We have finally figured out how many letterpress “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” posters we have left in stock after shipping out all of the last batch. And after replacing damaged ones. And replacing the damaged replacements.
We have 100 we can sell. They are now in our store for $25, which includes packaging and shipping in the United States. (I apologize that our Canadian warehouse does not have stock on this poster. If we have any left after this round, we will send some to Canada.)
All of the posters have been personally signed by me. The image was hand drawn by Randall Wilkins and converted to a polymer plate that Steamwhistle Letter Press used to make these old-school posters. They are printed on heavy #100 stock and, unlike on an offset printing job, you can feel the impressions left by the printing process.
Every poster is just a little different. Different ink spread. Different register on where the impression hit the page. Different signature!
To mark the fifth anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” we have published a single run of 4,000 of these books with a red cloth cover instead of the usual black. We have been shipping the red cover to our retailers as well.
The interior of the book is identical to all the other printings. Only the cover cloth has changed. After we sell out of the red edition, we’ll return to black cloth.
Why red? The last five years have been remarkable. I get up every morning when I feel like it. I work all day (and night) at things I love. No one tells me to do stupid stuff I disagree with.
My daughter’s bench. This French-style workbench has yet to fail me. It is sturdy, heavy and easily holds boards when working their faces, edges and ends.
Workbench I have written two books on workbenches that agonize over the details of joinery, wood selection, vises and so on. But if you don’t want to buy those books, here is the down-and-dirty data you need to pick a bench design.
Note: Before you write me an angry letter about this list – you don’t have to have a good bench to be a good woodworker. You can work on the kitchen table and make world-class work. But a good bench will make many operations easier. It’s simply a tool: the biggest clamp in the shop.
Rule No. 1: Always Add Mass
For workbenches, here’s my maxim: If it looks stout, then make it doubly so. Everything about a workbench takes punishment that is akin to a kitchen chair in a house full of 8-year-old boys.
Early Roman workbenches were built like a Windsor chair. Stout legs were tenoned into a massive top and wedged in place. Traditional French workbenches had massive tops (up to 6″ thick), with legs that were big enough to be called tree trunks. Later workbenches relied more on engineering than mass. The classic Continental-style workbench uses a trestle design and dovetails in the aprons and vises to create a bench for the ages. The 19th-century English workbench uses an early torsion-box design to create a stable place to work. And good-quality modern workbenches use threaded rods and bolts to tighten up a design that lacks mass.
Many inexpensive commercial benches are ridiculously rickety. They sway and rack under hand pressure. You can push them across your shop by performing simple operations: routing, sawing, planing. If the bench looks delicate or its components are sized like a modern dining table, I would take a closer look before committing.
A big thick top and stout legs add mass that will help your work. Heavy cabinet saws with lots of cast iron tend to run smoother than plastic ones. The same goes with benches. Once your bench hits about 300 pounds, it won’t move unless you want it to move.
Permanent. The sliding dovetail and through-tenon on this French bench makes a bench where the base and top act as one.
Rule No. 2: Use Stout Joints Overbuild your workbench by using the best joints. These are times to whip out the through-tenon and dovetail. If you followed rule No. 1, then rule No. 2 should be no problem. Your joints will be sized to fit the massive scale of your components. If you cannot rely on mass, then you should beef things up with superior joinery. While dovetails and through-tenons are overkill for a towel rack, they are de rigueur for a bench.
That’s because you are applying wracking force to the workbench with typical operations and your vises will do their best to tear apart your bench. All wooden vises need to be overbuilt or they will self-destruct when you cinch them down hard. I’ve even seen a vise rip a benchtop from its base.
Make your tenons thick and your mortises deep. If you know how to drawbore a mortise-and-tenon joint, this is one good application. Have you ever been in a timber-framed barn? Did you look at the joints? They’re massive and pegged. Imitate that.
I think benches are a good place to practice your skills at cutting these classic joints, but some woodworkers still resist. If that’s you, you should investigate hardware to strengthen your bench. Threaded rods, bed bolts, special bench bolts or even stove bolts can turn a spindly assembly into something rigid that can be snugged up if it loosens. The hardware won’t give you mass, but it will strengthen a rickety assembly.
This last entry in this series will focus on the remainder of tools I have in my chest today. Most of them have to do with making holes and filling them.
