Lost Art Press

Category: Personal Favorites

The History of Wood, Part 1

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Note: Here at Lost Art Press we spare no expense in sending Jeff Burks to the far reaches of the globe, searching through mythic dungeons and archives to uncover the most amazing information regarding the art of Woodworking. On one such expedition Jeff was in the dark and dank basement of Roy Underhill’s workshop where he discovered a loose floorboard. Encrusted by 30 years of wood shavings, he uncovered an Oak box which gave evidence of a mystic secret society of woodworkers. This vast group was run by a three-fingered shop teacher by the name of Daniel McDara. The writings to his minions were called The History of Wood. Jeff was able to retrieve this record and is now able to share it here. It is sometimes difficult to decipher, but to preserve the integrity of the find, the history has been left in its original format. Obviously hand scrawled, but filled with arcane secrets of the craft. I should also point out that this group appears to have been involved with doing demonstrations of some sort, and the “Military” that is being referred to are re-enactors, not our armed forces.

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Stupid Tourist

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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When I travel, I almost never add extra time to the trip for sightseeing. I always have work to do at the bench at home, plus a book to edit and family stuff to take care of.

But during this week in Anchorage, Ak., I had almost a whole day free, and several of the members of the Alaska Creative Woodworkers Association took it upon themselves to give me a crash course in life outside Anchorage.

We drove down to Seward with Jonathan Snyder (a biologist and the famous Alaska Woodworker) and Paul Rupple (a FedEx pilot and a member of the board of directors of the Alaska SeaLife Center) serving up a fascinating commentary on the wildlife, geography and history of the scenery unfolding out the windows of our minivan.

In Seward we toured the Alaska SeaLife Center, where I pet a sea anemone, got up close with an amazing array of shore birds and saw marine animals aplenty. Ever wonder what seal tastes like? Jonathan tried to describe it. I think it would be good in nugget format.

Lunch was a landmark for me: My first piece of fresh halibut. In high school I worked for three years in a fish store, band sawing frozen halibut. That is where I developed my love of the band saw and my dislike of cleaning a meat-cutting band saw. (Wood-cutting band saws are much easier to clean.)

Oh, fresh halibut is %$#&* amazing.

On the way back to Anchorage we stopped at the Byron glacier and climbed up to it. We climbed up to a glacier. A glacier. Dang.

Then we headed back to Anchorage so I could speak to the club about workbenches.

Alaska – at least the small part I saw – is intoxicatingly beautiful. I hope I can return before too long.

— Christopher Schwarz

Handworks 2015 & the H.O. Studley Tool Chest

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Banner3On May 15-16, 2015, smack dab in the middle of Iowa farm country will be the woodworking event of the decade, if not the present century.

During those two days at the Amana Colonies, Handworks 2015 will take place – the largest gathering of hand-tool makers, practitioners and enthusiasts. The cost to attend is nothing. Handworks is a grassroots event organized by the good folks at Benchcrafted, and is about as far away from a high-pressure sale as Amana is from Wall Street.

Full details are at Handworks.co.

A few minutes away, Don Williams of The Barn at White Run has arranged for a public exhibit of the H.O. Studley tool chest and workbench. This is the first time these objects have been on display since the chest left the Smithsonian (and it might very well be the last time they are on display for another lifetime). This exhibit is being arranged without any corporate or public sponsorship. Williams, who spent a life-long career at the Smithsonian, is personally arranging the exhibit. The cost to see the exhibit will be $25.

Full details are at StudleyToolChest.com.

Lost Art Press will be at Handworks selling our full range of books, and many of our authors will be there to sign their books. Roy Underhill will be there to sign his new novel, “Calvin Cobb: Radio Woodworker!” and deliver the keynote address on Saturday morning. We also will have copies of Williams’ book on H.O. Studley. Chairmaker Peter Galbert and George Walker will also be there.

The list of hand-tool makers and woodworkers who will be at the Handworks event is like nothing I’ve ever seen since the first Woodworking in America in Berea, Ky. They are coming from all over the world. The following is a preliminary list and will likely change a bit during the next 12 months. Check the Handworks web site for the most current list.

