goes to support, if that’s important to you.

I know that some of you have also mentioned donating tools for Jerome’s class. I’ll talk to Jerome about it and see if we can come up with a mechanism.

Thank you for your understanding and your generosity.

— Christopher Schwarz

Scholarship Class for African-American Woodworkers

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Jerome Bias, who will be leading the scholarship class.

We are thrilled to announce that we will offer a scholarship class this fall for six African-American woodworkers that will be taught by our long-time friend and hand-tool woodworker Jerome Bias.

The class will run from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2023, at our storefront in Covington, Ky. The scholarships include tuition, materials and lunch every day. All African Americans are encouraged to apply: men, women, straight, gay, beginners, intermediates, whatever. No previous woodworking experience is necessary. Just a passion for learning the craft.

During the five-day class, Jerome will show students how to build a six-board chest using hand tools, white pine and traditional tapered nails. The chests can be personalized with different mouldings and details on the feet. These chests are fantastic as blanket chests at the foot of a bed or for storing hand tools in a workshop.

A six-board chest in pine.

But just as important as the chest, students will learn to wield handplanes, chisels, hammers and handsaws – the core tools of a trade shared by many of our ancestors.

Jerome is a talented woodworker, chef and interpreter living in North Carolina. In addition to building furniture, Jerome has worked as an interpreter at Old Salem Museum and Gardens and has studied the life and work of 19th-century African American woodworker Thomas Day. He has also presented his work at Colonial Williamsburg and regularly travels to former plantations to cook traditional meals as a way to enable African American visitors to connect with how their ancestors expressed hope and love while still enslaved.

Applying for the scholarship is easy. Simply send an email to: scholarship@lostartpress.com by Sept. 15, 2023. In the email, please let us know:

  1. Your name and where you live.
  2. A few sentences about any woodworking experience you’ve had so far.
  3. A few sentences about why you want to attend this class.

We have room for six students in this class. Jerome will select the students from the pool of applicants. As mentioned above, the class includes tuition, materials and lunches during the class. Students will be responsible for travel to Covington and lodging – we are happy to help suggest places that fit your budget. 

And don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of tools. We will be able to loan students the essential tools for the class.

Finally, please share this post with any African-American woodworker (or wanna-be woodworker) you know. We want to cast as wide a net as possible.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Whenever we offer scholarships for woodworkers who have been traditionally excluded from the craft, we often hear the cry: Why not offer scholarships based on need? Our answer: We already do that. All of my teaching outside of my shop (Florida School of Woodwork; Marc Adams School of Woodworking) goes to fund need-based scholarships at those schools. I teach for free; all the money goes to scholarship funds. During my career, I have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the Roger Cliffe Memorial Foundation, which supplies woodworking scholarships for veterans and people who face financial hardship. So please, before you take a swing at us, please know that we seek to help anyone get into the craft. These scholarships are just one of the ways we do it.

LAP Open Wire, July 22, 2023 (Me, Again)

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Two comb-backs in red elm on my workbench this morning.

I’m back in Covington after a two-week trip to Scandinavia. So after a couple weeks of guest hosts at the Open Wire (thanks, Monroe and Joel), I’m here today to answer your questions about woodworking or stuff that is going on at Lost Art Press.

Warning: My head is full of cheese. I arrived in America with a bad head cold and an unusual case of Traveling West Jetlag. So I might be a little slow on the uptake

Despite all that, I am happy to be home and back at the LAP HQ. 

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

So here we go…. Note that comments for this entry will close about 5 p.m. Eastern. 

— Christopher Schwarz

Workbench Curiosities at Skokloster

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Last week I got to examine two Scandinavian workbenches, presumably from the 1600s, that were on display at the Skokloster Castle museum outside Stockholm. Both benches had some interesting details that I had never seen before on workbenches.  

A Different Pinch Dog (& Bench Nipple)

The bigger workbench at Skokloster had a massive shoulder vise that has a curious round protrusion as part of the face vise. We got to calling it the “bench nipple.” It looked like a huge bead, and I strongly suspect it was purely decorative.  

But you always wonder, did the owner find some use for the nipple? The thing had lost a lot of fights with a saw blade during its life. Though, to be fair, the entire bench was covered with tool marks. These woodworkers were not precious about marring their worksurface.  

The other unusual feature of this bench was a forged metal dog that we came to call the “pinch dog.” It fit into the dog holes of the workbench, but it had two peculiar characteristics. It was much longer than the other dogs. And the metal spring of the dog went all the way to the top of the dog.   When the dog was pushed into its dog hole, the leaves closed like the jaws of a vise. But they did not close all the way. I suspect the dog was used to pinch thin stock so it could be worked on its edge – planing it or grooving it, perhaps.  

The dog could also be used like a standard metal bench dog. It was quite clever, and I might need to chat with a blacksmith about making one.  

A Different End Vise

The second bench was much shorter than the first and was equipped with your standard stuff: shoulder vise, tail vise, tool well and a storage locker below.  

The curious part of this bench was a third vise located up by the face vise. The vise had a small screw compared to the face vise and tail vise screws. It had a small chop that was fitted with a small dog hole. A matching small dog hole was mortised into the frame. Clearly a piece was missing from this vise that might have answered some questions.  

After some thought, I suspect this vise could have been used to pinch wide boards between the small dogs for face planing. As I mentioned, the bench is shorter than I would like. So this would be a way to handle longer boards. Both of these benches were used primarily by joiners who were fitting up the castle with wooden hearths. Plus frame-and-panel trim throughout the structure.

If you have seen a vise like this on an old bench, leave a comment.  

— Christopher Schwarz

LAP Open Day, July 29 – Plus Tours of Our New HQ

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We will open our doors to the public on Saturday, July 29, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 837 Willard St. in Covington, Ky. We’ll be selling our complete line of products, signing books and – most of all – talking about woodworking.

I’ll display a bunch of the furniture I’m building for my next book, “The American Peasant.” Plus, I’ll be happy to demonstrate the grooving cutters I use to add spells and wards to the furniture.  

We’ll also show off the Anthe building – the 1890s-era factory we are restoring to become our new headquarters. If you would like a tour of the Anthe building, we’ll lead walking tours that leave from Willard Street to 407 Madison Ave. The tours begin inside 837 Willard St. (our current building) at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.  

If it’s too hot for you to walk (or you have mobility concerns), you can drive your car the 0.7 miles to the Anthe building and meet us there.  

Please keep in mind that Anthe is under construction, so be sure to wear comfortable shoes with good traction. There is, however, electricity, plumbing and HVAC there. Other than the two tours, the Anthe building will not be open to the public that Saturday. Our fulfillment employees don’t work on weekends. So if you show up there (outside of the tours mentioned above), you’ll find the doors locked.

— Christopher Schwarz