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Starting immediately, all of our packages will be shipped out of our Fishers, Ind., warehouse – aka my partner John Hoffman’s garage. This change has some good points and bad points for you, which is why I’m writing this blog entry.

First the good stuff.

Shipping and customer service will be much faster. During the last 18 months, my family has been shipping all of the orders from our Kentucky home. It worked OK, but it required me to juggle packing boxes, editing books, building furniture, blogging, writing freelance magazine articles and a somewhat crazy travel and teaching schedule.

So we would sometimes get behind. And when we made a mistake or a book was damaged in transit, it took us a few days to fix the problem.

Hoffman and his family have more space to warehouse the books and more time to deal with shipping and customer service.

So not only will your books ship faster, I’ll have more time to write and edit, which means more new books from Lost Art Press.

The bad news is that – for now – I won’t be able to directly autograph all of my books that we sell. Instead, each book will have a bookplate (the publishing world’s name for a sticker) affixed to the inside that I’ve signed. Yeah, I know it’s not ideal. But it’s the best solution we have right now. My 2013 travel schedule is the most brutal one yet, and adding monthly trips to Indiana to sign books just simply isn’t going to work.

These changes – good and bad – are the result of the growth of Lost Art Press. When we started five years ago, we mailed out three or four books a day on average. Now we’re shipping out more than 12,000 books a year to customers and our handful of retailers. And that’s a really low estimate – I am a bit afraid to do the math.

During the next few years, we plan to purchase a building and consolidate all of our operations – building, publishing and shipping – under one roof. We’re actively looking for an old building with a storefront, warehouse and living quarters. (The photo shown here is one we looked at last week.) But we are taking our time, and we refuse to borrow money and saddle the company with debt. Our accountant thinks we are nuts not to get a mortgage, by the way, but I’ve seen too many publishing companies drown in debt service.

So thanks for your support – that’s why we are growing. And apologies in advance for the temporary and poopy bookplate solution.

— Christopher Schwarz

After requests from readers, we ordered some “I Shall Die Trying” T-shirts in the “small” size and “3XL” size. They are in stock and available for immediate shipment. Like the other shirts with this design, these are all 100 percent cotton, made by American Apparel and made in the United States.

We still have all the sizes in stock (but barely). Click here for more information or to order.

— Christopher Schwarz

Whenever I produce a DVD with Popular Woodworking Magazine, I get a small box of the finished product as part of my contract. I also receive a toe massage, a liver purging and a private performance of “Dance of the Seven Veils” (David Thiel can shake his moneymaker).

Anyway, we have a number of these in stock and we are going to sell them at a very nice price in the Lost Art Press store with free shipping. Quantities are very limited – about a dozen each. Here are the details.

Super-tune a Handplane: $21 plus free shipping
Whether your plane is old or new, discover tips that will make it perform with surgical precision. With just a little effort and a couple hours, you can turn any handplane into a super-tuned, high-performance tool.

Many woodworkers are looking for a handplane that can be brought back to working life with just a little time and effort — and at a great bargain. This DVD from Christopher Schwarz shows you how to rehab a flea-market find (or soup up a new tool) into a perfectly tuned plane that can handle any task.

You’ll discover:

• What to look for in an old handplane
• How to break it down and clean it up
• How to assess and address various problems
• How to reassemble a plane beyond factory standards
• And how to super-tune it for top performance

Mastering Hand Tools: $12 plus free shipping
“Mastering Hand Tools” is a 2 disc DVD set that will introduce you to the basic hand tool skills to turn you into a woodworker equally comfortable in either the powered or hand tool world — and offer the best results from each world. Host Christopher Schwarz starts off the video by asking the question, “Why use Hand Tools?” A fair question that he quickly answers by extolling the benefits of traditional woodworking tools — blended with some of the niceties of power tools. Those benefits include a healthier work environment, fewer jigs and test cuts, and accuracy to within .001″. Watch along as Chris offers advice on selecting hand tools, shares tips for set-up and puts the tools to work.
Learn About:

• Choosing and using marking knives and gauges and cutting gauges
• Sharpening and using Jack planes and Smoothing planes
• Selecting and using Handsaws and Rasps
• The benefits of Braces and Hand Drills
• and more about Chisels, Mallets, Scrapers and Router Planes

— Christopher Schwarz

I am trying to reach the bottom of the barrel of tools I need to get rid of. Here are the terms. Please read them before sending me a message.

