Just in case you need yet another reason to stop by the Lost Art Press booth at Woodworking in America: we’ll have limited-edition, signed Anarchist Tool Chest art prints for your viewing (and purchasing) pleasure.
There are two prints on offer. One design features a collage of 22 images from “The Anarchist Tool Chest” and a silhouette of the iconic Anarchist’s Square. The other design is a poster-sized version of the “chest design” image on page 354 of the text.
All prints have an imaged area of roughly 20 x 30 inches and are made by me in my studio. And to make things even less straightforward, both designs are available in two formats. Why two formats? Honestly, it’s because Chris had a brain aneurism while trying to decide which format he liked better. Don’t worry—he’s fine now. Mostly.
1: Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308, one of the finest giclée papers in existence. This matte paper seems to absorb light and draws you in like nothing else. The detail, depth and tonality of images printed on it and its velvety texture make it one of my all-time favorites and the gold standard in the fine art print industry:
These sheets are 24” wide by 36” tall, signed at the bottom by both myself and Chris and can be framed like a poster (they won’t be matted and shrink-wrapped version in the photo above). The HPR prints are $80 at the show and will come in a protective bag and rolled in a tube.
2: Canvas Gallery Wrap. These prints are made on a coated cloth canvas, dried, given a protective coating, then stretched by hand onto a wooden frame about 1-1/4″ deep. Images made on canvas have a unique character derived from the surface irregularity of the canvas and the dimensionality of the wrap:
The coating applied to the canvas after the print is made has a slight sheen to it and protects from UV degradation. The wraps can be hung as-is or inset in a frame, offering a very different look on a wall than a traditional framed paper print. These canvas prints measure approximately 20” x 30” and have a black border. They’ll come in a protective sleeve but are a bit unwieldy because they’re mounted on rigid stretcher bars. (They’ll be a great option for those of you driving to Cincinnati). They cost $120 at the show and will also be signed by me and Chris.
We’re bringing a very limited run of all of these prints to WIA: fewer than 50. The prints will be first-come, first serve. And yes, if you buy them at the show we can mail them to you at home (we’ll charge only actual shipping and packaging costs).
After Woodworking in America, we hope to offer these art prints to the rest of our customers. We’ll post details in the coming weeks here on the blog and through the LAP newsletter.
I’ll write a little more on the creation of the ATC images in a later post, but even if you’re not interested in taking one of these prints home for yourself, swing by the Lost Art Press booth at WIA just to see the images produced with greater care and in greater detail than what would ever be possible on the pages of a book.
If there are any questions about the prints, I’m happy to take them in the comments.
— Narayan Nayar, the designer who created the photoillustrations that open the chapters of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”
Setting up a workshop is one of the most daunting tasks we all face. I’ve had readers send me blueprints (yes, real blueprints) to seek my advice and approval. I’ve had people ask to hire me as a consultant. One guy wanted to fly me out to see his potential shop space and discuss his options.
This is not to boast. It is to point out how desperate new woodworkers are for real guidance.
I’ve had the great fortune to see a lot of bad shops – plus a few good ones. Even so, I don’t consider myself an expert on any shop except my own. During my last 20 years of woodworking I have developed a list of principles on workshops that are important to me. You might find them helpful or completely useless. I discuss my own journey in setting up my shop in some detail in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”
In any case, here they are:
1. Your shop can be too large. Large shops turn woodworking into a “walking long distances from tool to tool” hobby.
2. Use work triangles: (jointer + planer + saw) (tool storage + workbench + assembly). It’s how efficient kitchens are set up. It works in woodworking, too.
3. The more complex the system, the more maintenance it requires. The fancier the dust collection system you have, the more time you will spend unclogging it.
4. The more tools/machines you have, the more time you will spend fiddling with tools instead of building.
5. Have dedicated stations for the core processes. Sharpening, for example. Surfacing wood. Ripping wood.
6. The right light is better than lots and lots of light. Having your bench under a north facing window is the best light. Texture is best seen in raking light.
7. Concrete floors + your feet + your sharp tools = sore back and chipped edges. Wooden floors — even CDX plywood floors — are heaven.
8. Try to keep the humidity and temperature level the same as the place where your projects will end up. This will result in fewer warped doors and lids in your finished pieces.
