Andrew Detloff has just posted a 30-minute chat session we recorded last night. We discussed why Don Williams’ Roubo translation is so important, the machinery in my workshop and (no surprise) workbenches.
You can listen to the podcast here.
Detloff interviews a lot of woodworkers. Check out his blog’s main page for chats with planemaker Scott Meek, Jim Heavey and Hendrik Varu.
— Christopher Schwarz
Canadians can now order our “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” T-shirts through our Zazzle.ca store.
The T-shirts use exactly the same design as the shirts we sell in the Lost Art Press store. The images are printed on 100-percent cotton American Apparel T-shirts. The shirts are $35.25 (Canadian) each with reasonable shipping (about $6 on average).
You can order the shirts directly through Zazzle.ca using this link.
We will be opening other Zazzle portals in Europe and Australia in the coming months.
As these T-shirts are being made by a third party, we do not have complete control over the quality (this makes us a little nuts). If you have a complaint about a shirt – and we hope you don’t – let both us and Zazzle know.
— Christopher Schwarz
This weekend I’ll be in San Marcos, Texas, at the new Wortheffort school of woodworking to teach a class on building the Dutch tool chest and give a free talk at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 that is open to the public.
If you have ever wanted to harass me, heckle me or autograph you baby’s head, this is your chance.
I am not sure what my presentation will be about. Perhaps on Campaign Furniture; perhaps on the weird history of workbenches. Or maybe something else. I’ll make that decision on the airplane. Some details about the free event are here. A map and phone number to the school can be found here.
This is my last class or public appearance for 2013. Whew.
If you are in the class, this is going to be a doozy. We have to build the chest in only two days. So practice your dovetails if you can.
— Christopher Schwarz
To celebrate the release of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry,” we have created this short-sleeve T-shirt screen printed on a gray American Apparel garment.
The shirt features a detail from one of the plates from the marquetry book of two Frenchmen busy at some marquetry or inlay. The rear of the shirt features the slogan: “Getting Inlaid Since 1769.” (That was the year Roubo’s first volume was released.)
The shirts are available in sizes medium, large, XL and XXL. The shirts are 100-percent cotton and made by American Apparel in Los Angeles. The screen printing was done in Indiana (wait until you see the detail we squeezed out of this one).
The shirts are $20 plus domestic shipping. Once these shirts are gone, we will not reprint this design.
To order the shirt click here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Work on “Campaign Furniture” is on pace to finish on time – Dec. 31 at midnight is the goal. I have just a few more small projects to build; about half the book is written.
One of the parts of the book I am enamored with is the translation of A.-J. Roubo’s seven pages of text on campaign furniture. While my book focuses on British forms, I wanted to include a little on the French furniture.
Michele Pagan, who translated Roubo for “To Make as Perfectly as Possible,” was happy to translate the sections on French campaign furniture for me. Today, she handed in her translation, which I am working through tonight. The description of beds is quite illuminating, as is the section on tables.
As I have been talking about Roubo’s folding stool, I thought I should give you a peek at a short section of the translation relating to that form. Note that this translation needs a little smoothing – this is the nearly raw version. Still, it is fantastic.
We make yet another type of small seat without a back, which are a very good invention for taking less space when they are folded. These seats are called “echaudés,” and are composed of three uprights of 26 thumbs in length, of a triangular form in their design, such that the three together form a bundle of 2 thumbs [in] diameter. Note that they don’t join exactly at the outer ridge, so as to facilitate their opening. Look at figure 8. These three uprights are held together by three pins made of a single piece, and positioned triangularly, which pass [through] the three uprights, outside of which they are [fastened], such that the uprights spread equally and form the seat. Look at figure 6, which represents the elevation, and figure 7, which represents the design closed as well as opened, where the ends of the uprights are lettered the same on the sides. Look also at figure 5, which represents the “echaudé” completely closed with the rivet seams of the pins, which are placed at 2 thumbs higher than the middle, so as to give more impalement to the seat. The top of this is nothing but a piece of leather or some sort of fabric attached at the end of the three uprights.
— Christopher Schwarz