To help The Wood Whisperer defend his site against an ongoing DDoS attack, we are auctioning off copies of Lost Art Press’s first book, “The Art of Joinery,” which is out of print and is priced at $500 (ridiculously) on Amazon.
There are three uncirculated, mint copies in this auction. The top three bidders each win one copy. The bidding starts at $17, the original retail price of the book. To bid, leave a comment stating your bid. The auction ends at midnight Sunday, March 11, 2012.
We will ship these books anywhere, and 100 percent of your bid goes to Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo at The Wood Whisperer site – Lost Art Press will pick up the tab for shipping.
— Christopher Schwarz
Note: Tomorrow we auction off a copy of Charles Hummel’s “With Hammer in Hand,” the fantastic hard-to-find book about the Dominy workshop. The book on auction was donated by a reader of this blog.
As a nerd who saw my fair share of the scummy bottoms of school garbage cans as a kid, I take a dim view of bullies. So for the next couple weeks, we at Lost Art Press are going to hold some auctions to raise money to help The Wood Whisperer fend off a nasty DDoS attack – because defense against this crap costs a lot of coin.
To kick things off, we are auctioning off the final leather-bound copy of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” (which normally runs $185), which I will ship anywhere in the world on my dime. This is a hand-bound book, made by artisans at The Ohio Book store in Cincinnati. It is made to last several lifetimes.
So here’s how the auction will work. I’m going to start the bidding at $50. If you want to bid, leave a comment stating your bid. The highest bid that is posted BEFORE midnight on Friday, March 9, wins the book. Yup, I’ll ship it to Japan, Iran or even any of the -stans. That is as long as your payment clears.
Note that 100 percent of your bid will go to Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo. I’m not making a dime.
During the weekend we’ll post more auctions, including some copies of the out-of-print “The Art of Joinery,” which some nutjob is selling on Amazon for $500. Plus some Lost Art Press T-shirts that are no longer available.
Stay tuned. And stay strong, Marc and Nicole. You aren’t alone in this.
As some of you might know, The Wood Whisperer.com (Marc Spagnuolo and family) has been besieged by a DDoS attack this week. In fact, as I write this, I can’t even get onto his site.
As a survivor of Internet malice – remember when the pornographers took over the Woodworking Magazine site for three long days? – I know these attacks are expensive, time-consuming and personally all-consuming.
I cannot think of any other Internet woodworker who has been more generous with his time, advice and technical expertise. He has personally lent a hand to many bloggers to help them tidy up their sites and get them running smoothly. And he has built perhaps the biggest and most cohesive woodworking community on the Internet.
And now he really needs our help. Consider joining his Guild, buy a shirt (thank Shiva the “May the Schwarz be With You” shirts are long gone), or do what I did: Send the dude some cash via a PayPal donation. I sent $100, which is a drop in the bucket. But put together enough drops and my basement is leaking again.
As a long-time customer of Woodcraft, I know what to expect when I walk through the door of one of the stores: natural wood displays, racks of wood at the back and a usually decent selection of hand tools.
But I don’t expect to see a Ron Brese infill smoothing plane for sale. Or an entire display case of tools from Chris Vesper in Australia. Benchcrafted vise hardware? Czeck Edge marking tools? Those things aren’t in stores; they’re only available on the Internet.
Well the Atlanta Woodcraft is an outlier. And it’s a good thing.
Owned and operated by Steve Quehl, the store carries products from the small makers that you won’t find in any store or in the Woodcraft catalog. Why? Well Steve is as passionate about hand work as just about anyone I know. He’s attended most (if not all) the Woodworking in America conferences as an attendee, not an exhibitor.
He’s an enthusiastic member of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers and its Peach State Chapter. And he’s very much the kind of guy who likes to support cottage-industry toolmakers. So he recruits them – sometimes relentlessly – and promotes the tools to his local clientele.
As a result, his store is a bit different. After Woodcraft and Lie-Nielsen parted ways, you couldn’t buy Lie-Nielsen tools in Woodcraft stores. But you can in Steve’s Woodcraft – he has maintained a personal relationship with the Warren, Maine, manufacturer.
And it is because of Steve’s enthusiasm that I have been teaching at his store for the last three years. He has 10 solid benches, extremely well set-up hand tools and a staff that really knows their stuff. When Al Trevillyan prepares your stock for a class, it is flat, square and perfectly to size.
So if you are in Atlanta, stop by the Woodcraft store there north of the city. It’s worth the trip. And if you need a Chris Vesper bevel or any of the other items that might be in short supply or hard to get, give Steve a call at 770-587-3372 or send an e-mail to atlanta-retail@woodcraft.com.
So I’m folded up inside my tool chest like an origami Sasquatch with the lid closed (don’t ask), and I can hear Roy Underhill come into the “The Woodwright’s Shop” to begin the episode.
His voice is muffled through the 7/8”-thick pine, but I can hear him introduce the program.
“And… darn it,” Roy says. “Four seconds in to the show and I cut myself.”
Somehow Roy has brushed against one of my panel saws, and the blood is trickling out. He begins the program again without the aid of a bandage. So I got a souvenir: Two drops of St. Roy’s blood on the inside of my tool chest.
I will start the bidding at $50 per drop of certified Roy Underhill blood.