9. Wood collecting is a separate hobby. Your shop should have just enough wood storage for the two or three projects in the pipeline. If you collect wood (and that’s OK), get a shed. Or a barn.
10. Tool collecting is a separate hobby. If you haven’t used a tool in two years, you probably don’t need it.
11. Jig-making is a separate hobby. If your jigs have more than 10 parts (or an integral micrometer) then you probably are a hobbyist jig-builder (and there’s nothing wrong with that). If you cannot remember what a particular jig is used for then you probably don’t need it.
12. My favorite shops have nothing stacked on the floor. Don’t know why.
13. Light-colored walls allow you to use fewer light sources.
14. In the 18th century, shops were many times a room in the house where the family lived. If you think of your shop as a place where you live, you will construct and arrange it differently than if you think about it like a utility area — where your water heater and furnace are.
I dislike making detailed cutting lists for complex projects. But I also don’t have the energy to fight about it. So let’s just pretend I didn’t write that first sentence.
Several readers have asked me for a cutting list for the tool chest featured in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” And several more have asked me for plans to the smaller “Traveling Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” I’m almost done with the shell of the smaller chest – I just need to get the lid so it both looks right and doesn’t explode on you.
And so this evening while I sit in a nice Canadian motel room and wait for the inevitable moose attack, I created cutting lists for the exterior shells of both the full-size tool chest and its slightly smaller brother – all for your downloading pleasure.
Note that some of these part sizes are slightly different than those in the book. I did this so you can use 7/8” material (instead of 1”) and also so you will be able to fit the skirts and dust seals around the shell. Trust me on this. I’ve done this before.
I didn’t provide sizes for the interior parts because that would be a waste of 1s and 0s. Your chest will end up a certain size. The guts should then fit inside. A cut list will not help you.
There have been some strong criticisms of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” posted on the Internet during the last few months. (Don’t bother forwarding yours to me because I can just barely read.)
And while I lose very little sleep over most of the critiques, there is one criticism that I happen to agree with. The book needs an index.
Why doesn’t the book have an index? I was in a hurry to get it to the printer.
Why didn’t I publish an index after the first edition came out? I was really busy quitting my job.
Why didn’t I put an index in the second printing of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest?” Sweet Jebus, don’t you realize that I was in special ed when I was 5? I mean really, the only thing I was good at then was singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Do you think I’m capable – even 39 years later – of generating an index?
Well thank goodness that Suzanne Ellison of Maryland has stepped in to help. Despite Hurricane Irene and the fact that I didn’t pay her anything, Suzanne spent 14 days generating an index for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” that you can download. For free.
All hail Suzanne “Saucy Minion” Ellison.
This index is better than you (or I) deserve. In addition to the standard sort of subject-based index, Suzanne’s effort also includes a complete list of the photos in the book, a list of the notable personages (i.e. cool people) that I discuss, and a short selection of the pithier quotes within the book’s boards. And no, the stuff about “tube tops” did not make it into the index. Where is your mind, dude?
Click below to download a pdf of the index. And post a comment thanking Suzanne. Or I will sing and mime something.
Earlier this year, I announced that I wouldn’t be teaching any woodworking classes in 2012 in order to give my family a break from my sometimes-hectic travel schedule.
After stepping down as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine in June, my wife and I reconsidered that decision, and I will be teaching an abbreviated class schedule in 2012. Many readers have requested my teaching schedule so they can request vacation days from their employer. And though I am still ironing out the details with a couple schools, I decided to go ahead and post my schedule as it stands now.
Some important caveats:
• Some of these topics and dates might change slightly, though my hope is that nothing will change.
• I also hope to teach a class on building “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” at Roy Underhill’s school sometime in 2012, but we are still trying to find the best dates.
• Registration has not begun at many of these schools for 2012 so you might have to be patient.
• What I am posting below is all I know at this point. So with those big caveats, here is the line-up.
Feb. 25-26 Woodcraft of Atlanta
“The Best Layout Tools Money Cannot Buy”
We build a Roubo try square, inlaid winding sticks and a traditional straightedge, three of the most important layout tools for the hand- or machine-tool woodworker. This will be a one-day class.
