You can now purchase 100-percent cotton T-shirts emblazoned with the marriage mark from “The Anarchist’s Design Book” on the front. The back of the shirt is blank.
The American Apparel shirts are made and printed in California and are $30, which includes domestic shipping. The come in black with a white logo and grey with a black logo.
Please note that these shirts are made to order and don’t make us more than a few dollars each, so we cannot take returns (except of course in the case of damaged goods or a mistake by the printer). So please be careful in choosing your size and color.
American Apparel shirts have a slim fit. So we recommend you order one size larger than normal. Here are the chest sizes for the shirts:
Chest sizes
S 34-36
M 38-40
L 42-44
XL 46-48
2XL 48-50
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Next week we’ll be posting roach motels and Hester Prynne outfits with the logo.
I read magazines starting at the back page and work to the front. I’m weird that way. So I’d never presume to tell someone how to read something. Left, right, up, down, bedroom, bathroom, boudoir.
Several readers have commented that there isn’t a lot of design information in “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” That shocked me because I think there is more design information in there than I intended to include.
Perhaps my response is because of the way I design things.
There are 24 ways to approach design. I know four methods pretty well. One is an architectural approach that you will find in “By Hand & Eye” and “By Hound & Eye.” It’s a great way to design good-looking pieces. (If I didn’t think so, we wouldn’t have published these two important books).
There is a prototyping method that you’ll find in the people who like James Krenov. It also works as I’ve seen it first hand.
Jeff Miller – a highly talented designer – has a different approach that he’ll explain in a forthcoming book.
And there is simple Gothic geometry. Oh, and my approach, which is nothing like the above methods.
For those of you who are looking for the maximum amount of in-the-vein design information, here’s how I’d approach reading my own dang book. (First I’m going to sit on my hands for 10 minutes so that when I type this it will feel like a stranger did it.)
“The Anarchist’s Design Book” is organized with a few introductory chapters that explain my ideas. Then the chapters on building stuff are interspersed with short chapters that are jabs at furniture design and the way we go about it.
So let’s say you need the “Cliff’s Notes” to this book and you can’t find them at Waldenbooks. Here’s how to pass the final without reading the entire book.
Read chapters 1-5:
1: Don’t Make the Furniture of your Gaoler
2: A Guide to Uncivil Engineering
3: An Introduction to Staked Furniture
4: Staked Sawbench
5: Extrude This
That’s pretty easy. Now be sneaky. Skip ahead to read:
9: Heavy Buddhist Feedback
13: Seeing Red
Drink a beer. Read:
14: Bare Bones Basics of Nail Technology
15: Boarded Tool Chest
16: To Make Anything
That will get you familiar with boarded technology. Whilst you get a refill, consider reading:
20: Fear Not
99: Afterword
Finally, unlike most books I put a crap-ton of work into the appendices in “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” Look them over and read what interests you.
This weekend I will be teaching a class at The Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. The students attending this two day class will build a round and leave with the tools, material and understanding to make the matching hollow at home.
We will cover all of the essential elements included in the process: including making a proper fitting wedge, bedding an iron, profiling the sole, creating the matching iron and sharpening profiled edges.
Whether someone intends to make a series of planes for themselves or rehabilitate antique planes, these specific steps are the major necessities.
I have stopped counting the hours and the years that we have been working on this huge project to revive hundreds of articles written and edited by the late great Charles H. Hayward.
Right now, only one number matters: I get the pre-press proofs back in less than 17 hours.
After years of technical and legal challenges, not to mention thousands of hours of work by a team of people all over North America, we are on the verge of publishing the first 888-page book of Hayward’s work at The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967.
This first book will be split into two bindings: one on hand tools and one on hand techniques. Future books will focus on joinery, shop appliances, workshop furniture and historic drawings of important furniture pieces executed by Hayward.
These first two books will be sold as a set for $80, domestic shipping included. We’ll also offer them separately for $45 each if you aren’t sure you want to commit.
I can promise you this: No matter how awesome you are at handwork, no matter how much you know, this book will teach you lots of things that will make you better.
When will it go on sale? Good question. Because of the complexity of the project, we’re running a test signature on the press to make sure the images come out crisp. Once we get past that hurdle, we’ll offer pre-publication ordering.
Note, due to our contract with the copyright holder, we cannot offer a digital edition of this book.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Stay tuned for excerpts from Hayward’s autobiographical series of articles.
This is a dumb idea. But next week I am filming construction of a full-size Anarchist’s Tool Chest for an upcoming DVD with Popular Woodworking and am offering the finished chest for sale.
This construction of this particular chest marks the five-year anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” I’ve built that chest about 20 times on three continents; its appeal has surprised and pleased me to no end.
If you are interested in purchasing the chest, here are the details:
The chest is being built to the print of the one featured in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” Same dimensions, wood, hardware and fittings.
I’m painting it black over red for the DVD. If you want a different color on top of that, we can discuss it.
I can deliver the chest within 100 miles of Cincinnati for the price of my gas. If you live beyond that frontier, it’s up to you to come get it or arrange shipping with a carrier.
Of course, I’ll sign the chest and will include one of our special red-cover editions of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” that we have printed for the book’s five-year anniversary.
The chest is being made from some extremely clear and wide pine I’ve been saving for this particular chest.
Any additional customizations are up to you, or can be completed for a fee.
The price is $2,500. That’s considerably less than I charge for these finished chests, but as it’s not really a piece of custom work, I think it’s fair.
If you are interested, send us a note at (sorry, the chest has been sold). The first person to say: Yes, I’ll take it and can deal with the delivery aspects noted above, gets it.
“The Anarchist’s Design Book” is organized with a few introductory chapters that explain my ideas. Then the chapters on building stuff are interspersed with short chapters that are jabs at furniture design and the way we go about it.
