Lost Art Press

Category: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest

Avoid This Disaster with Hide Glue

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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The only time I feel like I’m a Deep South Bible salesman is when I try to convince people of the merits of hide glue. I’ve spent years honing my case for this glue, which is perfectly designed for furniture makers.

Among younger woodworkers, it’s an easy sell. But for people who have been using yellow or white glue for a decade or two, it’s typically hopeless.

And so I present to you these four photos that show one of the glue’s many merits.

Today I’m tidying up the carcase of a tool chest that is bound for a customer in two weeks. And I found an ugly film of glue that has squeezed out under the top skirt. I’d missed it because it had been obscured by the bar of a clamp.

No worries. I get a small bucket filled with the hottest tap water and fetch a toothbrush and a blue surgical rag.

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I apply some of the hot water to the glue and rub it in with the rag. These surgical rags (available via mail order or from friends in the medical profession) don’t leave lint behind and have a very slight abrasive quality. But they don’t scratch the wood.

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After about 30 seconds of rubbing, I switch to the toothbrush to make sure I get all the glue out of the corner. Then I dip the rag in the hot water anew, scrub the affected area and hit it again with the toothbrush. After a couple cycles the glue softens, then dissolves into the rag and the water. I dry off the area and I’m done.

There might still be a little bit of dissolved glue in the grain (which I cannot see), but as hide glue is transparent to most finishes, I’ve never had a problem.

This fix took about two minutes and there was zero chance of my gashing the wood with a scraper, chisel or shoulder plane.

By the way, this fix works on hide glue that is way older than I am.

— Christopher Schwarz

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Loose Ends: Upcoming Lost Art Press Projects

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With “The Anarchist’s Design Book” and “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years” at the printer, John and I are working on stuff to fill out the next five months when we aren’t eating bonbons and getting pedicures.

Here’s a short list of stuff you should see before June – the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”

  1. We have figured out a way for international customers to buy a book plus a pdf at a discounted price. We’ll have details in the next few weeks.
  2. Starting in February, we are going to begin selling original handmade copperplate prints of the 12 projects in “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” Each month we will feature one of the project prints for ordering on the website. Then the artist, Briony Morrow-Cribbs, will make your copperplate print to order and they will be signed and numbered by Briony and myself. Each print will be $125; we’ll offer a different print every month. We’ll also be offering a complete set of the prints in a handmade box. Details to follow.
  3. Visitors to the new Lost Art Press storefront will be able to examine and purchase these copperplate prints during our March 12 open house. Prepare to be impressed.
  4. For the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” we’ll be printing special stickers, red T-shirts and a 17” x 22” poster featuring an architectural drawing of the chest. All of these will be available first at our Covington storefront as we work out the supply issues, and then on the website.
  5. “Woodworking in Estonia” is at the top of my editing list right now. We hope to have that at the printer by June.

All of this is possible because I’m not teaching this year. I’ll also be releasing three DVDs through Popular Woodworking that I think you’ll find interesting. Oh, and I’ve started working on my next book. It will be unlike anything published in the last 70 years. Promise.

— Christopher Schwarz

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Every Chest Deserves Paint

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Every time I build a tool chest for a customer or during a class, someone asks me this question: Why are you going to paint over all those beautiful dovetails?

My answer: Because it’s the best finish for a tool chest.

Historically, most tool chests were painted. I think I’ve seen only a dozen that have avoided the brush. And most of those were shop queens. But that’s not why I paint all my chests. Blindly obeying the historical record isn’t my thing. While the historical record usually wins, I am willing to question it.

So here is my propaganda paper on paint.

