Category: Uncategorized

Our March 12 book-release party for “The Anarchist’s Design Book” is fully booked. But that doesn’t mean you can’t see the new storefront if you are in town.

On March 12, my daughters will be womaning the store from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. while the rest of us are down the street at Braxton Brewing for the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event. Our store, at 9th and Willard streets, is less than a 10-minute walk from Braxton at 7th and Madison.

Katy and Maddy will have all of our titles there and will be happy to have you look around. We’ll also have some special Covington-only merchandise that celebrates the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” A special T-shirt, stickers and other stuff we’re working on now.

— Christopher Schwarz

On Sunday the flooring crew finished installing the new white oak in the storefront and did a sweet job. The joints are tight throughout and I’m happy I spent the extra $900 to install the floor at a 45° slant.

The next stage is sanding and finishing. We’re not staining the floor and are using only an oil-based polyurethane (three coats) on top, which should give us 15 years of hard use.

The details of the floor finish were the most difficult part of the job for me. I’ve worked in shops with smooth wooden floors that made it impossible to do any benchwork because I couldn’t get a firm footing to plane or saw.

The traditional solution to this problem was to sprinkle plaster of Paris on the floor to afford some grip for the workers’ feet. A more modern solution is to sprinkle sand in the finish, either as it is being stirred or right after it is applied.

Neither of those appeals to me. So we are going with the flattest polyurethane available. I asked the flooring guys why flatting paste would improve the traction. They said the transparent silica in the paste is what provided the extra traction.

I’ll let you know if they are correct at the end of the week. By then we’ll be moving tools and benches to the new storefront so I can build the replacement transom windows, new front door and display shelves for the books. That should be a fair test of the transparent silica.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Our March 12 book-release party is completely booked now. If people cancel, I’ll post a note here. Sorry we cannot accommodate more people; we have a maximum occupancy from the fire department.

I’m trying to do as much work on our storefront personally to save money, but there are some things I’ve decided to pay for. Installing the oak floor is one of them.

As you can see from the photos, they’re laying the floor at the same 45° slant as the original floor. And though it cost an extra half-day of labor, I’m glad we did it. When you walk into the front door, the floorboards direct your eye to the bar (which is where our books will be shown on a display I’m building) and the location of my workbench.

The crew should be done laying the floor tomorrow. Then comes the sanding and the finishing (also not by me).

Then I’ll get to jump back in with framing a new office wall and running new electric.

Next week I hope to buy a vintage door I spotted a few weeks ago at an architectural salvage place. It’s from about the same era as the building and has frosted glass and nice details. That will become the door that goes back to the office, bathroom, kitchen and almighty beer fridge.

Everything is on track for the March 12 book release party. We still have about a dozen spots left if you’d like to come. Details are here. And don’t forget the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event that same weekend down the street at Braxton Brewing.

The line-up of demonstrators is pretty awesome. I hear there might be an addition or two….

— Christopher Schwarz