Vermont artist Briony Morrow-Cribbs produced the 12 beautiful copperplates for my new book, “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” and soon we will post a documentary on the intense hand-work process she used to produce the plates.
The short film is being made by my cousin Jessamyn West, also of Vermont, with still photos from my aunt Liz West. Aunt Muffet, as she is known to me, took the above photo of Briony with the plate for the six-board chest. You can check out her Flickr feed here.
You’ll be hearing more about the plate-making process in the coming weeks. And if you are coming to Covington next month for the book-release party and Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Braxton Brewing Co., you’ll be able to see all 12 plates first-hand and close up.
I’ve set up several workshops from scratch, and I’ve studied a lot of modern shops and how they are put together.
If you get to frame your own walls, I recommend a couple easy modifications that can make life easier. First, when framing, add blocking throughout so you can hang heavy cabinets with ease. For the wall between the shop and the office shown above, I’ve added two layers of blocking at 71” from the floor so I can hang a nail cabinet and a second supplies cabinet on the back wall of the shop.
Also good to consider: You don’t have to use drywall/wallboard. In my current shop in Fort Mitchell, I sheathed the studs with 1/2” OSB instead of drywall. It cost a bit more, but it was worth it. Thanks to the OSB I can pretty much put a screw anywhere for light-duty hooks and pegs.
I didn’t bother to tape the seams. I just hung it and painted it.
The secondary benefit to the OSB (and not taping it) is that shop maintenance is easy. Whenever I want to add electrical circuits or change their voltage I remove the screws for the OSB panels and do any electrical and plumbing work behind. Then I rehang the OSB. You can’t easily do that with drywall.
OSB is also much stronger than drywall. I used drywall on one wall of my shop and it has gotten beat up and penetrated (accidentally, I swear) a bunch.
Today the storefront was officially christened as a workshop. John and I moved the first workbench and tool chest there so I can build the transom windows. That was a major step for my psyche.
Last night I freaked out a little in my pants. Like a knot in a becket it was.
My sphincter’s implosion upon its poor self came about when I looked up from the stud wall we were building in the new storefront and I realized 100 people would not fit in that room.
We’re getting ready for the March 12 opening, and when I set up an RSVP system I capped the number at a ridiculous number of attendees – 100. That’s the maximum the fire marshal will allow on the premises. But I thought we’d get 40 or 50 at most.
But no. We have 100 people showing up. As of now we have the front room complete, the back room, the bathrooms and the courtyard. I think it’s still too tight.
So I fetched the sledgehammer and we opened up the bricked-over door to the stables in the courtyard. That gives us a 23’ x 20’ room to which I will lure people with pizza and alcohol.
Also today (sphincter disengaged), the window installers put in the new windows in the shop along Ninth Street. The light in the shop just became even more wonderful.
After working with dozens of woodworking authors and editors, I can tell you why most mistakes occur in woodworking books, magazines and blogs. They are caused by interruptions.
If you are writing down numbers, dimensioning a drawing or explaining a complex task, you are doomed if someone walks in and asks you a question. You will transpose something, skip something or copy and paste something completely wrong. I personally guarantee it.
So when I write, edit or design, I like to work in complete solitary. I have a room for writing and a second small and isolated room for editing and designing.
As I was drawing out the floorplan for the new Lost Art Press storefront (opening March 12), I couldn’t place my desk anywhere that would give me the dark burrow I need to work. As luck would have it, however, the overwhelming archaeological evidence is that the two front rooms of our storefront were separated by a wall (perhaps two walls). After sketching in a wall that would make the bench room a nice rectangle I saw it: My spider hole.
It’s an alcove about 7’ x 11’ under the stairs. No windows to the outside. Just the overwhelming claustrophobia that makes for good editing and designing. Today carpenter Mike Sadoff and I framed up most of this new wall and I ran some new electric to the spider hole to fuel my computer and a printer. There won’t be a phone there. Or email. Or SMS.
Here’s a short list of stuff you should see before June – the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”
We have figured out a way for international customers to buy a book plus a pdf at a discounted price. We’ll have details in the next few weeks.
Starting in February, we are going to begin selling original handmade copperplate prints of the 12 projects in “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” Each month we will feature one of the project prints for ordering on the website. Then the artist, Briony Morrow-Cribbs, will make your copperplate print to order and they will be signed and numbered by Briony and myself. Each print will be $125; we’ll offer a different print every month. We’ll also be offering a complete set of the prints in a handmade box. Details to follow.
Visitors to the new Lost Art Press storefront will be able to examine and purchase these copperplate prints during our March 12 open house. Prepare to be impressed.
For the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” we’ll be printing special stickers, red T-shirts and a 17” x 22” poster featuring an architectural drawing of the chest. All of these will be available first at our Covington storefront as we work out the supply issues, and then on the website.
“Woodworking in Estonia” is at the top of my editing list right now. We hope to have that at the printer by June.
All of this is possible because I’m not teaching this year. I’ll also be releasing three DVDs through Popular Woodworking that I think you’ll find interesting. Oh, and I’ve started working on my next book. It will be unlike anything published in the last 70 years. Promise.
