Category: Lost Art Press Storefront

Dec. 8 will be the last open day at Lost Art Press for the year, and we always like to do something a little special for all the people who travel to see us and the locals who support us.

This year, we’ll have a bunch of blemished books at 50 percent off (cash only on those). We hope to have a small quantity of Crucible Lump Hammers (no promises). We’ll be giving away free Chester Cornett buttons. We’ll have our entire stock of books, including the new Christian Becksvoort book “Shaker Inspiration.”

And we will have… a clock.

One of the local stores that our family has frequented for decades has a long-standing holiday tradition we love. Customers are asked if they “want to see the clock.” Those who agree are taken to the back room where there is a clock, of course, but also something else. (Let’s just say you need to be 21 to see the clock, and it’s not porn.)

The storefront is located at 837 Willard St., in Covington, Ky. We will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and we’ll be happy to answer your woodworking questions or even demonstrate any techniques that are flummoxing you.

After you visit us, you might like to have brunch at one of our favorite spots in Covington: Main Street Tavern, Otto’s or Hotel Covington. We’d love to join you, but I’m afraid our bosses are making us work that day. Jerks.

Hope to see you there.

— Christopher Schwarz

I’m still in Germany, but Brendan Gaffney and Megan Fitzpatrick will open the Lost Art Press storefront to the public today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store is located at 837 Willard St. in Covington, Ky.

We’ll have our complete line-up of books available for sale, plus some blemished books (cash only on blems). As always, Brendan and Megan are happy to discuss any woodworking topic you might need help with, or to demonstrate a technique at the bench.

And if you want to talk smack about me, I won’t be there. So go nuts.

I’ll be back home on Sunday night and will definitely be in the store for the Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 open days. I hope you can visit.

— Christopher Schwarz

The Lost Art Press storefront will be open this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with our usual mix of free woodworking instruction, discounted blemished books and tours of the building.

We also will host Nancy Hiller that same evening from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. for a free book-release party for her fantastic new tome: “English Arts & Crafts Furniture.” There are some spots available for the evening event; you can register here.

Nancy will be signing books and egging on attendees to beat the snot out of a special pinata she has made for the occasion. To enhance the beatings, we will be providing free alcohol and snacks (as well as plain-old water).

We’ve all been busy in the shop since last month. Brendan has a new three-legged backstool to show off (I think it resembles a cockfighting chair). Megan is building some fancy sawbenches for a customer. And I have finished a new Welsh stick chair design that you are welcome to try. I think it’s quite comfortable and really easy to build.

In other storefront news, Brendan and I have just finished building some new fixtures for the store. We have a stockpile of old No. 2 black cherry that we have transformed into a book rack to show off our new Lost Art Press titles. We have also built two “tool walls” that now cover the bookshelves above the bar.

These tool walls hold a lot of the communal tools for the workshop. Don’t worry, I haven’t given up on tool chests. We’ll remove the tool walls while the storefront is open, but we’ll have them there for you to see.

As always, Covington is growing by crazy leaps and bounds. We’re barely able to keep up. Just down the street we have a new pizza place, Alto, that we haven’t gotten to try yet. And across the street from Alto is Peppe Cucina, a great deli with very friendly service. The City Goat is just down the alley. And Flying Axes opened up around the corner. A bar where you throw axes (at targets). We went. It’s fun!

— Christopher Schwarz