Lost Art Press

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‘Book of Plates’ Blems – A Rare Offer

Posted on by fitz
This is a picture from the December locals-only blem sale…there are not this many left.

As you likely already know, we sell “blems” (books that are lightly damaged, but still utterly readable) only at the storefront, and we always say, “sorry – we can’t ship these.” But given that we won’t have an open house this year until autumn at the earliest, and that we’ve already tapped out the local market, and that we can’t sell these through the online store…

On Monday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m. Eastern, we will post a rare offer for purchase of one of the 30 or so blemished copies of “The Book of Plates” that are in the basement at the storefront, and we will mail them out in USPS large flat-rate boxes. The cost – $70 – includes the boxing and shipping. I’ll respond to the first 30 or so people who email at 10 a.m. Monday and not before (as many people, in order of emails received, as there are books available) to collect shipping and payment information. Payment will be via PayPal (though you don’t need a PayPal account). All sales are final. No exchanges or returns.

Please note: We can only ship these books to a U.S. mailing address. We cannot send them outside the country. Wir versenden nur in die USA. Nous expédions uniquement aux États-Unis. Біз тек Америка Құрама Штаттарына жеткіземіз.

These books will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, via an email to me – and I will not entertain any offers that arrive in my in box before 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday morning. I’m letting y’all know ahead of time in case you want to be waiting by your computer when they go on sale.

The book features all of the drawings (called “plates”) from André Roubo’s masterpiece “l’Art du menuisier.” There are detailed drawings of every kind of furniture form, plus tools, interior trim and architectural woodwork, carriage making, marquetry and garden furniture. It’s a fascinating and illustrated look into the 18th century world of material culture and woodwork.

This is a huge book – 11″ x 17″. Printed in the United States on #100 Mohawk paper. Sewn and bound in Michigan. Beautifully made. And it will not be reprinted. The damage to these copies could include a crushed edge or two or a warped cover. Or both. But all the pages are there, and all the pictures are pretty.

— Fitz

p.s. My email is in the “via an email to me” in the link above – but it’s fitz@lostartpress.com. Again, though, don’t email me about this until Monday at 10 a.m.

Live on Saturday Morning

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Our first “Question Time” livestream is at 11 a.m. (Eastern) Saturday. We’ll broadcast here from the shop and answer the questions you sent in beforehand. 

Megan Fitzpatrick estimates we received 125 questions. Yikes.

She’s been answering directly the ones that are narrowly focused. And if we don’t get to your question during the live session, we’ll try to address it on the blog in the coming weeks. 

If you aren’t able to watch us live, we’ll post the Q&A session along with the questions (and timecodes) so you can sort the wheat from the chaff.

You will be able to watch the livestream here. Above is a window where it also will be broadcasting. And we’ll post another portal on the blog on Saturday morning.

Why are we doing this? We like to experiment with new technology to help expand the woodworking community. For example, we experimented with Instagram and now reach 114,000 people, many of them beginners. That’s a success, and so we put effort into it every week. Other experiments, such as a forum, didn’t take off and so we snuffed them out.

My hope is that we will do a livestream every month. Some might be bench demonstrations, some will be Q&A, and I hope that some of them will be interviews with our authors. If we do a good job and attract an audience, we’ll put more effort and time into it.

There won’t be ads or sponsors. We won’t be selling you a multi-level awl program. No animals will be harmed, though we hope Bean the three-legged shop cat will bless us with a cameo. 

— Christopher Schwarz

Origin Book of the ‘Nicholson Bench’

Posted on by fitz

Peter Nicholson’s “The Mechanic’s Companion” is one of the landmark English-language books on woodworking and related building trades. First published in 1812, it’s an invaluable treatment of period techniques, with 40 detailed plates that offer an excellent look of the tools of the time, and a thorough review of the geometry you need for all types of construction.

You’ll find useful primary-source information on how to use traditional joinery tools at the bench. That’s because Nicholson – unlike other technical writers of the time – was a trained cabinetmaker, who later became an architect, prolific author and teacher. So he writes (and writes well) with the authority of experience and clarity on all things carpentry and joinery. For the other trades covered – bricklaying, masonry, slating, plastering, painting, smithing and turning – he relies on masters for solid information and relays it in easy-to-understand prose.