Second one-day class: Perhaps something on sharpening, dovetails or building a sawbench. We’re still working on it.
April 10-14 (yes, Tuesday to Saturday) Marc Adams School of Woodworking
“Build an 18th Century Workbench”
We build the Old-School Roubo workbench using massive timbers and the traditional joints – including the through-tenon and sliding dovetail joint that connects the base to the top. This bench will feature a leg vise as the face vise and an iron quick-release vise for the end vise.
May 5-6 Marc Adams School of Woodworking
“Handplanes and Their Uses with Thomas Lie-Nielsen”
I’ve assisted Thomas Lie-Nielsen for six years now in this popular class in which we cover all the bench and joinery planes. We show you how to set them up and use them to make boards flat and ready for finish, plus how to cut and refine joints.
June 10-17 Dictum Workshops, Metten, Germany
We are still working out exactly which days each class will occur during my eight days there.
“Build Your Own Precision Layout Tools” (one-day class)
Wooden layout tools are lighter in weight, easier to maintain and less expensive than metal layout tools. And they can be just as accurate as metal tools, once you understand how to build them and measure their accuracy.
In this one-day class, we will build the three most essential layout tools for hand-tool woodworking: a one-meter straightedge, winding sticks with inlay and an 18th-century style try square. In the process of building these three tools by hand, you will learn the following skills.
• How to dress boards with handplanes so the work is completely flat and true.
• How to design wooden layout tools so they resist seasonal expansion and contraction and stay true.
• How to test layout tools to ensure they are straight and square.
• How to correct layout tools using simple strokes with a handplane.
• How to add simple inlays of geometric shapes to make your layout tools easier to use and more attractive.
“Master Metal Handplanes and Western Saws” (two-day class)
To the uninitiated, metal handplanes seem too heavy, awkward and complex for fine woodworking. However, once you understand the proper way to sharpen, set them up and use them, you will see why these planes are most popular form of tool in North America and England. Compared to wooden-bodied planes, iron handplanes offer some advantages that you can exploit to do extremely fine work. On the first day of the class, students will learn to set up and use metallic planes so they can produce precision work.
One the second day of the class, we will explore Western saws, including the dovetail, carcase, tenon and handsaw. Students will learn proper sawing technique and how to cut extremely accurate joints using these tools.
“Build an 18th-century Workbench” (five-day class)
Early workbenches were simpler, heavier and better suited for people who built furniture with hand tools. After disappearing from workshops for more than 100 years, these ancient workbenches have become popular again as hand-tool woodworkers have discovered their advantages.
I’ll be leading a class at the Dictum workshops where each student will build his or her own workbench using hand tools (for the most part) and common materials. These benches feature only the best joinery: mortise-and-tenon joints for the base, plus a sliding dovetail and through-tenon joint for the top. The vises on the bench are simple, accurate and heavy: A leg vise on the front of the bench and an iron quick-release vise on the end. You will be able to customize your bench for right- or left-handed work, and you will be able to build your bench so it is the correct height for you and the length of your arms. A properly sized bench is much less tiring to use.
All the benches will be constructed so they can be assembled and disassembled using metal nuts and bolts so they will be easier to transport to your shop.
July 16-20 The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine
“By Hammer and Hand, Build the Dovetailed Schoolbox”
In this fast-paced class we build a Moxon, double-screw vise for dovetailing and a shooting board that works very well as a bench hook. Then we use these two appliances to build the Schoolbox featured in the book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” an 1839 book of fiction written for the young apprentice.
July 30-Aug. 3 Kelly Mehler School of Woodworking
“The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”
We build the full-size tool chest from the book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” This chest features lots of dovetails (you will become an expert by the end of the week) and a very nice raised-panel lid. We will have time to build only the outside of the chest – the shell, mouldings, skirts and lids – but we will discuss how to divide up the interior for efficient work.
Sept. 4-8, 2012 (Tuesday to Saturday) Marc Adams School of Woodworking
“By Hammer and Hand: The Dovetailed Schoolbox”
In this fast-paced class we build a Moxon, double-screw vise for dovetailing and a shooting board that works very well as a bench hook. Then we use these two appliances to built the Schoolbox featured in the book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” an 1839 book of fiction written for the young apprentice.