Anderson Planes
Bad Axe Tools
Benchcrafted
Blue Spruce Toolworks
Blum Tool
Brese Plane
Claire Minihan
Czeck Edge
Daed Toolworks
David Barron
Elkhead Tools
Hamilton Tools
Hock Tools
Jeff Miller
Knew Concepts
Lie-Nielsen Toolworks
Lake Erie Toolworks
Lost Art Press & Friends
Eccentric Toolworks
Roy Underhill
George Walker
Lee and Lindsay Lee
M.S. Bickford
Old Street Tool
Plate 11 Bench Co.
Patrick Leach
Philly Planes
Peter Ross
Sauer and Steiner
Scott Meeks
Slav Jelesijevich
Tools for Working Wood
Veritas
Vesper Tools
Vogt Toolworks

This year, the Handworks event is expanding into a second barn and adding green woodworkers, blacksmiths and timber-framers into the mix. Here are some of the exhibitors there:
Jarrod Stone Dahl
Peter Ross
Claire Minihan
Lee and Lindsay Lee
Jim Sannerud
Peter Galbert
Tim Manney
Carl Swensson
Don Weber
Greg Pennington
Mike Siemsen

If you attended the first Handworks event in 2013, then you know that the 2015 gathering will be something special, if not extraordinary. Not only will you get to talk with fellow hand-tool enthusiasts and learn about the tools we use from the makers themselves, you’ll also get to wander around the beautiful and bucolic Amana Colonies.

I hope you’ll consider joining us there.

— Christopher Schwarz

Misconceptions About Signatures

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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During the last four months I’ve had some odd encounters with customers at shows, classes and the like.

Customer (holding a book): “I understand that you aren’t signing books anymore. But would you mind signing this one book for me?”

Me: “Huh? What? I’ll sign anything. Got a baby?”

I am happy to sign anything and with anyone’s name (I do a passable “Roy Underhill” and a crappy “Norm Abram”) on your books, DVDs, T-shirts and bare flesh when you see me. I’ve signed a man’s chest (and I have bad dreams still), and I’ve signed a dozen books in blood in Australia.

What I cannot do is personally sign every book we sell through the Lost Art Press web site. All of our inventory is two hours away, and it changes so rapidly that I would spend a significant amount of time driving, unpacking books and packing them again.

That is why I now sign books via a letterpress bookplate printed by Steamwhistle Press in Cincinnati, Ohio. These are printed on a treadle machine, one-by-one, on quality adhesive-backed paper. I have signed each one individually with an ink pen (non-treadle-powered).

These are not cheap. In fact, they cut into our profit significantly. But that’s OK because we like them.

So next time you see me, lift up your shirt and hand me a Sharpie.

Or, on second thought…. lift up your girlfriend’s shirt and…. Oh nevermind. I’m in so much trouble as it is.

— Christopher Schwarz

Blow off Your Job. Go to Charleston

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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My father is not going to like this blog entry.

I am always surprised how many people have never been to Charleston, S.C. – especially woodworkers. The city is a living and breathing design document; it’s like the pages of “By Hand & Eye” brought to life.

The houses, furniture and even the layout of the city are all textbook examples of the pre-Industrial design aesthetic. And you get this education by simply walking around the streets and alleys of this sizable city.

And the food. (Eyes roll back in head. Stomach grumbles.)

One of the hundreds of secret gardens you can spy while walking around the city.
One of the hundreds of secret gardens you can spy while walking around the city.

This weekend (March 28-29), Lie-Nielsen Toolworks is holding a Hand Tool Event at the American College of the Building Arts in the old city jail, an awesome structure. I’ll be there demonstrating both days with several pieces of campaign furniture in tow and my Dutch tool chest.

And Thomas Lie-Nielsen himself will be at this show. If you haven’t met Tom – one of the leaders of the hand-tool renaissance – this is your chance. I hope the Lie-Nielsen folks will be bringing along the new plow plane, too.

Other demonstrators are carver Mary May and Caleb James, a planemaker and chairmaker. Plus the always-capable Lie-Nielsen road crew, including Deneb Puchalski. Get full details on the event here.

And the reason my father won’t like this blog entry? He lives in downtown Charleston and would rather the streets remain as quiet as possible. Sorry dad.

— Christopher Schwarz