Lost Art Press

Category: To Make as Perfectly as Possible, Roubo Translation

Years Later, I Met Them in Person

Posted on by Lost Art Press

 

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The Internet is a strange and absolutely wonderful place. You can have productive and involved relationships with people you have never met. I have heard that people even find intimacy (note, you will never find those photos of me with the weasels. Nope. Don’t bother.)

Today I had the huge pleasure of meeting Michele Pietryka-Pagán and her husband during a meeting of the Society of Period Furniture Makers meeting in Rockville, Md. Michele is the lead translator of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible.” Without her, there would be no Roubo translation.

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It was, for me, a special moment. Michele and Don Williams discussed the project at some length during the meeting, and it was fun to see them play off one another. They worked together at the Smithsonian, and the friendly connection is obvious.

Also this week, I plan to meet some other long-time contributors to Lost Art Press.

On Friday and Saturday I’ll be meeting Jennie Alexander, author of “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” to discuss a super-secret project that is still in its first trimester. And sometime this week, I hope to connect with Suzanne Ellison, the official saucy indexer for Lost Art Press.

Yes, there will be adult supervision.

OK, time to go back to sleep. I have a nasty virus, which I did not contract from the Internet (or those weasels).

— Christopher Schwarz

Insults From Beyond the Grave

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Philippe Lafargue, my Roubo translation collaborator and long-time friend, has been insulted.

Deeply. By M. Roubo himself.

Roubo’s chapters on chairmaking are technically sublime, with many profound insights and word pictures I find captivating. However, he is incessant in his demeaning descriptions of chairmakers, accusing them of being sloppy, careless, unskilled and slothful. Somewhere between the lines he is probably implying that they are hung over, their feet stink and they don’t love Jesus. Though he does not comment on their table manners, we can guess what he might say.

As a graduate of the renowned École Boulle curriculum in classical French chairmaking, Philippe unsurprisingly takes umbrage at these characterizations. He has gone so far as to wonder out loud (well, in print correspondence) why it is that Roubo was so contemptuous of chairmakers.

If we knew where Roubo is buried, it might be worth trying to dig him up and asking him. When you read Roubo’s accounts of chairmaking, you will no doubt ask yourselves the same question.

— Don Williams

A Correction to my Entry on Polissoirs

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My recent article on the new polissoirs from Don’s Barn and a long-term test of the burnishing effect from the tool had a significant error: The photo showed the wrong sample board.

That similar-looking sample board was given to me by woodworker Steve Schafer – he’ll be blogging about the finishing schedule on that sample board in the near future.

Last tight I rooted through my wood rack to find the mahogany sample that I prepared 18 months ago. I made it halfway through the rack without finding it; when it turns up, I’ll post a photo of it.

In the meantime, here are photos of two projects that I finished with a polissoir about the same time I made the sample board. These two stools were finished with a polissoir only on the lathe. Like all properly prepared polissoirs, it had a little wax on the tip, which was applied when I first got the tool. But I wouldn’t call this a wax finish. It’s a burnished finish, much like the burnishing finish you get when you use shavings to polish a piece spinning on the lathe.

So the result isn’t wrong – just the photo.

Apologies for the error. I should have marked Steve’s sample board as it is very similar looking to mine.

— Christopher Schwarz

‘Lost Art Press’ on The Highland Woodworker

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From where you are sitting, I am sure there are times I look like a media harlot. Sweet mother of mystery, I get tired of seeing my name, image and videos spread all over the Internet. So I can only imagine how you feel about it.

Ask my mom if this is true: Though I’m a total goofball, I really am too shy to look strangers in the eye. Somehow, I have ended up where we are today – featured on “The Highland Woodworker.”

When I get phone calls to do a video, class or presentation, my first response is always “no.” I’d rather dig through old books and build things in the shop. Period.

But Charles Brock has always been a helpful and genuine guy; plus, I owe so much to Highland Woodworking in Atlanta, which is the sponsor of the show. So I agreed to have Charles and Stephen Price in my home to chat about Lost Art Press.

I think they did a great job. And they used some photos of the farm house my mom and dad built outside Hackett, Ark., so it was a nostalgia trip as well.

Check it out. As always, it’s a great episode with high production values and a little bit for everyone.

— Christopher Schwarz