Lost Art Press

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Chairmaker’s Toolbox Applications Open

Posted on by kalevogt
Chair nerds unite! A class picture from LAP’s most recent Chairmaker’s Toolbox class.

Applications are now open for this year’s full-scholarship class here at Lost Art Press. Six spots are available for six aspiring chairmakers to build a comb-back stick chair in beautiful Covington, Kentucky. The class will be held Sept. 16-20, 2024.

If you aren’t familiar, The Chairmaker’s Toolbox is an organization founded by fellow under-represented chair nerds for under-represented chair nerds. The Chairmaker’s Toolbox aim is to provide access and equity in the field of chairmaking.

No pyramid scheme here. Just some chair nerds having fun.

Are you an aspiring chairmaker who has been historically excluded from the trade? This is your class. We encourage you to apply for the chance to work alongside like-minded individuals who share a love for all things chair.

Applications are due by July 12th. Apply via The Chairmaker’s Toolbox website.

– Kale

Dutch Tool Chest Class & Woodworking Bazaar

Posted on by fitz

There are still a few spots left in my Dutch Tool Chest class, Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in London, England. In the class, you’ll learn some fundamental hand-tool woodworking skills (planing, sawing and chisel use, as you cut dados, rabbets, dovetails, thumbnail mouldings, chamfers and more – plus how and why to use cut nails) as you build a solid tool chest that will serve you (and your heirs) well for many years. (Note: It also makes an excellent toy chest – kids love the hidden compartment!)

Plus, tickets are go on sale Sat., June 22, for the London IWF Bazaar on Fri., Nov. 1 and Sat. Nov. 2. The bazaar will feature Saturday seminars, with talks on 18th-century furniture, cricket tables, peasant furniture, Shaker furniture, saw sharpening and more, as well as the following vendors: Classic Hand Tools, Lie-Nielsen Toolwords, Lost Art Press (hey – that’s us!), Bad Axe Toolworks, Ian Parker, The Windsor Workshop, Niegel Melfi/Melfi Planes, Michel Auriou, Richard Arnold, Veritas, Sean Hellman, Skelton Saws, St.John Starkie & Bryony Roberts/The Quiet Workshop, Oscar Rush/Hand Forged Edge Tools, Philip Edwards/Philly Planes, Southern Fellowship of Woodworkers, Furniture Maker’s Company, Lowfat Roubo /Derek Jones, G-Sharp Tools/Gervaise Evans, Festool UK, Lamello.

The courses and the bazaar are at the London Design & Engineering UTC, 15 University Way, London E16 2RD.

Holds all this, with room to spare.
Any excuse to show off my Olivia!

Heads up: Price Increases on July 7

Posted on by Lost Art Press
Mark sorting orders at our warehouse.

Like every company, Lost Art Press has been buffeted by the increased costs of raw materials during the last three years. We have tried to keep our prices steady, but it’s just not possible anymore.

On July 7, we will increase retail prices on the following books and tools. The price increases on the books will range from $3 to $10. The increases on the tools will be a lot more. Steel and brass prices have been significant.

If you have been meaning to buy any of these products, you can save some money by making your purchase before July 7.

Here are the products that will increase in price:

Books
By Hand & Eye
Doormaking & Window-making
Campaign Furniture
Chairmakers Notebook
The Woodworker: The Charles Hayward Years Vol. 3 Joinery
Truth to Tools
Making Things Work 
The Anarchist’s Workbench
Country Woodcraft: Then & Now
Woodworker’s Pocketbook
The Stick Chair Book
Shop Tails
The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke
Karvsnitt
Backwoods Chairmakers

Crucible Tools
Bevel Monkey 
Protractor
Lump Hammer
Crucible Sliding Bevel
Crucible Center Squares
Dovetail Templates (both the 1:4 and the 1:6 & 1:8)
Crucible Type 2 Dividers
Warrington Hammer
Crucible Engraving Tool
GoDrilla
Crucible Card Scraper
Crucible Planing Stop
Crucible Iron Holdfast

— Christopher Schwarz

A Video Look at the Chairmakers Gathering

Posted on by fitz
Tom Donahey, assembling a chair.

We kicked off the Chairmakers’ Gathering with a welcome, then a few words from Patrick Cecil, a ladderback chairmaker from Cannon County, Tennessee. Patrick shared the rhythm of his work week, from cutting parts to loading 20-30 chairs onto a truck on Fridays – then doing it again the following week. He learned from and worked alongside his grandfather Arlis Thomas. By Patrick’s conservative estimate, Arlis made more than 125,000 chairs during his career! (Patrick is somewhere around 25,000.)

The (threat of) rain kept us inside for much of the day. Luckily, the workshop areas within Berea College Student Craft were plenty large enough to all the events and the 200 or so attendees.  

We had four stages. On the Turning Stage, chairmakers who use the lathe for their parts showed how they work. The StoryTime Stage saw chairmakers share aspects of their careers and their processes; a highlight there was Drew Langsner’s slideshow of his years running Country Workshops. Wood was worked and hickory bark was shaved and peeled at the Greenwood Stage. And The Assembly Stage was for chair demonstrations, including Tom Donahey showing his full chairmaking process. Terry Ratliff and Brian Boggs shared some encouraging remarks to close our terrific day.  

Now that the event is over, what sticks with me is the generosity surrounding it. Twelve chairmakers traveled to Berea (often from a distance) to share the “how” and the “why” behind their chairmaking careers. The attendees came from around the country to engage. They sat in the chairs in the Gallery and flipped them over for a close look, asked questions at all the stages and during the full-group Panel Discussion, and got autographs from the chairmakers.  

Chairmaking is experiencing a moment of excitement right now within the woodworking community, and it was rewarding to see the spotlight on this experienced group of Appalachian ladderback chairmakers and their work.  

– Andy Glenn, author of “Backwoods Chairmakers“

Sale Ends Saturday (Plus a Price increase)

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Our final (I hope) inventory sell-off ends at midnight on Saturday. We have seven titles for sale, from 38 percent off to 54 percent off. My most recent book, “The Stick Chair Book,” is one of those books and is just $29 until Saturday.

The sale has cleared out the space we need to operate at our new warehouse building in downtown Covington. And it will give us the room to begin assembling our new Exeter-pattern hammers in-house. So thanks for all your help in storing our excess books at your house.

The bad news here is that we will raise prices on some books and tools effective July 15.

Like all households and small businesses, we have been squeezed by inflation during the last few years and have resisted raising prices in the hope that paper costs would decline. It hasn’t happened.

The price increase will affect 15 titles, including “Chairmaker’s Notebook,” “The Anarchist’s Workbench” and “Country Woodcraft.” I haven’t yet done the math for Crucible Tools, but I feel sure prices will go up on our Warrington Hammer and Lump Hammer. 

Our original handle supplier in Arkansas decided to stop giving a crap about quality. So we left them and have been using two small companies that are doing a great job for us. But the handles cost five times as much.

Next week I’ll post a complete list of the upcoming price increases. I wish we didn’t have to do this, and we will be as transparent as possible during the process.

— Christopher Schwarz