Lost Art Press

Author: Lost Art Press

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

How to (Really) Set up a Premium Handplane

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In the last month I’ve received a lot of e-mails about an article and video from Fine Woodworking magazine about how to set up a new handplane.

The e-mails all had the same question: Is this true? Should I really be doing all the steps listed in the article and video?

It’s not my style to simply dismantle other people’s work, point by point. So instead, I asked Lie-Nielsen Toolworks to loan me a new No. 4 plane in iron, and I set it up last week with the camera rolling.

Whenever I set up a new plane, this are the exact steps I take to get it out of the box and planing wood. It’s a different approach than the one in the article and video. I think my method is valid, and I hope you will consider it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Disclaimer: This video was my idea. I was not asked by any toolmaker to produce it. I was not paid for it. And, of course, I did not keep the plane I borrowed.

Coming Monday: ‘The Joiner & Cabinet Maker’ Audiobook

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We are putting the final touches on Roy Underhill’s reading of “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” the 1839 text that tells the fictional story of young Thomas West’s apprenticeship in a rural English workshop.

The audiobook will be available in two different formats. On Monday, you will be able to purchase it as an mp3 that you can download from the Lost Art Press web site for $22. The mp3 version is more that 200mb, so don’t try it if you have a dial-up connection.

The download will play on all computers and devices, including iPods, Androids, generic smartphones and Kindles. As always, these files will not have any copy protection on them.

We also will be releasing the audiobook as a three-CD set in the next two weeks. We are still negotiating with CD duplicators so we are not sure what the price will be.

The audiobook is 215 minutes long and features Underhill reading the original text of “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker.” I recorded Underhill this Spring at his home in North Carolina. The audio was edited by John Hoffman of Lost Art Press. The final clean-up and mastering was performed by Ben Strano, a Nashville-based engineer, producer and woodworker. I think it sounds tremendous.

In the meantime, listen to this short “commercial” by Underhill where he reads some of the promotional copy for the original book (by the way, this was mastered by me – the audiobook sounds much cleaner).

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Update: Crap. The promo cuts out after 2 minutes. I’ll upload a fixed one later. Gotta fill orders.

We will have more information and a sample of the audio of the book on Monday.

— Christopher Schwarz

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New T-shirt: I Shall Die Trying

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Our new T-shirt design features three planes from Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises” on the front. On the back are the words: “I Shall Die Trying,” something we’ve all occasionally uttered while flattening a large and warped panel.

Thanks to Rob Campbell, also known as The Joiner’s Apprentice, who came up with the idea for the shirt.

The forest green shirts are 100-percent cotton and made in the United States by American Apparel – the screen printing was done in Indiana. The shirts are $16 ($18 for 2XL). Apologies in advance: We didn’t order any sizes “small” or “3XL.”

As always, we make only one run of each shirt design. So if you like it, buy one before we run out of your size. This T-shirt scarcity is a problem even for me. I gave away my last “Rude Mechanicks Since 1678” shirt to a friend, and I have been trying to get my oldest daughter to sell me her shirt. No dice.

You can order a shirt from our store here.

— Christopher Schwarz

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Administrative: My E-mail is Changing

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OFFICIAL_LAP_-LogoAfter 15 years, I am closing my fuse.net e-mail account and will be using chris@lostartpress.com exclusively.

As always, the best way to reach me or John Hoffman at Lost Art Press is to use our Contact Us page. Spam filters what they are, plain e-mail is simply not reliable. Those wishing to refill my Cialis prescription, however, may continue to use my fuse.net address.

I will have the fuse.net account for a few more months, but after March the only e-mail that will work for me is chris@lostartpress.com.

— Christopher Schwarz

Trimmings and Fixtures for a Tool Chest

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From R.C., Carroll, Iowa.— In answer to the subscriber from Virden, Ill., in a former issue, as to where he can “secure” trimmings for a tool chest. I would say that they could be taken from another fellow’s chest late at night by the skillful manipulation of a crowbar and a screwdriver; but should he be willing to purchase them he can do so at a hardware store, a place where they keep for sale ten-penny nails, gimlets and gasoline stoves. Such an establishment can be found on the front street of any well regulated town, the entrance to which – the store not the town – is generally designated by a washing machine and a scoop shovel.

Or any school boy can locate the place for a nickel.

I would advise him to use iron handles, as crickets and grasshoppers often eat a rope handle. The hinges, which should also be of iron in preference to leather, as the contraction and expansion of the leather during dry and wet weather might seriously affect the working of the lock. Hinges should be placed on the opposite side of the lock, which ought to be a combination. As the correspondent failed to sign his name to his letter of inquiry, he is evidently absent minded, in which case it would be well to have the combination in large letters on the top of the chest, then wrap the whole thing well with a clothesline, securing both ends of the line – not the chest – in a Marquis of Queensberry knot sealed with green wax. Any further information desired by the subscriber will be cheerfully furnished. If other subscribers wish information of any kind, I hope they will make their wants known.

— From Carpentry and Building, October 1899 issue. This gem was dug up by Jeff Burks. Both Jeff and I would like to buy R.C. of Carroll, Iowa, a much-deserved beer.