Uncategorized - Lost Art Press

An Interview on ‘Looking Sideways’

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Lost Art Press

Last month Andrew Sleigh of the “Looking Sideways” podcast discussed my work, Lost Art Press and how I cram anarchism, woodworking and historical research into one beer glass.

The 57-minute interview is now available for you to listen at the Looking Sideways site. In addition to the above topics, Andrew and I also discuss Enzo Mari’s influential book “Autoprogettazione,” and how John and I have structured Lost Art Press to be an anti-corporation. That’s something I haven’t talked about before in public. Yikes.

The most important part of the interview (for me, at least) is the discussion of why John and I look to the past to beat a path forward for the craft of woodworking. I really do consider what we do here as akin to exploring an advanced, alien technology.

Andrew was an excellent interviewer. I hope you enjoy the podcast.

— Christopher Schwarz

Instead of a Face-painting Station…

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Lost Art Press

…we’re going to offer a spray-painting station at “The Anarchist’s Design Book” book-release party Saturday night. I made this stencil years ago. And I have a can of spray paint.

For these photos I tried to get Megan Fitzpatrick to stencil my bare back, but she wouldn’t do it, saying the safety wanks would have my head. All I have to say to that is that if we didn’t have body painting then we wouldn’t have had Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.”

Um. So never mind on the body paint.

We’re wrapping up little details all week – installing doors, making sure we have electric lights, just little stuff. The place won’t be ready for the opening, but it will have to do.

One other quick reminder: The store will be open only on the second Saturday of each month. We’ve had lots of requests from people who are passing through Cincinnati to stop and visit or to pick up orders. I wish we could accommodate those requests, but we cannot.

This company is two people – no employees – and John lives two hours away. So it’s on me to run the store, and I have lots of editing, writing and furniture commissions to work on. Maybe someday we’ll have more help and can offer more hours, but until then I ask you to please not ask us to do what we cannot.

Hope to see y’all this weekend.

— Christopher Schwarz

The Deadly, Knee-hating Drawknife

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Lost Art Press

The only serious injury I’ve sustained in the workshop was with a drawknife. In 1997, I was sharpening my grandfather’s tool with an oilstone at work. My hand slipped, and I gashed a finger.

It took a dozen stitches to close the wound. And as it was a workers’ compensation claim, I had to go through a very interesting series of interviews with the government.

Nice government lady: “What was the tool that caused the injury?”

Me: “A drawknife.”

Lady: “Hmmm. We don’t have a code for that tool. Is it a pocketknife?”

After a long series of questions (No, it’s not an axe. Nope, not a corn knife), she decided to create a new code for the tool to enter into the government forms. This, of course, required more interrogation about my boo-boo, and the case dragged on for many weeks.

In the 19th century, drawknife injuries were much more common. Jeff Burks has compiled this amazing array of news accounts of people who hurt themselves with the tool. Some wounds were self-inflicted. Some very odd. And many of them to the knee.

The knee?

The weirdest one is the guy who burst his bladder with a drawknife.

— Christopher Schwarz

Just Like the Library of Congress

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Lost Art Press

After almost six months of donkey work on the new storefront, today we began the real donkey work of moving the Lost Art Press library to 837 Willard St. I don’t know if we’ll even get a quarter of it moved down there in time for the opening next weekend, but we managed to get the core books in place today.

Most of the woodworking books I refer to every day are in a 7’-tall bookcase I built that is based on Thomas Jefferson’s shelves at Monticello. (See my shelves here; see the reproductions at Monticello here.)

Jefferson sold much of his library to the government in 1815 and it became the backbone of the Library of Congress, a story you can read about here. Because of the modular nature of the bookcases, Jefferson’s slaves were able to stuff the units with paper, nail on lids and put them in carriages bound for Washington, D.C.

Today we moved the books to Willard Street in the same way, but without the nailed-on lids. Or slaves.

Tomorrow is more moving of books. Predictions for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: moving books. Thursday: Wondering if I have too many books. Friday: Back to scanning AbeBooks.com.

— Christopher Schwarz

Yellow Glue Can Save Your Life

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Lost Art Press

While I’m a huge fan of hot hide glue, it is one culprit in many examples of death and disfigurement when combined with shavings. Perhaps we can blame handplanes for the problem.

Jeff Burks sent me the following grisly gallery of news accounts involving shavings, fire and sometimes glue pots.

I feel a Titebond/Festool PSA coming on.

— Christopher Schwarz