All my books sold through Lost Art Press will be signed by me.
All my books that you buy through Lost Art Press will be signed by me through 2024.
It takes a few hours of my time each week, but we are thrilled we can offer this small personal touch now that we have our fulfillment center up and running in Covington, Kentucky.
We also will offer the PG-13 “Sharpen This” sticker when you buy “Sharpen This.” (Our bestselling product of 2023.
This personal-touch stuff is what we have always wanted to offer our customers, but we were hobbled by our efficient but inflexible fulfillment center in Indianapolis.
More personal stuff on the way (no, you won’t be able to buy my underwear).
— Christopher Schwarz
All copies of “Sharpen This” come signed by the author and with this free sticker.
Starting now, when you buy the book “Sharpen This” from the Lost Art Press website, it will not only be signed by the author (that would be Christopher Schwarz), but we’ll include our reprint of the 2017 “Sharpen This” sticker that some (hi, Mom!) might find mildly offensive. (If you get a sticker and don’t want it, we will be in no way offended if you choose to bin it. And anyway, we won’t know!)
We’re able to add the sticker at no extra cost now that our fulfillment operations are here in Covington, Kentucky. Right now, we’re committing to the sticker (and signature) through the end of the year.
What if you just bought a book and are now disappointed that you didn’t get a sticker? I will mail you a sticker, no charge, if you send me a Self-addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE).
Simply write your address on an envelope and put a stamp on it. Put that envelope in a second envelope and mail it to:
Sharpen This Lost Art Press 837 Willard St. Covington, KY, 41011
If you are an international customer, you can still get the naughty sticker, but you’ll need to have a USPS Global Forever Stamp on your SASE. I know that’s a PITA, but it’s the best we can do.
– Fitz
p.s. Please keep any comments/responses to comments civil.
The sticker fits nicely on the book’s cover – but we’ll leave it up to you as to where/if you apply it.
French, German and English editions of “Sharpen This.”
With woodworking books, it can take years for publishers to decide if they want to translate a title into a foreign language. With technical information, publishers want to make sure that the information is worth translating and reprinting. Translations are shockingly expensive.
So it was gratifying that immediately after “Sharpen This” was released in September 2022, both French and German publishers approached us about translating the book. And now, one year later, both translated editions have been released.
“Einfach Scharf” (Simply Sharp) was translated to German and published by HolzWerken. The German publishers went to some extra trouble with their edition. They replaced the vintage English advertisements on the book’s endsheets with German advertisements. And they added a ribbon bookmark.
Nice additional touches to the German edition.
“Manuel d’affûtage” (Sharpening Manual) was translated to French and published by Editions Vieux Chene.
Both editions reproduced the “pocket size” of the original, are printed on offset presses and have sewn bindings. It’s nice when publishers don’t try to cheapen your work (like the foreign publishers did for my first book on workbenches, which looks like it was printed on a 1970s photocopier with a case of the runs).
I know that lots of people disagree with my sharpening methods, particularly the fact that I use a honing guide for chisels and plane irons. That’s OK. I’ve had far more people tell me that this book changed their woodworking for the better.
And the reach of the book might just get even longer. This week a Chinese publisher contacted us about translating “Sharpen This.”
“If only there had been some simple guidebook to sharpening 30 years ago, I might have saved a whole lot of trouble and money,” wrote Stockinger.
“Sharpen This, by Christopher Schwarz (Lost Art Press), is exactly that: a guidebook to the confusing world of sharpening hand tools. In 114 informative pages, Sharpen This briskly manages to do what some books four times as long have not: explain in simple terms what a sharp edge is, and how to go about creating one.”
You can read Stockinger’s “Sharpen This” review in its entirety in Issue 292, available now at the WoodenBoat Store.
“Sharpen These!” didn’t have as much of a ring to it.
I have been negligent in posting updates to the “Sharpen This (the Video)” series. Apologies. I am back on the wagon. (Or is it “off the wagon?” Anyway, more videos to come.)
The new Chapter 14 shows how I sharpen the wacky cutters for the Lie-Nielsen Nos. 48 and 49 tongue-and-groove planes. And how to set up the Stanley versions of this plane for best results. I also show the plane in use and give some tips for how to make better joints with it.
And, because I have been so remiss, I also do a short video on how I sharpen pocket knives and bench knives. (Knife-makers, please look away.)
Plus, Bean comes for a visit!
If you bought the video series, you should have received an email that gives you links to the new content. If you buy the video now, you will have immediate access to all the videos in the series.