Boring Tools While I had great affection for my Spofford brace, I found that a ratcheting brace is really helpful for reaming mortises, particularly when correcting a reaming gone wrong (boy, that sounds salacious). So I gave my Spofford brace to a student and now have one of the Stanley versions of the North Bros. famous brace.
The other big change in the world of hole-making is I use WoodOwl augers instead of Irwins. The WoodOwls cut faster than any vintage auger I’ve tried. And they work in my electric drills, too. I store my augers in a tool roll from Texas Heritage Woodworks. Normally I wouldn’t single out a tool roll for praise, but this is the best one I’ve ever owned. It’s bulletproof, rolls up tight and holds a lot of bits.
I’m a big fan of hand drills, and when I wrote “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” I had a Millers Falls No. 2A or 5 (I forget). Five years later I have a Millers Falls No. 2A or 5 (I forget). In the intervening years I had a Goodell-Pratt, but a friend fell in love with it, so I gave it to him.
As far as bits for the hand drill go, I have the little plastic boxed set from Rockler (best $20 I’ve spent in boring) and a set of Snappy countersink bits. The Snappys are made in the U.S. and are much cheaper than the Fullers (also made in the U.S.). Get the Snappys, they are 11.4 times better.
The Wonderful World of Screwdriving I had to become a better person who drives screws to write “Campaign Furniture,” which involved installing hundreds of pieces of inlaid brass hardware. I have the Grace USA set of screwdrivers, which is what I have in my chest’s tool rack. They have held up really well.
I also have the two Elemen’tary screwdrivers that take replaceable bits. And I use gunsmith bits from Brownell’s (I have the standard set No. 2). One caution: If you order from Brownell’s, be ready to receive lots of gun literature, which may be welcome or unwelcome in your house. The NRA sent my wife a tote bag as a result. Weird.
Also new to my chest is a Starrett centerpunch, which makes installing hinges easy. I still use (and love) my Czeck Edge birdcage awl.
I also have some junky hardware store screwdrivers and an eyeglass screwdriver for odd jobs (or to loan to people).
Sharpening I don’t keep my sharpening gear in my chest – I keep it in a boot tray under my bench. I use Shapton Pro stones (#1,000, #5,000 and #8,000) and a Lie-Nielsen Honing Guide. I have been switching back and forth between oilstones and waterstones and landed on Shaptons because they will sharpen everything, even D2.
Odds & Sods The second till of my chest has become a repository for spares – spare TiteMark blades, a lifetime of Pegas blades, a toothing iron for my block plane, a whole box of pencil leads.
My Cabinet Scraper Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my Sandvik cabinet scraper, which I’ve had since day 1. They don’t make it anymore (the story is that the machine that ground them broke and Sandvik decided not to replace it). It’s protected in its original plastic holder and is sharpened with an Arno carbide burnisher. — Christopher Schwarz
I went out of town for one weekend and it seems like the forum exploded while I was gone. A lot of advice is what people are after. Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out here.
Wear to the Sliding Tills in the ATC
We all know wear is inevitable, especially to something you use as often as your tool chest. Joshua is looking to make his in a way that will prevent some of this from the start. A couple preventative measures have been given, perhaps you want to give them a try? Perhaps you have other methods that have worked for you?
WoodOwl Bits – Sharpening
Jason hit a steel plate with his WoodOwl nail chipper and is curious to know if he can use the small knife-edge files that Lee Valley sells to sharpen it. Are they the same angle? Help him out here.
Soft Wax
Has anyone used a wax recipe on their tools as a rust preventative or to lubricate? Did you have success? And did you use a specific wax recipe?
‘I remember a post on here a while ago about a leg vise with no lower guide’ Peter is looking to add a leg vise to his bench and is thinking about taking this approach. It turns out it is the bench from Plate 11 in Roubo. Now it seems he is not the only one looking to use this method. Has anyone given this a shot and able to give some feedback?
Plate 11 from “The Book of Plates”
Moulding Plane Choices
Anyone have a favorite older wooden moulding plane? Neal wants to get one and is looking for suggestions. What shape do you like? Why? Ogee? Reverse ogee?
I went out of town for one weekend and it seems like the forum exploded while I was gone. A lot of advice is what people are after. Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out 