Thanks everyone. We are now over capacity.
In our excerpt of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry,” A.-J. Roubo offers a recipe for staining wood red using a concoction made using horse dung and urine.
Here’s the recipe:
Before finishing the dyeing of wood, I believe I ought to give a least-costly method of dyeing white wood red, which is done in the following manner:
You take some horse dung, which you put in a bucket of which the bottom is pierced with many holes, and you place it above another bucket, into which falls the water from the dung, as it gradually rots. When it does not rot fast enough, you water it from time to time with some horse urine, which helps a lot and at the same time gives a red water, which not only stains the surface of the wood, but penetrates the interior 3 to 4 lines deep. In staining the wood with this dye, one must take care that all the pieces be of the same species, and about equal in density if one wishes that they be of equal color throughout. This observation is general for all water-based stains, which have no palpable thickness nor even appearance [they leave no residue or any evident change in appearance], which requires the cabinetmaker to make a choice of wood of equal color and a density as I mentioned before.
Woodworker Jonas Jensen of Mors, Denmark, is making this stain and documenting the process on his blog, Mulesaw. Follow along – but be warned, if you don’t like pictures of dung you are not going to like the instructions.
And just a reminder, the standard edition of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” is almost finished at the printer. If you want the book with free domestic shipping, be sure to place your order before Thursday, Oct. 10.
The standard edition is available in the store here. We have some deluxe versions still available, though the supplies are dwindling. Click here for details on the deluxe edition.
— Christopher Schwarz
4. OK, because I like you (most of you, anyway), I’m going to give you the dirt on where to eat in this town. Though Cincinnati seems like a sleepy mid-sized Midwestern city, it is actually a hotbed of fantastic food and drink. I’ve lived here since 1996 and have spent as much time investigating food as woodworking.
So if you want to eat yourself sick, here is my shortlist.
1. Eli’s BBQ. Crap. I let the pig out of the bag. I’ve spent most of my life in the South and so barbecue is more important than a blond-hair blue-eyed Jesus. Eli’s is the real deal. When you go, simply order the pulled pork sandwich with slaw. And get the jalapeno cheese grits. Bring your own beer (it’s OK). And when you are there, pull out one of the vinyl LPs and put it on. It’s all good.
2. Tacocracy. You need a car to get to this taco joint in Northside (one of the neighborhoods north of downtown), but holy mackerel is it worth the trip. The photo above says it all. It’s a taco filled with mac-and-cheese and braised beef.
3. Rookwood. This gem of a restaurant is high above the city in Mt. Adams. It is in the building used by Rookwood Pottery during the Arts & Crafts heyday. The food will kill you – chicken-fried bacon with chipotle honey – and you will die happy. Get the Grippos fries. Eat in a kiln. And ask for Rom – one of the mixologists who is also a hard-core woodworker.
4. Sotto. I so hate to give this to you. This is my favorite place in the world. Buried beneath the streets of downtown, this restaurant is where I have had the best three meals of my life (and I’ve eaten there only three times). Go. Eat what they recommend. Thank me later.
5. A Tavola. I’ve written about this place before. It’s the best pizza in the Tri-state. The owner, Jared Wayne, made all the furniture himself. Everything is as it should be.
And sign up for Woodworking in America, Oct. 18-20. There are 100 more wonderful places to eat in this town. We love our food.
— Christopher Schwarz
In digging through the inventory I found a large plastic trash bag full of shirts. We are already looking at a new design due out for Woodworking in America, but before we have anything else enter my domain we need to blow out the current blockage. In other words I have no more space. To see the shirts click here. All the shirts except the Anarchist Tool Chest editions, are American Apparel stock. The prices have been reduced and include shipping. We are limited in some sizes which you will see when you get to the order page.
john
Not sure how, but I found one copy of “Mouldings in Practice” bound in leather. Depending on how the book sells and when we re-print we may do another batch in leather. It won’t be anytime soon, however.
The book is on the site, so if you would like to purchase it click here. The price is $185, which includes shipping. If you click the link and can’t see the book that means it has been sold.
Best
john