The first to say, “I’ll take it,” gets it.

I only ship to addresses in the United States.

After I receive your payment (PayPal or personal check), I’ll ship your item.

If you want an item, send an e-mail to chris@lostartpress.com and be sure to say which item you want.

So here’s what I’m selling:

SOLD: The Second-best Hammer I Own: $35 (parcel post shipping included)

I bought this True Temper “Elle Perfect” 13 oz. hammer as new old stock in a hardware store in Chicago. It still had tags on it from one of the first NFL Superbowls. It has an octagonal hickory handle. Plus a perfectly domed striking face and perfect balance.

When I bought it, it still had all the original labels. Then I went on “The Woodwright’s Shop.” While we were rehearsing, Roy Underhill stripped all the labels off all my tools. Wince. But OK.

I paid $35 for the hammer. That’s what I’m asking today: $35.

SOLD: A Bronze Lie-Nielsen No. 212 Scraping Plane: $150 (parcel post shipping included)

Other than the No. 80, this is the scraping plane that does the best job. It’s easy to hold – like a block plane – and does a very good job.

SOLD: Veritas Hold-down: $65 (parcel post shipping included)

Wow. I never thought I’d sell a holdfast. But here we are. I have so many benches and so many holdfasts that I am going to (slowly now) purge a few.

— Christopher Schwarz

There was some commotion in the Tool Chest. “Well,” the Hand Saw was heard to remark, “I know I am superior to you all. As Julius Caesar once said, ‘I came, I saw;’ and when I settle down to work you can hear something drop.”

“But,” said the Hammer, “there is no steadiness in your character. You shift forward and backward, while I am distinguished for always hitting the nail on the head. (Here the Nail was seen to furtively rub his cranium.)

“Mr. Hand Saw,” remarked the File, in a rasping voice, “have you lost any front teeth lately?” “Silence!” cried the Hand Saw. “It’s a shame that gentlemen must associate with such an ugly, cross-grained character as you. You try to scrape every one’s acquaintance.”

The Plane tried to smooth things over, and stated that he would have something to offer before the meeting adjourned.

“Oh, Shavings!” growled the File. Whereat the Paper of Tacks laughed till it burst its sides.

“Gentlemen,” said the Glue Pot, “while you can all saw, chop, hammer and destroy, remember! that I am the only one who can mend and restore. In me are the elements of true greatness.”

“I say,” said the File, “ain’t you somewhat stuck on yourself?” At which the Glue Pot fairly boiled with indignation.

“Permit me,” said the Spirit Level, “to direct your attention to the even disposition which I ever display. I make all things straight.”

“When you have a drop of alcohol in,” suggested the File.

“Your work, gentlemen,” continued the Spirit Level, with an emphasis on the “gentlemen” which was intended to crush the File; “your work is never accepted until I have examined it, and this I say on the—”

“On the dead level,” sneered the File.

The Sand Paper essayed to speak, but was promptly laid out flat, and advised that no unnecessary friction was desired. He had plenty of sand, however, and was only silenced by the Mallet, who rapped loudly for order.

“Where do I come in?” asked the Ten-Penny Nail.

“You don’t,” said the Claw Hammer, reaching for him. “You come out.”

The Jack Knife, who was something of a blade, opened up, and declared that he had a point which he would like to present, but was greeted with loud cries of “Shut up!” which he did, with a click, after threatening to cut the acquaintance of every one present.

At this moment the Auger commenced to stagger ’round, and vow that he would “let daylight” through every one, when the Lid-of-the-Chest, a slam-bang sort of fellow, came down with a whack, and said:

“Boys, I’m onto the whole crowd.”

And the hush thickened.

— James F. Doyle, from the March 26, 1890, issue of Puck – America’s first successful humor magazine and dug up by the official Lost Art Press burrow owl, Jeff Burks.