In the next few days, we’ll release the free video series on “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t,” which will help make chairmaking accessible for more people. The chair (and stool) in the book are built using only home center materials and tools.
After finishing up the book and videos, my brain did not get the memo that the project was complete. One night this week, my brain came up with a way to glue up boards of construction lumber to make the seat without a good edge joint.
So we filmed this video where I join two factory edges from construction lumber with home center epoxy. Epoxy fills gaps. Does it work? Yes. Surprisingly well.
My brain is slow, but sometimes it does OK work. Check out the video for details
A special book at a great price – only until June 13.
With more than 16,000 new books headed our way during the next month, we are making space at our Covington warehouse to keep us from storing books in our cars and under our beds.
So for the next 30 days we are offering “James Krenov: Leave Fingerprints” by Brendan Gaffney at a significant savings – $29, down from $49. This book is simply the best woodworking biography I’ve ever read.
Brendan spent years piecing together the story of Krenov’s movie-ready life, from the wilds of Russia, to halfway around the world in Sweden to Mendocino, California. That’s where Krenov founded the famous woodworking school that bears his name.
Before becoming a woodworker, Krenov’s life was spent doing everything from working in a factory to writing a travel guide. He picked up the tools later in life and quickly became one of the most skilled and thoughtful craftsmen alive.
His first three books inspired many of the woodworkers of the late 20th century to pick up the tools and work to a very high level. Krenov changed the trajectory of the craft for the better.
But his life could be a struggle at times, even when he was the driving force behind the College of the Redwoods (now the Krenov School of Fine Furniture). Gaffney, a graduate of the school, paints a balanced and nuanced view of Krenov. And he tells the story with hundreds of archival photos, maps and documents.
This is an excellent price on an outstanding book.
I just finished up a stick chair inspired by old Welsh ones I study. This chair’s stretchers are particularly low and oval in cross section. The armbow is rounded throughout (using spokeshaves) and features elliptical coves on the ends of its shoe. Plus the stick arrangement is quite Welsh, with negative space between the short sticks and the long ones.
The chair is suited for lounging, with a slouchy 22° lean to the back sticks and a seat that’s tilted an additional 5° back. The comb is positioned just 10-3/4” above the arm to support the sitter’s shoulders as they lean into the back.
The chair’s seat and arm are red elm, which resists splitting, with the rest of the chair in straight-grained red oak, which is flexible and strong. All the joints are assembled with hide glue, which we make here, and are wedged for durability.
Slightly proud and burnished tenons.
The chair is finished with a soft wax (also made here). It offers a low luster and looks better the more you use the chair. The finish isn’t terribly durable, but it is easily repaired (just add more soft wax). The front legs have painted “socks” on the feet. This is a traditional touch that protects the feet from scuffs and knocks (and looks good).
Compact and comfortable.
How to Buy the Chair
The chair is $1,700. That price includes shipping and crating to anywhere in the lower 48. If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday, May 16. Please use the subject line: “Elm chair.” In the email please include your:
U.S. shipping address
Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
If you are the “winner,” the chair will be shipped to your door. The price includes the crate and all shipping charges. Alternatively, the chair can be picked up at our storefront. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.)
My chairmaking efforts have been slowed this year by writing projects (“Build a Chair from Bulls%$t” and the revised edition of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”). But coming up I have a low Irish chair and a new chair design that is struggling to be born.
Signed by the author, Christopher Schwarz. The first 500 customers get a free merit badge.
Our latest book.
The latest book from Lost Art Press shows you how to build a comfortable and sturdy chair using only materials and tools from the home center. No jigs. No specialty tools. Literally anyone can do it.
If that’s all you need to know, you can buy the book in our store here. It’s $21 and is made in the USA. (Or you can buy the complete set of our pocket-sized books – including this one – at a special price here.)
One of the seven chairs I built while writing the book.
Still unsure? Here’s how we did it. The chair’s legs are made from hickory tool handles. The spindles are 5/8” dowels. The arm is plywood and the seat and backrest are construction pine. Most of the cutting is done with a jigsaw or small tabletop band saw. All the mortises are made with a drill and home-center bits.
What about all the compound angles? Isn’t that difficult? Nope. We developed a way to drill all the mortises for the sticks with ease. You just clamp the arm and seat together like a sandwich and drill the mortises according to the patterns. (You can download free full-size patterns for the chair via this link.)
“Build a Chair from Bulls%$t” is short – just 112 pages, written by me and fully illustrated by Keith Mitchell. You can read the book in just a few hours.
The first 500 customers receive a free merit badge.
If you are intimidated by chairmaking, the materials or the tools, “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t” will remove any doubts, fears or excuses. And what if you can’t afford the $21 to buy the book? No problem. You can download the entire book for free here. (Don’t worry. You won’t have to register or give up your email. Just click and the book will download to your device.)
The physical book is nicely printed in the USA and is worth owning. “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t” is one of our “pocket books” – inexpensive but well-made books. It measures 4″ x 6.5″. The text is printed on #70 matte-coated paper (acid free). The book’s pages are gathered into signatures and then sewn together – a step few publishers bother with today. The book block is then glued and reinforced with fiber tape and covered with heavy cloth-covered boards. This is a permanent library-grade book – designed to last a couple centuries.
The 2025 chest in Eastern white pine and some mahogany scraps – ready for work.
Last week, we sent the revised edition of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” to the printer. It will be released in late June. The book has been updated throughout, including the section on building the chest. The new chest holds more tools and takes about half the time to build (sacrificing nothing in the process).
If you’ve ever thought about building one of these chests, I have good news. Alexander Brothers now offers a kit of wood for the chest in gorgeous and perfect Eastern white pine. Check out the details here, but everything is milled so you can get started. Price: $575. (Alternatively, they will sell you a bundle of rough lumber if you want to save money and do that work yourself.)
This pine is fantastic. I bought the pine for the new chest from Alexander Brothers (at full price – this boy doesn’t take discounts). They have access to clear and wide stock that we simply do not.
Eastern white pine is – hands down – the best wood for this chest. It is lightweight, strong and a joy to saw and plane. Highly recommended.
And because the internet sucks, I have to mention this: We don’t get any royalty, kickback or affiliate money from Alexander Brothers, a family-run business in Virginia. Like Alexander Brothers, all we care about is getting good material in the hands of people so they can build stuff.