“Mechanic’s Companion” went through a number of printings, both in England and in the United States; this reprint is of the 1845 U.S. edition, which includes information on mid 19th-century New York City building codes (which are – to me, anyway! – fascinating). I spent a month or so in early 2018 scanning the pages of the original (at high and crisp resolution, of course) and cleaning up the foxing, as well as rebuilding many broken letters and words, pixel by pixel. My aim was to present as clean a book as possible. (I also bumped up the size by 10 percent, just to make it a little more readable.)

The 1845 edition is in back.

But after two years of fulfilling orders out of my living room and dining room – and becoming increasingly busy with freelance work for Lost Art Press and others – I decided my time and floor space could be better spent. So, Lost Art Press picked up the remainder of my print run, and will keep this important book in print (something I would not have been able to do on my own).

Like all Lost Art Press books, “Mechanic’s Companion” text is printed on acid-free paper in Smythe-sewn signatures that are reinforced with fiber tape. The interior is then wrapped in hardcover boards and cotton cloth. The book is produced entirely in the United States.

Plate 12, featuring the now-eponymous “Nicholson bench.”

— Fitz

Know Your Carcases

Posted on by fitz

The following is excerpted from “The Essential Woodworker,” by Robert Wearing.

A carcase is a box-like construction made basically from planks, in contrast to the mortice and tenon construction of posts and rails. Small cabinets, cupboards, bookshelves, wardrobes and chests of drawers are all examples of carcases. The main requirement in anything but a nailed-together job is some form of corner jointing, which will be considered later.

A carcase does not generally stand on the floor (Fig 226) and the sides may be extended to form feet (Fig 227). A box plinth is often used (Fig 228) which may be inset or out-standing. Very common is a low stool (Fig 229) following the table construction and chunky oak pieces can look well on heavy block feet (Fig 230). Corner joints can be avoided by extending the sides (Fig 231) or by overhanging the top (Fig 232). Shelves, either fixed or movable, are generally required and often have vertical divisions. Doors, drawers or a combination of both (Figs 233, 234 and 235) complete the range of possibilities. Backs of some form, from quite elaborate constructions to plywood sheet, are normally the rule (Fig 236). Figs 227-30 require some form of dovetailing in their corner joints. Figs 231-2 avoid this joint, substituting instead a form of mortice and tenon or a dowelled joint.

Djurgården Meets Rome

Posted on by fitz
The “Skansen Bench” as low “Roman” workbench

More than a decade ago, Christopher Schwarz built the “Skansen Bench” as an “I Can Do That” project for Popular Woodworking Magazine; this link will take you to it on the PW site. Skansen, located in Stockholm on the island Djurgården, was the first open-air museum in Sweden. The bench itself is modeled after one from the Älvros Farmstead (a group of buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries that are now part of the museum); Chris saw it in the book “Making Swedish Country Furniture & Household Things” (1990, Hartley & Marks)

The Skansen Bench is a sitting bench, and for years was alongside the dining room wall in Chris and Lucy’s former house. I remember dropping my purse on it just about every visit. Upstairs here, it served as a sort of hall table for a while, then as seating.

But since 2010, he’s built quite a few more low benches specifically as workbenches, including the Saalburg bench and Herculaneum bench that are included in “Ingenious Mechanicks.” So you’d think that when he needed a low bench to demonstrate working on them for Colonial Williamsburg’s Working Wood in the 18th Century conference, he’d have one handy.

But no.

The Herculaneum bench now lives in upstate New York.
The Saalburg bench is on loan in central Ohio.

So, Chris combined workholding from both of the low benches from “Ingenious Mechanicks” on the Skansen bench. I’m betting he keeps the new-model Skansen in the shop; he’s been using it a lot to shave chair spindles while sitting (that’s what the stepped block insert is for – the one most people in the conference were asking about).

So now you know the sources behind the Swedish Roman low workbench. (If you decide to make one, do check with your home’s other occupants before summarily cutting into a seating bench and liberating it to your shop. We cannot be responsible for the consequences.)

— Fitz