The covers of our Lost Art Press books are important to me, even though we don’t sell our titles in bookstores, which is where the cover can make or break a book.
I don’t want our covers to say “buy me.” I want them to say “open me.” There’s a difference. I’ve had many non-woodworkers tell me that the cover of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” was so oddly compelling that they had to open it and see what was inside.
As I am closing in on the end of the writing for “Campaign Furniture,” my lizard midbrain is turning its attention to the cover. The concept is to make the cover itself look like a campaign chest. There will be ogee (or ovolo or straight bracket) brasses on the corners of the cloth-covered hardcover. In the center will be a pull. It’s my favorite campaign pull, which I found on a piece that is likely from the Indies.
I’ve been trying to draw this pull for the last couple weeks. It’s asymmetrical and doesn’t have a straight line in its profile. I’m getting closer.
Next week, Lost Art Press titles that I’ve written will feature a new design of signature bookplate.
Designed and printed by Brian Stupayrk at Steam Whistle Letterpress & Design, these bookplates are printed in two colors on Crane & Co. self-adhesive paper.
If you purchased one of our books from another retailer and would like one of these bookplates, you can order one in our store here.
Many of the woodworking “gift guides” out there are a thinly veiled attempt to get you to buy some new products that are new to the store and are new, new, new.
As someone who was force-fed a diet of new tools for 15 years, here is my advice: Be wary of tools that are new in the marketplace. Let the manufacturer work out the bugs in the manufacturing process first. This advice carries over to new car models etc.
Case-in-point: A few years ago one of the big woodworking retailers came out with some 90° clamping blocks that you would clamp to the inside of a carcase to square it up. This new product was out just in time for Christmas and was in all the company’s gift guides.
But here was the problem: All of the clamping blocks were made at 89°.
Over at my other blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine, I’ve been doing a series called “The Anarchist’s Gift Guide.” These are small, time-tested and thoughtful gifts that you might actually use. I have no financial interest in any of the products. They are simply little things I have purchased and used for years in my shop. Here are the links:
Day 1 is here. Rockler Mini Drill Bit Set
Day 2 is here. Brownell’s gunsmith drill bits
Day 3 is here. Grip mini pry bar
Day 4 is here. Tiger Flakes
Day 5 is here. Gramercy Holdfasts
Day 6 is here. Draft-Matic mechanical pencils
I have a couple more to add this week. But today I am taking a day off to go to Chicago and eat myself silly.
A few naughty readers have been attempting to build collapsible tables and bookcases similar to ones I’ve been constructing for “Campaign Furniture” and have run into some trouble.
Instead of being a wiener-kabob and saying “wait for the book,” here is some basic but critical information about mechanical furniture: In these simple constructions, the pivot points have to be equidistant.
What does that mean? Take a look at the quick-and-dirty sketch above. In these bookcases, the center pivot point is on the outside of the bookcase. The top pivot point it 7-1/4” above that — right below the top shelf. The lower pivot point is 7-1/4” below that right above the lower shelf.
If the upper and lower points are not equidistant from the center, the bookcase will not fold flat. Also good to know: If the distance between the lower and upper pivot points is greater than the length of one of the shelves, the bookcase will not fully collapse. The two center pivot points will run into one another.
I am almost finished building this bookcase and will post a movie later this week.
The original 19th-century Roorkee chair looks at home on safari. Whereas the mid-century Kaare Klint ‘Safari Chair’ looks right in the home.
As I have been gathering data on original pieces for the forthcoming book “Campaign Furniture,” a critical piece of the puzzle fell into place Saturday when Mark Firley sent me some measurements he took of some original Kaare Klint chairs. Until now, I’ve been relying on auction records, and those measurements were suspect when compared to dimensions I’d struck off of photographs.
Firley, a woodworker and fine American, took good measurements that will help guide the construction of one last chair before the end of the year.
What is surprising – no shocking – is how closely the Klint chairs mimic the original Roorkee of 50 years earlier. They are so similar that it’s almost not fair to call the Safari Chair anything more than a minor evolution from the original.
Here are some details:
The legs of the original were 1-1/2” square and 22-1/2” long. The Klint chair legs are 1-9/16” square and 22” long.
The stretchers of the original were 1” to 1-1/8” in diameter. The Klint chair has stretchers that are 1-1/4” in diameter that are clearly cigar-shaped. I’ve been making my stretchers this shape to add strength in the middle for some time now. So I was pleased to see the Klint chairs were made this way.
The seat height is also similar between the original and the Klint. On the original, the front of the seat was 12” from the floor and the back of the seat is 10-1/2” from the floor. On the Klint, the front stretcher is 12” from the floor and the rear is 9-1/2” from the floor.
The back is virtually identical.
There are some interesting differences. Klint moved the side stretchers down. This gives the chair a sleeker look in my opinion and – engineering-wise – reduces the leverage on the side stretchers.
Klint also removed the handles at the top of the legs, which is probably the most visible difference, but it has little to do with how the chair sits or works.
Firley also supplied some interesting photos of how the seat of the Klint chair works. The underside of the leather seat is lined with a white cloth to prevent the leather from stretching. Modern chairs use a synthetic fabric to stop stretching; I have no clue what Klint used without some analysis.
So if you have been thinking about making some Safari Chairs and thought to yourself: “I can just change the leg turnings a bit and I’ll be almost done,” then you are thinking correctly.