  1. It is the most durable of all finishes. Good paint is nearly impervious to UV light. It forms a tough film that readily resists water, abrasion and other shop mishaps.
  2. Unlike other finishes, paint looks better (not worse) after abuse. This is opinion, but a battered, torched and gouged paint finish looks awesome.
  3. It is easily repaired – just add paint. With most modern finishes, repairing damage is difficult. Say you finish your chest with varnish or polyurethane. After a year of hard knocks and water damage it will look like something at a church tag sale. Fixing those clear film finishes is usually difficult. Fixing a paint finish is easy. Just add paint. (Note: Shellac, lacquer and wax are more easily repaired than varnishes, but they also are easily damaged.)
  4. Paint reveals the form. Many modern woodworkers love the look of natural wood. I agree that the wood’s figure can really enhance a piece. But the figure can also be distracting or detrimental to the form. Because of all the dovetails and wild figure, the form of the piece can get lost. Paint reveals the silhouette.
  5. A good paint job isn’t the easy way out. When I use clear finishes, I spray them on. So I can finish a big piece of furniture in a morning. Not so with paint. Choosing to paint a piece adds two or three days to the process. It takes skill and care to do it well.
  6. Expressed joinery isn’t the point. This is another opinion, but when I see lots of exposed dovetail joinery in a piece, I assume the maker is trying to make a point about his or her skill with a saw or a router. So I’ll step back, squint my eyes to blur them and look at the piece again. Are the dovetails the “bread and circuses” of the piece?

It’s your tool chest, so finish it the way you (or your customer) wants. But know that someday, someone is going to take a brush to cover over your crazed, flaked and dented French polish. And that is the moment when your true workmanship will be revealed.

— Christopher Schwarz

Nothing Special

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Sometimes I think this is important to say so that beginners can hear: It does not take much natural talent to become a highly skilled woodworker.

During the last 10 years I’ve taught a lot of students all over the world, and in almost every class there was at least one person who had more natural dexterity than I do. Though these particular students were all at the beginning of their journey in the craft, I could see that they could eclipse me in time if they simply stuck to it.

Likewise, there have only been two students I’d classify as hopeless. One in Connecticut; the other in Maine. That’s only two out of hundreds and hundreds.

Making stuff, really nice stuff, doesn’t require as much nimbleness as it does patience and perseverance. The basics – sharpening, sawing to a line, planing to a line and chopping – take time to seep into your hands. Once the basics are there, everything else gets easier. Turning, veneering, carving, hardware installation and fitting doors and drawers are all skills that build upon the basic set.

But mostly is has to do with the most profound and important piece of advice I ever heard from a student.

During a class in Texas, one of the students recounted how he made his workbench entirely by hand, including ripping 8’ planks for days and days to make the top lamination. One of the other students was simply amazed and asked him: “How did you do that?”

The student answered: “I just decided to commit to it. Once I committed, it was easy.”

— Christopher Schwarz

Sold: A Special Anarchist’s Tool Chest

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Note: The chest has been sold. Thank you.

This is a dumb idea. But next week I am filming construction of a full-size Anarchist’s Tool Chest for an upcoming DVD with Popular Woodworking and am offering the finished chest for sale.

Read all about the DVD here.

This construction of this particular chest marks the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” I’ve built that chest about 20 times on three continents; its appeal has surprised and pleased me to no end.

If you are interested in purchasing the chest, here are the details:

  • The chest is being built to the print of the one featured in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” Same dimensions, wood, hardware and fittings.
  • I’m painting it black over red for the DVD. If you want a different color on top of that, we can discuss it.
  • I can deliver the chest within 100 miles of Cincinnati for the price of my gas. If you live beyond that frontier, it’s up to you to come get it or arrange shipping with a carrier.
  • Of course, I’ll sign the chest and will include one of our special red-cover editions of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” that we have printed for the book’s five-year anniversary.
  • The chest is being made from some extremely clear and wide pine I’ve been saving for this particular chest.
  • Any additional customizations are up to you, or can be completed for a fee.
  • The price is $2,500. That’s considerably less than I charge for these finished chests, but as it’s not really a piece of custom work, I think it’s fair.

If you are interested, send us a note at (sorry, the chest has been sold). The first person to say: Yes, I’ll take it and can deal with the delivery aspects noted above, gets it.

Thanks in advance.

— Christopher Schwarz