Category: Personal Favorites

It has been far too long since we held a puerile contest here on the Lost Art Press blog. And while driving home from our extended-family Mother’s Day celebration, my thoughts turned to (of course) hide glue.

I love hide glue in all its forms. I love it hot. I love it cold. I love it fresh. I hate it old.

The one thing I don’t like about hide glue is that I want more choices. There are only two brands of liquid hide glue out there: Titebond and Old Brown Glue. Both are fine glues with excellent qualities. But I think woodworkers deserve a third hide glue.

The contest: Name that hide glue.

While driving home I came up with what I thought was the most brilliant name ever for a glue made from a boiled animal. Are you sitting down? Good.

Deathgrip Hide Glue.

Aaaaaand, thank you. In the throes of personal glee I sent that idea to a few friends via SMS (aka, a text). One of them shot back with a name for hide glue that clearly eclipsed mine. I cannot, however, share it with you because it is so offensive that I just don’t have the stomach to endure the pile of hate mail that would follow.

He came up with a second one that I can print: Sticky McDeadhorse.

While not as funny, it is funny.

So here’s the contest: Give us the name of the next best hide glue by midnight May 16, 2012. The one that makes me laugh out loud the most wins one item from the Lost Art Press store. It can be anything that we currently have in stock.

All you have to do is post the proposed name of the glue and your e-mail. If you don’t send me your e-mail, I cannot contact you if you are the winner.

Bring it.

— Christopher Schwarz

A lot of grown men ask me about my drawers. And though it should make me uncomfortable, I am happy to chat about my unusual-looking tail. Where did it come from? What’s it good for?

At the front of the drawer I use a half-tail at the bottom edge of the drawer side. Then I lay out and cut full tails above this half tail. And I always use a full tail at the top of the drawer.

I didn’t make this arrangement up. It’s a layout I’ve found on many English chests I’ve seen while hunting in antique stores for the last 20 years. The asymmetrical layout gives you some advantages, and it reduces the risk of things blowing up on you when you assemble your drawer. The only disadvantage? The layout is a tiny bit more complex – something I don’t even notice anymore.

The primary advantage is that you get a little more space in your drawer. By putting a half-tail at the bottom, you can sink a groove in that tail that will put your drawers bottom at the very bottom of the assembled drawer.

Yes, you can place the bottom’s groove at the bottom of the drawer if you put a full tail very near the bottom of the drawer. I’ve found that when I do this there’s a good chance that the half pin at the bottom will break out, especially if I’m going for a tight fit with my dovetails or working with woods that don’t compress much.

Another approach is to use full tails on the drawer – no half-tails – and then insert the bottom using drawer slips, which are little grooved strips of wood glued inside the drawer. That solution adds steps to the process and at least two extra parts to your assembly. Don’t get me wrong, I like drawer slips.

One more note: This half tail can also have a flat slope and look like a finger joint instead of a dovetail. That’s historically correct as well.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the quick tour of my drawers. Gift shop is to the left.

— Christopher Schwarz

“If a man has to ask what to read, it don’t make much difference what he does read. A thirst for knowledge will find its own satisfaction.”

— James W. See, “Extracts from Chordal’s Letters” (American Machinist Publishing Co.)