The new cover cloth for “The Stick Chair Book.” We had to switch colors because one of our vendors stopped making the cloth we’ve been using for 14 years.
For the last 13 years, our books were printed on a reliable schedule. Five weeks after we sent a book to press, a semi would show up at my house (in a torrential rainstorm) with pallets of books for us to unload.
During the last 18 months, however, the printing industry has turned upside down. There are crazy paper shortages. Getting the cotton cloth we use for our hardcover books has become impossible. (Holliston stopped making it because it can’t get the raw materials.)
The pandemic is to blame in part. But U.S. printing plants were shutting down and consolidating before the first COVID cough.
What does this mean for Lost Art Press and y’all? Well, we are better off than most small publishers. We have long-term relationships with our printing plants, so we can still get time on press. But the big publishers are bullies, and they are first in line thanks to their fat checkbooks.
So the biggest change ahead is that our books will take longer to come out. In the olden days, “The Stick Chair Book” would be sitting in our warehouse right now. Today, we are negotiating to get it printed in October.
Other changes ahead: We’re going to have to change the cover cloth colors of almost all of our titles in the coming year. So some of our books will look different. We’re switching to more expensive cover cloth, but we hope to hold retail prices where they are. Also, some books will have to use a different paper (I can’t get 70# opaque at a decent price to save my soul). But again, we are opting to use better paper and eat the extra expense for as long as we can.
There are some quick solutions available to our problems. We could print overseas, switch to web-press printing for all our books, use perfect binding and softcover (which are easier and cheaper to do). We could also stop using cotton cover cloth altogether and switch to another cover material (rayon? vinyl?).
None of those solutions appeal to us. So instead, we’re going to keep on the same course. This might result in some books going out of stock for a month or two. And for that I apologize. We are going to do everything we can to stay fully stocked until the industry regains its balance, but I’m sure we’ll make some mistakes.
Sorry that this reads like an automotive recall letter.
Although I’m grateful to spend time with my beautiful wife and three kids – the latter known as The Backseat Mafia™ – cramming everyone into our 14-year-old Volkswagen and driving the 620 miles to our family cabin seemed like Armageddon On Wheels to me. So, I had to be lured in. And boy did Marie know what bait to use: I was promised that we could stop the car whenever along the route to do chair-spotting.
I also wonder where the true Norwegian stick chairs are. We’ve been woodworking for over 1,000 years. We built our country and tradition on wood. I’m sure we’ve got birch sap running in our veins. Thus, there are of course stick chairs being made here, too. Some of them, like the Windsor-inspired Budal Chair, are even considered classics. The problem is that none of them are genuinely Norwegian in either form and origin. So I thought I’d start looking for them, and this trip seemed a good way to kick it off. Here are some of the chairs I encountered:
128 miles from home: Dalen, Telemark
In the traditional region of Telemark lies the small village called Dalen. We stopped here to visit the museum for Norwegian sculptor Anne Grimdalen. Part of the permanent exhibition was a display of her personal belongings. And among them was this staked Brettstuhl. Although the ornamental style of painting is almost quintessentially Norwegian, this is the first time I’ve encountered a chair like this in Norway.
This type of chair is more common in Germany and some surrounding countries. I don’t know much about them, so I got in touch with my buddy and fellow Chair Chatter™, Rudy Everts, who knows more:
Rudy: This is an odd one…. The interesting thing about this chair is that it looks like a Brettstuhl but the construction is different. The first thing I noticed was the stretchers, these are very uncommon for a Brettstuhl to have. In fact it might be the first one I have ever seen with stretchers!
When you look closer, you see the seat is thicker than a normal Brettstuhl and it lacks the cross battens that are so typical for these chairs. So the maker constructed it like a normal stick chair. And added stretchers.
The design definitely draws its inspiration from the Germanic Brettstuhl, but with its own twist. The shapes are more straight and the ornamentation more “Nordic.” A Brettstuhl often has round details in the backrest, flower motifs and so on. And there is usually a hole in the back rest to pick up the chair when not in use. Therefore I would say the chair was made there locally and not imported from the Germanic countries and painted afterward.
454 miles from home: Alvdal, Hedmark
Back on the road again. Next stop: The village of Alvdal, which is another very historical place. The oldest pair of skis known to man was found here, dated back to the year 600. We came here to visit a museum. And while my family went to see the main exhibitions, I scoured the building for chairs. The first one I stumbled across was this one. A freak of nature, begging for attention.
I’m really not sure what to think of it. Except that it looks like a giant insect. The low seat and short back could indicate it being a children’s chair. But that’s hard to say. Although this doesn’t look like the typical fireside chair, history is full of low chairs made for different uses
Each of the four legs are placed at the very edge of the seat. Combined with only a minor splay, this makes the stance of the chair clumsy to me. This combination is however not uncommon. English West Country chairs often look like this. Although it looks more balanced in a full size chair. Here it just looks a a bit wrong to me eyes. Kinda cute, but definitely more weird than wonderful.
