Category: Uncategorized

Mike Siemsen’s “The Naked Woodworker” has inspired thousands of new woodworkers to get off their duffs, buy a basic set of tools and get down to business building sawbenches and a dang-straight workbench.

What has been surprising for us at Lost Art Press is how the DVD continues to sell and pick up new woodworkers. When we went to Minnesota two years ago to film the DVD we had a great time hunting for rust and building stuff with Mike, but we didn’t expect the response to his DVD to be this strong today.

We think it has a lot to do with his wacky van. But that’s another story for another round of beers.

Check out these two recent blog entries on “The Naked Woodworker:”

Bill “Woodnerd” Traynor writes about how the DVD inspired his first workbench and “birthed a new woodworker.” No foolin’. Check it out here.

And even if you are a more experienced woodworker, check out how the DVD inspired Greg Merritt to build the sawbenches and bench featured in the DVD. Good stuff. It’s here.

We hope to get Mike to do another video on some upgrades he’s made to his bench that he was showing off at Woodworking in America. So stay tuned.

— Christopher Schwarz

I woke up from my nap and realized I forgot to include the shaving horse in the earlier post on the Index of American Design.

This also gives me an excuse to include a few other things you can find in the Index: weather vanes and figureheads (in combination there are over 300). The weather vanes are made of wood and metal and cover the gamut from horses, arrows, big chickens and even one of General Casimir Pulaski. Figureheads include characters from mythology to Ben Franklin. At the time the figureheads were drawn many were already well worn but the master carver’s hand is still present.

And since Chris has been working on staked furniture for his “Anarchist’s Design Book” I’m throwing in some staked benches in the gallery below.

–Suzanne Ellison

During last night’s entertaining LAP Forum Open House there was a comment about finding Noah’s Ark plans and notes. Well, that’s just silly. However, I did find Bishop John Wilkins’s 1668 proof on how all the animals would fit in the Ark. With the the biblical measurements, the animal load and arrangement figured and a little reverse engineering you can create your own plans.

The basic measurement were: length-300 cubits, breadth-50 cubits, height-30 cubits. Bishop Wilkins provided addtional help:

“…it was divided into three stories, each of 10 or 15 foot high, besides one cubit allowed for the declivity of the roof in the upper story. And, ’tis agreed upon as most probably, that the lower story was assigned to contein all the species of beasts, the middle story for their food, and the upper story, in one part of it, for the birds and their food, and the other part for Noah, his family and utensils.”

The Bishop, a most sincere and helpful man, also made a scientific table to help classify and separate the animals by species and body proportion: Beasts feeding on hay, Beasts feeding on insects, Carnivorous Beasts. If an animal is a “mungrel”, such as a mule, they are left out. Crocodiles, seals, turtles get to fend for themselves as, “…such kind of Animals as can abide in the water to their own devises.”

There you have it. Gather some hearty and handsome timber framers, hand over the cubit conversions to George Walker and Jim Tolpin and you are good to go.

–Suzo Ellison

So we’re getting read to host our “open house” here on the blog in about 53 minutes.

And our forum software has gone down. It’s back for now. But we’re not positive that this is going to work. In any case, give it a whirl here. We’ll be there. We might be alone.

Then I’ll send John out for some Dixie cups and string to get this working.

— Christopher Schwarz

One last reminder: the LAP Forum ‘Open House’ is tomorrow evening (6 November) from 8 – 10 PM Eastern.

Chris and John are holding the Open House to answer your questions about books, tools and mathematical ratios.

If you want to post a question you will need to log on using your LAP store account. You can set up an account here.

You do not need an account if you only want to read the questions and answers as they pop up on the forum.

Be there and SPQR!

-Suzo Ellison