Lost Art Press

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The Roman Workbench Begins

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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This afternoon I got a good start on my first Roman workbench – a knee-high bench with almost no workholding, aside from holes for pegs or holdfasts.

I’m building it using a red oak top from Will Myers, who dried the slab in his homemade kiln in North Carolina. The legs are some white oak stock that is sold at the lumberyard for making rustic mantles. (I was going to instead use some firewood I have in my shop, but that firewood is actually going into two upcoming commissioned chairs.)

The real fun part of the project is the measurement system. Thanks to Brendan Bernhardt Gaffney at burn-heart.com, I have a Roman ruler to guide me as I design and build these two workbenches. I’m using his Cubitus Ruler, which combines several Roman systems onto one pretty stick.

So here is the cutting list for this first Roman workbench:

1 benchtop, measuring 3.4 thumbs x 14 thumbs x 4.9 cubits (or 87.8 thumbs)
4 legs, measuring 2.2 thumbs x 2.2 thumbs x 1.25 cubits (or 21.3 thumbs)

Before you do the math, just think of the cubit as the distance from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger. And the thumb as the length of the second segment of your thumb. That’s accurate enough.

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Today I dressed the front edge of benchtop with my jointer plane, making sure it was square to the benchtop (the benchtop is the heart side of the slab, FYI). Then I marked the final width of the benchtop using a large square – my panel gauge is in my other shop.

That’s when I found that I had to remove almost 1/2 thumb of wood in places to make the front edge and back edge parallel.

I looked for my hatchet. Dangit. It’s also in my other shop.

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So I decided to traverse the edge with my jack plane. After marking the final width of the benchtop, I use my jack to create a chamfer on the corner that touched the line that represented the final width of the benchtop. The chamfer acted as gauge – as the chamfer disappeared I knew I was closer to my finished width. It also protected the corner from spelching during the traversing.

This dodge worked surprisingly well.

Tomorrow I’ll dress the benchtop and start shaping the legs.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. The book “Roman Workbenches” is unlikely to have any photos because we are printing it via letterpress, so I’m not sure why I’m documenting every step. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

Beat the Heat, Read the Forum

Posted on by meghanlostartpress

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Summer is in full swing and where I live it is HOT. The best way around this is to stay inside and read the forum. Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out here.

Workbench is finally finished
I love showing off people’s finished projects and this one is perfect for that (above). I love the painted legs. Beautiful work Tyler.

Staked worktable is rickety
Christopher is finding his staked worktable to be a little rickety so far in his construction and is thinking of putting two aprons between the battens with screws to remedy the problem. Has anyone had a similar experience? And if so, what was your solution?

Suitable replacement for pine
David is looking for pine on the West coast and has found it nowhere. The question now is whether to build from 3/4” pine or switch to poplar. What are your thoughts?

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Roubo bench green timbers – the waiting game
How dry does wood need to be to start a bench build? This is the question Jason is pondering while anxious to get started. Most are advising that as long as there is dry would for the legs, the top can be green. Do you agree?

Making a wider bookshelf
Thomas’s bookshelf is painted and in use. Looking good! (At right.)

Planting on a raised panel
Michael is getting ready to build a wall cabinet and is thinking he wants to approach his doors the way Peter Follansbee did the lid on his tool chest. (Below; the photo is from Peter’s blog.) The problem is that he is not sure how he attached his dust seal. Glue? Dowels? Dominos? Anyone able to help him out?

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See ya next week!

— MB

That’s a Three-barbarian Door

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Yesterday I managed to hang my braced and ledged door for the stables at our storefront. The stables will eventually house my machinery, so I wanted the door to be nice and handmade.

So by following the instructions on these traditional doors from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” I built this massive (8’ tall) door from 1-3/8”-thick yellow pine that has been seasoning in my shop for four years.

Perhaps I should have used cedar.

I’m not sure how much the door weighs, probably close to 70 or 80 pounds with all the hardware installed. And hanging it by myself in the heat was sweaty business. But now comes the fun part: Today I’m going to trim out the door, add the lock and begin making the door’s handle. I have a piece of wood I’ve been hanging onto for seven or eight years for just this purpose.

I’m eager to rip out the crappy disintegrating drywall and stud walls inside the stables and uncover the loft area above (the loft has a floor and I haven’t found a way up there – yet). But it’s just too dang hot to ask my friends to do this miserable work. So I’ll probably put it off until the heat breaks.

I’ve still got plenty to do. This week I’m installing our new front entrance to the storefront, and Nicholas Mogely is going to gild our new logo on the door. Oh, and I have to install a new fence and repair the deck before it kills someone.

At least I don’t have any bats to battle.

— Christopher Schwarz

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Now Shipping: The Red Edition of ‘The Anarchist’s Tool Chest’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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To mark the fifth anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” we have published a single run of 4,000 of these books with a red cloth cover instead of the usual black. We have been shipping the red cover to our retailers as well.

The interior of the book is identical to all the other printings. Only the cover cloth has changed. After we sell out of the red edition, we’ll return to black cloth.

Why red? The last five years have been remarkable. I get up every morning when I feel like it. I work all day (and night) at things I love. No one tells me to do stupid stuff I disagree with.

So every day is a red-letter day.

— Christopher Schwarz

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A Workbench Cleat from 1826

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Check out the right leg of the workbench in this 1826 plate that Jeff Burks dug up from “Les Amusemens de la Campagne” (Vol. 3) by M.A. Paulin Desormeaux. Take a look at Fig. B there. It’s a small cleat used for edge-jointing.

Here’s Jeff’s translated text:

Fig 1. of the plate represents the workbench. A is the head of a screw clamping a strong board against the front leg forming a vise; when you want to work on a board, you take it from one end in this vise, and the other end is placed on the small cleat B same figure. And if need be is maintained with the help of a holdfast placed in hole C.

I’ve not seen a cleat exactly like this one before. But I have seen cleats that retract below the workbench’s top or are removable. Woodworker Yoav Liberman has a metal removable one on his bench that is made from some bed hardware I believe.

Here is an historical example, but it’s located up by the face vise.

Oh, and check out the cool fireworks displays you can build below. Danger on a stick.

— Christopher Schwarz

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