Anyone who has read “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” knows I have an aversion to the idea of locks. I don’t like to lock anything.
But even odder is that I love the locking mechanisms themselves.
So when I set out to build the projects for “Campaign Furniture,” I purchased some animal-shaped locks from India to photograph and use as motifs throughout the text. I ordered all my locks from a seller on eBay called Indian Antique Showroom.
The locks are charming, well-made and shipped from India. Mine all came extraordinarily packed in hand-lettered boxes. The seller is very fast and easy to deal with. I cannot say if the locks really are antiques or not, but I don’t really care about that.
What I like about the locks is they are more like puzzles than locks. If you have half a brain you can defeat the lock in a minute or two.
If you are planning on building a campaign trunk this year, check out the locks at Indian Antique Showroom. Dig deep. There are lots of locks there at varying prices. And check back if you don’t find one you like. They refresh their stock on a regular basis.
We sold out of our 100 tribolts for building a Campaign Stool in less than 24 hours. We won’t be restocking, but we do have a solution if you didn’t manage to snag one.
Mike Siemsen, who made the first 100 tribolts, has agreed to make another 100 and sell them directly to woodworkers as a public service. The tribolts are $15 with free domestic shipping. Mike has set up an eBay store here for orders. Or make your own tribolts using Mike’s directions here.
We still have a good number of campaign chest T-shirts in stock. Those have been selling at a good clip, but we ordered more than 100. We plan to keep this shirt in stock for the next few months, so you have some time to think about it.
I just got my shirt today and love it. The American Apparel shirts are as soft as a baby sasquatch’s butt. We are constantly comparing our shirts to those made by other U.S. vendors and have yet to find a better shirt.
The shirts are $20 plus $5 domestic shipping. More information (and new high-resolution photos) here.
I know that some of you are frustrated that we don’t stock all of the T-shirts, patches, postcards, tattoos and whatnot that we’ve made during the last five years. It still hacks me off when my oldest daughter walks downstairs wearing a “Rude Mechanicals Since 1768” shirt in maroon. I never even had one of those.
To be honest, we make the T-shirts so we have something to wear. Postcards so we have something to write on. Patches for the holes in our jeans. These things are temporary.
What is important to us are the books. We want to keep every one of them in print for as long as we’re around. That’s where we are totally serious.
While we’re a few weeks away from the release date of our “Campaign Furniture” book, we already have the related T-shirts and hardware in stock and ready to ship. Here are the details and links for these items. Both items are available for only a short time.
‘Stop Staring at My Chest’ Shirts This shirt, like all our shirts, is made in the United States on soft 100-percent cotton. The front features a campaign-style chest of drawers from the 1909 catalog of the Army & Navy Co-Operative Society. The back features the phrase “Stop Staring at My Chest” and the new Lost Art Press logo.
The army green shirt is made by American Apparel shirts in Los Angeles. The shirts (4.3 oz. cotton) are printed by a small family-run firm in Noblesville, Ind. The shirts are $20, plus first-class shipping in the United States.
If you want one of these shirts, we recommend you order now. We usually carry a shirt design for about three months until they are sold out. Then we make a new one. Click here to order.
Tribolts for a Campaign Stool
The only thing difficult about building the camp stool from “Campaign Furniture” is finding an affordable tribolt that allows the legs to fold smoothly. The book offers a hardware-store solution, and it shows you how to make the tribolt pictured here.
If, however, you do not have a drill press or a proper tap to make the tribolt, buying one might be the best answer. So we asked woodworker Mike Siemsen (who came up with the idea for the hardware) to make 100 of these tribolts, which we are selling for $12 plus $3 first-class domestic shipping.
These bolts are ready to use with legs that are 1-3/16” in diameter, which is the size we recommend for these stools after testing several to failure. The tribolt is installed easily by drilling a 5/16” hole in each of the legs. Then you screw the three bolts into the center nut. You can lock them in place with thread-locking fluid if you wish, though we have not found it necessary.
The center hexagonal nut is not visible in the finished stool unless you get your face right up in the stool. However, if you do not like the nut, we recommend turning a small wooden finial or cap that can screw into the nut.
Please note: This is not a stock item for us. We have 100 tribolts. Once they are gone, we will not restock. Click here to order.
Planemaker Wayne Anderson has developed a beautiful infill smoothing plane that is – for custom work – remarkably affordable at $600.
I ran into Wayne this weekend at the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association meeting in Medina, Minn., and he showed me his latest tool. It was purchased immediately at the meet, but Wayne said he had another one just like it with cocobolo infills ready at the shop and was happy to build more.
The reason the plane is only $600 is that Wayne eliminated some of the time-consuming work that doesn’t improve the cutting performance. Instead of making the sidewalls curved, Wayne makes them straight on this plane. Also, he eliminated the “overstuffing” on the the sidewalls. Overstuffing is where the wood is rabbeted away so the wood is flush to the exterior of the sidewalls.
Each one of Wayne’s planes is a little different in the details, but all of them perform magnificently. I have owned one of his small smoothers since 2006, and even though I have been trying to cull my tool set down to the bare bones, I cannot bear to get rid of my Anderson plane. It just works too well and looks too nice.
If you’ve always wanted a new infill but couldn’t manage the price, this is your chance. Get in touch with Wayne at AndersonPlanes.com.
John Hoffman and I are at Mike Siemsen’s School of Woodworking this weekend to film the first ever Lost Art Press DVD. This project, which yet to have a title, is basically “Fear and Loathing in Minnesota.”
There has been semi-automatic gunfire, some alcohol and peanut butter on hamburgers.
On Saturday, we took a wad of cash to the Mid-west Tool Collectors Association meet in Medina, Minn., and purchased almost all the tools we needed to build a workbench and a sawbench (we had to buy a couple buckets, a framing square and two clamps at a hardware store). Saturday afternoon we fixed up all the tools to get them into working order – including filing the saws, restoring the planes and sharpening the chisels.
Today, on Mike’s birthday, we filmed him building a sawbench and a 7’-long Nicholson workbench. Mike has figured out some really great tricks to get started with little money, few tools and almost no skills. The bench is almost building itself. I think Mike’s philosophy is going to help a lot of people get started building a bench entirely by hand.
Here’s a quick timeline of the morning and afternoon.
— Christopher Schwarz
An apron at 10:20 a.m.Top boards at 1:43 p.m.Legs at 1:52 p.m.End assembles at 2:43 p.m.First assembly at 2:53 p.m.Bearers at 4:20 p.m.Beer at 4:33 p.m.
So when I set out to build the projects for “Campaign Furniture,” I purchased some animal-shaped locks from India to photograph and use as motifs throughout the text. I ordered all my locks from a seller on eBay called Indian Antique Showroom.
