Lost Art Press

Category: Open Wire

LAP Open Wire, Sept. 14, 2024

Posted on by fitz
Gabe and Mark at work on pre-production assembly of the Crucible Tool Exeter-pattern nail hammers. We hope to have these available soon.

Update: Comments are now closed (if there are questions we’ve missed, we’ll jump into the backend to answer later). Join us again on Oct. 19.

Do you have a woodworking question in need of an answer? Then you’ve come to the right place! Just post your question in the comments section below, and Christopher Schwarz and I shall do our best to answer. As always, brevity is appreciated. We’ll be online on and off today until around 5 p.m., at which time comments will close.

And mark your calendars for the remaining 2024 Open Wire days: October 19, November 16 and December 14. Plus, our holiday Open House on Saturday, Nov. 23, featuring special guest Rudy Everts!

– Fitz

LAP Open Wire, Aug. 10, 2024

Posted on by fitz
On Chris’s bench right now are two mahogany chairs.

Update: Comments are now closed (We’ll respond shortly to any that are posted and not yet answered). Join us again for Open Wire on Sept. 14.

Chris and I are both working on projects in the shop today – but we’ve reserved time in between chairmaking and dovetails (and both – Chris’s current chair features battens secured in sliding dovetails) to answer your burning Open Wire questions.

You know the drill: Post your woodworking queries below in the comments, and we will answer – and it is much appreciated if you keep the questions succinct. Comments close at around 5 p.m. Eastern.

On my bench are parts in progress for 11 Shaker silverware trays. Still. (It feels to me as if I’ve been working on these for months.)

LAP Open Wire, July 20, 2024

Posted on by fitz

Update: Comments are now closed (thought Chris still might answer later, as needed). Join us again for Open Wire on August 10.

Wally and I are in the shop all day to work on 10 Shaker trays (because someone feels guilty for stepping down from their neighborhood house tour committee and thus agreed to make thank-you gifts as self-imposed penance) and for Open Wire AMAAW&C (Ask Me Anything About Woodworking & Cats).

You know the drill: post your (succinct) queries in the comments field below, and we (Wally and I) shall do our best to answer. Christopher might also pop in with answers from time to time…though I hope he’s spending the day having a grand time with Lucy and friends in Germany, and not paying attention to the internet.

Comments will close at around 4:45 p.m. (Eastern).

And a reminder of the Open Wire dates for the remainder of the year (when both Chris and I – and no doubt Wally – will be in the shop):

August 10
September 14
October 19
November 16
December 14

– Fitz


LAP Open Wire, July 13, 2024

Posted on by fitz
We had great fun hosting Peter Follansbee and six students this week! (I’m always gobsmacked by how much Peter’s students learn and how good they get with just a few days of instruction and practice!)

Update: Comments are now closed. Join us next Saturday for more Open Wire fun (and check the schedule at the bottom for the OW dates for the rest of 2024).

Due to a minor “oops” earlier this week when we mentioned we’d have Open Wire this Saturday (and the fact that I’ll be in the “office” anyway) – I decided to hold Open Wire today. But I will not start answering before 9 a.m, and possibly not even before 10 a.m. (Eastern). It’s been a deightful but busy week…so I plan to sleep in a bit on Saturday morning.

Comments will close at 4:30 p.m.-ish (Eastern)

And a reminder that we’ll be doing Open Wire – where you can ask all your woodworking questions and we’ll do our best to answer them – on the following Saturdays for the remainder of the year:

July 20 (Chris will weigh in if he can – but probably not until after comments close for the day)
August 10
September 14
October 19
November 16
December 14

– Fitz

New Chair Class & New Dates for ‘Open Wire’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Some quick administrative stuff. To try to meet demand for classes on building a stick chair, I’ve scheduled a class in building a Welsh-style comb-back chair at our Covington storefront for Nov. 18-22. Registration for the class will open at noon (Eastern) on June 24.

You can register via this link on June 24.

The classes are expensive, I know. The price includes all materials, plus continental breakfast and lunch every day. (We are serious about the food.) The class size is small – six students with one instructor and an assistant. We go to great lengths to make the week special and work hard so you go home with a finished (completely finished) chair.

The other bit of news here is that we have to scale back “Open Wire” a bit for the rest of the year. Megan and I are traveling a lot in the coming months, and it’s difficult to juggle our Open Wire when one of us is out of town.

Here are the Open Wire dates for the rest of 2024:

July 20
August 10
September 14
October 19
November 16
December 14

We will post reminders before each Open Wire date. Those are the Saturdays when both Megan and I will be in the office and ready to answer your woodworking questions. Megan and I enjoy Open Wire, but we hate to leave the other in the lurch when the other is traveling or teaching.

— Christopher Schwarz