Category: Uncategorized

Demand was stronger than we anticipated for a leather hand-bound edition of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.” We sold out of all of our copies within a couple weeks of announcing the run. So at the request of several customers, we are offering a second run of 26 books at the same price.

This run will be different than the first. The book will be bound by hand by the craftsmen at Ohio Books in Cincinnati, but the leather will be a finely grained black cow skin. The title on the cover and spine will be debossed and foiled with a matte silver (we experimented with several sheens and colors). And the marbled end sheets are a matching black and gray. If you’d like details of the shop that does the binding, check out this blog entry.

Each book will be signed by me and Joel Moskowitz and lettered A through Z.

This is one edition that I am buying for myself.

The cost will be $165 plus $8.50 for priority mail shipping in the United States (foreign orders can get a quote from Sharon using the link below). When the books arrive in May we will list them for sale in the store. If you are interested in reserving a copy, please contact Sharon at sharon@lostartpress.com. Or you can call her at (317) 603-3605. Please note that half of this run of black leather books is already reserved.

As always, it’s first-come, first serve.

We might offer a third run later in the year using a different leather (green or deep red, perhaps). However, there are no guarantees. These books are very expensive for us to carry in inventory. I’m not trying to pressure you, just being honest.

— Christopher Schwarz

We chose a pair of dividers as the symbol for Lost Art Press because they are one of the most useful woodworking tools. They are precise. They don’t require mathematics to use. And they simplify many layout operations.

When it came time to choose a new T-shirt slogan we immediately latched onto a suggestion from George R. Walker, the “Design Matters” columnist for Popular Woodworking Magazine. His suggestion: “Divided We Stand.”

We also took the suggestion from many customers that we offer our T-shirts in black and 100-percent cotton. Done. (The next T-shirts will also be made in the United States – we have found a good supplier.)

In addition to black, the $12 shirts are also available in a stonewashed blue. And we have them in sizes from medium to XXL (there’s a $2 upcharge for XXL).

Click here to check them out.

— Christopher Schwarz

We’re still sorting out a few international transactions today, but we
basically have only one copy left of our leather-bound edition of “The
Joiner and Cabinet Maker.” I’ve removed the item from our store so we
don’t accidentally sell that copy more than once.

If you are interested in buying the last copy, please contact Sharon at sharon@lostartpress.com. Or you can call her at (317) 603-3605. As always, it’s first-come, first serve.

We might do a second run of these special books later in the year if
there’s enough interest. Drop me a line at christopher.schwarz@fuse.net
and let me know.

For those of you who are awaiting your copy of the leather-bound book,
the shipment of books arrived in Brooklyn on Wednesday for Joel
Moskowitz to sign. He is signing them and dispatching them via priority
mail as soon as possible.

Thanks to everyone who ordered this book and the regular edition of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”

— Christopher Schwarz

This is our first and only sale for 2009. Between now and Saturday, Dec. 5, we will offer free shipping on all items on the Lost Art Press web site.

This means free shipping on everything, from “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” to our new (and quite nice) hats. No hidden charges, minimum purchases or handling fees. Heck, you don’t even need a special coupon code or magic words.

Just go to LostArtPress.com and buy what you want. We’ve turned off the shipping charges for these seven days.

This is a good way to get a gift for a woodworker you know, or pick up a hat, T-shirt of one of the few remaining copies of “The Art of Joinery.”

Sorry we cannot give free shipping internationally. In many cases international shipping exceeds the price of the item — an impossible situation for us.

We’re just received the laser proofs from our Maryland-based printing company for “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” and so we’re still shooting for a late October or early November release date for the book.

Though I need to look closely at the proofs this evening for typos and the like, overall I’m pleased with the way the proofs look. All of the scans we made of original source materials (such as Peter Nicholson’s “Mechanic’s Companion,” “Spons’ Mechanics’ Own Book” and early 19th-century price guides) look great. Whew. I was afraid my $99 scanner wasn’t up to the job. The other news to report is that we have just finished mastering a companion data DVD to the “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.” This DVD will contain slideshows and highly detailed 3D construction drawings, and it will work in both PC and Mac computers. Here are more details:

Narrated Slideshows

There are three narrated slideshows on this DVD that you can play on your personal computer (not on a standard television). Each slideshow is a QuickTime movie (a .mov file) that you can play with a wide variety of free media players available on the Web.

Each of the slideshows walks you through the construction of a project in “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” – the Packing Box, the Schoolbox and the Chest of Drawers. The slideshows include color photos that were not included in the book (for space reasons). I think these are great for visual learners, plus they will give you a good overview of the whole process of building each project, and they help amplify the text in the book.

SketchUp Drawings

Also included on this disc are complete SketchUp drawings for each of the projects. These detailed drawings reflect how I built each project and should prove helpful to anyone who wants to become familiar with traditional construction or want to modify the existing drawings to suit their taste.

We’ll be selling this DVD separate from the book for $10. Or you can buy the book bundled with the DVD for $34. And you’ll be able to buy the book alone for $29.

All the people who pre-ordered the book will be given the option to add the DVD to their order (at the bundled price) when the book is in stock.

I guess I should go fetch my dictionary and red pen and get this job done.

— Christopher Schwarz