Details this week.
‘Anarchist’s Tool Chest’ T-shirts Coming Soon
Category: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest
Video: A Chest Divided
There is something appealing about a chest that has French-fitted compartments for each tool. Protecting it. Cradling it. Showing it off.
In my first tool chest I built the top of the till with a bunch of French-fitted compartments for chisels, block planes, a shoulder plane and drill bits. And for the first year I was well pleased. All the tools were in the right place and easy to get.
But then I realized that flexibility was more important than permanence. It wasn’t that my tool kit changed, but the projects I was building required a different set of tools. Sometimes I needed my grandfather’s carving tools handy. Bench-building requires lots of boring operations. Dovetailing needs quick access to chisels, saws and marking & measuring tools.
But not every project has dovetails.
With the chest I built in late 2010 I decided to skip the French-fitted dividers and live with open and flexible tool storage until I concluded that a certain tool needed – deserved – a permanent holder, such as a saw till.
I now have all my tools loaded up into my chest at home – the 48 tools in my core set plus a few that are on my list of “good-to-have tools.” This short video shows what the chest looks like with all the tools in place. There’s room for everything, plus then some.
And I’m sure I will eventually put in a few wooden dividers in the sliding tray to cordon things off, but they will be added sparingly, like dog holes in a workbench.
Printing update: The pressroom made up the plates for the book on Friday and we are now on schedule to have the books shipped to us on May 23. So if you want to order “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” with free domestic shipping, be sure to do that before May 23.
You can order the book with free domestic shipping here.
— Christopher Schwarz
The Use of Mouldings in Design
“[O]rnamentation is good servant and a very bad master.”
— C. Howard Walker, “The Theory of Mouldings.”
Pre-order ‘The Anarchist’s Tool Chest’ and Receive Free Domestic Shipping
“The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” is now at the printer and we, like some of you, are tapping our toes as we wait.
So to pass the time, we are offering a free download of the prologue and first chapter of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” in .pdf format. This is a small sample – the book is 480 pages. I didn’t mean to write that much. It just happened.
Here’s a link to download the file:
Also, I know that many of you enjoyed the quotations that I posted here on the blog while I was building the chest. Many of them are from Charles H. Hayward when he was editor of The Woodworker magazine. As I came across those quotes I typed them into a document.
I only managed to use a few of the quotes in the book. But all of them are in the file below – including some that weren’t even posted on the blog – for you to download and enjoy.
And finally, we are now taking pre-orders for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” If you order before the book ships – we hope by early June – then you will receive free domestic shipping. The book is $37 and all copies that we sell through our store will be signed. You can read more details and place your order here in our store.
Note that we are planning on issuing a hand-bound leather edition of this book. There will only be 26 of those, and each will be lettered and signed. Details are to come, but we expect the leather edition will be available in July and will be about $200.
Thanks to all of you who have written encouraging notes during the last 14 months as I worked on this book during nights and weekends. I hope that the result doesn’t disappoint.
— Christopher Schwarz
Does Not Play Well With Others
At Robinwood Elementary, we were judged on how well we played well with our classmates. The grades were simply “S” for “satisfactory, or “U” for “unsatisfactory.”
They didn’t have a “U-minus” grade, but I am certain that I earned it.
I’ve never been a team player. It’s why I love woodworking, writing, music and cooking. They are singular pursuits that your pursue without relying on others. I hate relying on other people.
So I have to let you know that with “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” I let my guard down a bit.
Throughout the entire process of this book, from conception to birth canal (which is where we are now) I leaned heavily on the advice of Narayan Nayar, a friend of mine from Chicago. He has guided me through every stage of this book. And I really mean every stage.
He pushed me to rewrite key sections of the book three times. He designed the templates that determined the design of the book, which I am quite pleased with. He took the photos that open the 20 chapters and spent days and days styling them in Photoshop.
And he helped guide this book, which is my longest and most complex work to date, through the difficult production process.
As I write this, the hard-copy proof of the book is on its way here for final approval. I’m going to have to sign the papers saying that it’s good and ready for press. But the only approval that means anything is Narayan’s.
I could be wrong when I say this, but the reason I think I was willing and happy to work with him is that he is just as demanding as I am. Perhaps even more so.
So when your copy of this book arrives, if it looks and reads better than my previous works, now you know why.
Thanks Narayan.
— Christopher Schwarz