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.
The Lost Art Press storefront will be open today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And then we’re having a book-release party for “Hands Employed Aright” with the author Joshua Klein – all the way from Maine. The party starts at 7 p.m. and all are invited.
Joshua has prepared a presentation on his research into the life of Jonathan Fisher, the subject of “Hands Employed Aright.” He’ll also be answering questions about the book (and Mortise & Tenon Magazine) and signing books.
The Jonathan Fisher story is a fascinating one, and “Hands Employed Aright” uses diaries, historical records and loads of physical evidence to paint a surprisingly complete and vibrant picture of what it was like to be a woodworker in 18th-century America. The book is a gripping read and is filled with inspiring photos of Fisher’s work and tools.
Other Stuff at the Storefront As always, Brendan Gaffney, Megan Fitzpatrick and I have been busy in the shop. I just finished a couple stools and a Welsh stick chair in maple with a soap finish. Megan is working on some sawbenches and Brendan is building a coopering handplane.
You can come check out the Crucible Lump Hammer (I have only my personal one, which is not for sale – sorry) and hit some things with it. Plus we have some blemished books to sell for 50 percent off list (cash only). Plus the whole line of Lost Art Press titles – and bandanas (cash, credit or checks). Plus free stickers and coffee.
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!
The Lost Art Press storefront will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this coming Saturday. While Megan Fitzpatrick will be gorging herself on lobster and Downeast Cider, Brendan Gaffney and I will be working dutifully in the shop.
Brendan is finishing up a massive bookstand that will hold our Deluxe “Roubo on Furniture” book – we’ll be posting a video this week on the book and the bookstand, which is from a plan in Roubo. (No, it’s not the one that Roy Underhill has made famous.)
I’ll be building a chair (duh) that I hope will make it into the expanded edition of “The Anarchist’s Design Book.”
We’ll have blemished books for sale (cash only), plus our complete line of new and unblemished books (all major credit cards accepted). Come check out our newest titles: “Welsh Stick Chairs,” “Cut & Dried” and “Slojd in Wood.”
We also have our new Lost Art Press bandanas in stock at the storefront. These are quite nice.
If you are looking for other reasons to visit Covington and Cincinnati, may we recommend:
On our website, John and I frequently discuss the mechanical aspects of our books. But sometimes I worry our technical jargon is lost on some.
To help remedy that, here’s a short video on the mechanical aspects of our books. If you’ve ever wondered about paper weight, edition binding and sewing signatures, this video should clear it up.
If you’d like a factory tour of the plant that prints many of our full-color books, check out this film that I made last year. That film shows how many of our manufacturing decisions play out on the factory floor.
We think book manufacturing is important. Many books today are so shoddily printed and bound that it’s no wonder many people prefer electronic books. We strive to ensure our books will last for a long time, can survive a shop environment (or worse) and still be a pleasure to read after decades of use.