One of the great advantages of working with riven material is that the grain direction of your boards becomes much less of a problem. With most riven pieces (that aren’t radically tapered), you can cut both ways on the piece with zero tear-out because the grain is dead straight.
I call this the “American Advantage” – this continent still has the big, straight trees that allow parts to be riven for chairs and even casework. And not only does the raw material affect the process, it also affects the tools. When you have dead-straight material, you can shave all your parts with a drawknife or a bevel-up spokeshave.
So what happens when you step out of the American chair tradition?
The process and the tools change. When I build American Welsh Stick Chairs I don’t use riven material – I use whatever I can find that is naturally twisted or straight to suit the chair parts I have in my mind. This stuff can be from the lumberyard – or your backyard hedge. It’s perfectly suitable material for a chair, but it doesn’t like a drawknife or a bevel-up spokeshave. And that’s because grain direction is a big problem when you use sawn or found material.
Personally, I fall back on cabinetmaking tools and techniques to deal with grain direction on my chair parts. When I use my bench planes for a finishing cut, I set the cap iron (aka chipbreaker or back iron) so it is only a hair away from the cutting edge. And I mean a hair – maybe .006”. That allows me to deal with arms, seats, legs and doublers that have gnarly grain.
When I use a block plane, that means I need to set the mouth so it’s as fine as possible. For me, that means setting it so that the shaving gets wedged between the mouth and iron. And the next shaving pushes it out. That is tight.
Using these techniques – a close-set breaker or a fine mouth – allow me to plane my parts without thinking about grain direction as much, if at all. So I can taper all my legs by planing from the foot to the tenon; I don’t have to every turn the leg around to plane the other way.
Yes, it takes some practice to get the breaker and the mouth in the right spot. But it’s no more work than learning to sharpen or wield a drawknife. It’s just a different approach.
— Christopher Schwarz
If you read the post about our upcoming classes, you know that for 2020, we’re charging a small non-refundable registration fee of $12 a day per class. You might wonder why, and if it’s worth it.
In short, it’s because the entirety of your class tuition goes to the instructor. And during the past 18 months, we’ve found that the classes require lots of glue, gallons of drinking water (and dang-good coffee), ample toilet paper, and to keep the HVAC at a comfortable level for seven people. The small registration fee will help pay for that. Plus, the class registration site costs money – so part of each fee goes to pay for it, too.
Why is the registration fee non-refundable? Again, because all the tuition goes to the instructor, we have to have some way to pay for all the administration when people drop out of classes, require help with shipping tools or need assistance with housing, meals or activities for their families. We’re happy to help, but we do need to eat.
We do our best to make sure classes here are worth the investment in money and time. Lost Art Press operates differently than most publishing companies, and the classes here are different, too. With only six students in all but a few classes, you get plenty of personal attention from the instructor (whether you want it or not!). And, you’ve the opportunity to try out a bunch of different bench styles in our working shop (handy, if you’re thinking about building one). Plus, you have access to the Covington Mechanical Library – our large collection of woodworking books (including a three-volume set of the original 18th-century “l’art du Menuisier”).
You also get to spend time in the Covington Main Strasse area, which is aces (it’s possible we’re biased). There are scads of good and inexpensive restaurants within easy walking distance, and plenty of hotels and Air BnB rentals available at shockingly low rates. And we’re right across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati, where you’ll find even more great restaurants, and plenty for your family to do while you’re in class, should they visit with you.
We love offering classes, and think you’ll have a great time here (and learn a lot, of course!) – so we hope this small fee won’t stop you from registering for a class.
— Fitz
As we’ve mentioned a few times, we’re reducing the number of classes for 2020. Despite almost every class selling out, and though we love having folks visit, we are not (sing it with me!) a school, and the many classes have cut into our shop time and editorial work (and my sanity, because I handle all the backend stuff for visiting instructors). But Christopher Schwarz and Brendan Gaffney handle their own backends <insert joke>, and I handle my own <please don’t insert joke>. So we three will be offering a smattering of educational opportunities at the Lost Art Press storefront, as well as a very few from outside instructors.
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Before you read about the January-June 2020 classes below, here’s some important information about our new ticketing policy: We have added a NON-REFUNDABLE registration fee when you sign up. These cover the ticketing system costs, and to go toward such shop and class necessaries as glue, electricity, shop rags and toilet paper (the last two of which are not interchangeable). That fee is $12 per day per student – so for two-day classes it’s $24, for a week-long class it’s $60. Again: It is NON-REFUNDABLE. So please make sure the class dates work for you before you register. (There is a cancellation policy at the bottom of each class description. For most classes, the instructor offers a full refund – minus that non-refundable fee – up to four weeks before a class.)
Also note that each class description on the ticketing site includes a link to “Where to Stay; What to Do,” a page that will help you find accommodations and learn a bit more about why your family might enjoy visiting Greater Cincinnati while you’re busy in the shop.
The classes listed below will go live on Friday, Aug. 30 at 10 a.m. You can look at our “box office” right now on the Ticket Tailor site (and from there click through to each class) – but if you click one of the “Register Now” buttons, it will trick you into thinking you can register today. You cannot. Once a class is sold out (again, tickets go on sale Aug. 30 at 10 a.m. Eastern, and a non-refundable registration fee will be collected at check-out), I will turn on the waitlist function (there is no fee to sign up for the waitlist).
Here are the classes we have planned for the first half of 2020 (note that we might add one or two more – if so, we’ll blog about it and add them to our Ticket Tailor listings).
• Intro to Staked Furniture – Design & Construction, with Christopher Schwarz, Jan. 18-19.
• Build the ‘Anarchist’s Tool Chest’ with Megan Fitzpatrick, Feb. 17-21
• The Greenwood Høj Footstool with Brendan Gaffney, Feb. 29-March 1
• Build an American Welsh Stick Chair with Christopher Schwarz, March 9-13
• 4 Corner Joints & a Dado, with Megan Fitzpatrick, March 21-22
• One-slat Ladderback Chair with Brendan Gaffney, March 27-29
• Intro to Staked Furniture – Design & Construction, with Christopher Schwarz, April 4-5
• One-slat Ladderback Chair with Brendan Gaffney, May 1-3
• Build a Sawbench with Megan Fitzpatrick, May 16-17
• Make a Post-and-rung Ladderback Chair with Brendan Gaffney, May 25-29
• Intro to Staked Furniture – Design & Construction, with Christopher Schwarz, June 6-7
• Build a Dutch Tool Chest with Megan Fitzpatrick, June 26-28
As always, if you have a question, please email me (Megan Fitzpatrick) at covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com.
— Fitz
After fighting printing plant delays for the last eight months, we received good news on Friday. Our historical reprint of “The Joiner and Cabinet-Maker” was complete and being trucked to our warehouse in Indiana – weeks ahead of schedule.
It should arrive Monday or Tuesday. Then the warehouse will start shipping out the pre-publication orders shortly after.
After the book arrives in the warehouse, we’ll also begin selling a special bundle of the historical reprint of the book plus the edition we originally published in 2009 with historical essays and expanded construction information. Look for details and special pricing on that some time next week.
— Christopher Schwarz