So, I went to the café and got myself an overpriced cup of lukewarm motor oil labeled as coffee. Feeling robbed and unwell I looked for a place to sit, when lo and behold, this three-legged charmer made its appearance. Hand planed surfaces, octagonal legs and nicely worn original paint – what’s not to like? The large bevel around the half moon shaped seat also adds elegance. Though I would normally place such a bevel on the underside to make the seat appear lighter and thinner. Then again, it’s exactly these variations and improvisations that make the stick chair form so exciting to me. There’s often an element of surprise. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t.
The rest of the construction was also unusual. Instead of mortising the legs through the seat, they were mortised into three separate battens that were screwed onto the underside. That at least tells me the stool wasn’t hastily put together by a farmer who needed a seat.
Two hours and three ice creams later we all cramped up in the car again and went to find a place to put up our tents. We found a pretty decent spot and called it an early night.
The next morning we rose early. After coffee, bread and brown cheese we hit the road again. I encountered even more vernacular chairs during the following days and miles on the road. Some of them were even not weird at all, just plain beautiful, with some interesting stories to them also.
I’ll share them with you in part two. For all of these and future chair encounters, I’ve set up an Instagram account for you to follow. As always, please share your thoughts and comments on these chairs or chairs you’ve encountered yourself!
Good news and bad news on the Crucible Type 2 Dividers. We will have 101 pairs for sale at our open day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at our storefront.
The bad news: We had to raise the price to $120. Steel prices are going up every time we order, and we are even lucky to have a supplier of steel at this point. I’ll be on hand to show people how to sharpen them (it takes only a minute). If you can’t attend, you can watch this quick video here.
If we have any remaining from this batch of 101, we’ll put them up in the online store next week. (Also, we are making more today.)
Other Important Information for the Open Day
Health and safety: Our ZIP code has just crossed over into the “accelerated” classification for COVID spread, and so masks are recommended indoors. Likely we’ll be wearing them. We ask that everyone maintain 6’ distance – so no hugging Megan or French kissing me.
Blemished books: We have a bunch of them from the last 19 months. Blemished books are 50 percent off retail and are cash only. Sorry, we cannot ship blemished books.
Meet the staff: The entire Lost Art Press staff will be on hand at different times during the day – not just me and Megan Fitzpatrick. That means you might get to meet Kara Gebhart Uhl (our managing editor) or John (co-owner).
We don’t know how many people will show; we hope it’s fun and not a slaughterhouse madhouse.
Proper proportions. This Shaker classic is one of the best examples of how frame components can influence the character of a cabinet. While the board between the doors does not exactly qualify as a face frame stile, that is one of its functions. Contrast its extreme width with the single-board thickness of the rails between the drawers. (Private collection, Paul Rocheleau)
Unlike most kitchen design books, “Kitchen Think” is a woodworker’s guide to designing and furnishing the kitchen, from a down-to-the-studs renovation to refacing existing cabinets. And she shows you how it can be done without spending a fortune or adding significantly to your local landfill.
Yes, there are hundreds of pretty full-color photos of well-designed kitchens, which are organized into 24 case studies throughout the book. They range from the sculptural (kitchens by Johnny Grey and Wharton Esherick) to kitchens of a more recognizable form.
But there’s also a heavy dose of practical instruction: how to build cabinets efficiently, how to make a basic kitchen island, how to build a wall-hung plate rack. Plus butt-saving advice that comes only from experience – like how to maximize space in inside corners, how to scribe cabinets and countertops into odd spaces and how to make sure you’ve left ample space for hardware.
All of this is built on a foundation of research into kitchens from the past. Hiller’s historical perspective on design might just change your mind about what makes a good kitchen.
Widths of door stiles & rails Bottom rails are almost always wider than top rails on old cabinet and furniture doors. Sometimes stiles are the same width as the top rail (before material is removed for fitting the doors), sometimes not – and sometimes they are dramatically different.
Dimensions of face frame stiles and rails (in addition to where they appear) For example, a true period look for cabinets predating the widespread use of mechanical drawer slides requires intermediate drawer rails. Even if you plan to mount your drawers on full-extension slides, you should incorporate rails between them to evoke the look of those that once supported web frames.
Style is cyclical. The pulls on these metal cabinets found in a garage inspired those Lynette Breton made for her mid-century style kitchen. She made the concave handle detail with a router with a shop-made jig, using a rub collar and core box bit. Before using the router, she bored out the center on the drill press to give the bit a place to plunge into. The core box bit removed the remainder of the waste. The process was more nerve-racking than it might have been because she did this routing after painting the cabinets. The pulls in the center are Bakelite with chrome from Vintage Hardware in Port Townsend, Wash. (vintagehardware.com). (Margaret Stevens Becksvoort)
Hardware What kind of hinges were used, and how were they attached? If the doors were hung on butt hinges, were they mortised into the door and face frame, or only into the door? What is the length of the hinge? How wide are the leaves? Are the pins removable or fixed, and do they have finials? What is the finish?
Hardware position Note the distance of the top and bottom (and center, if applicable) hinges from the ends of the door. Note the position of drawer pulls, doorknobs or latches; door hardware was commonly installed approximately halfway or two-thirds to three-quarters of the way up on base cabinet doors and similarly spaced in the opposite direction for upper doors. They were not usually located in the upper or lower corner, as is typical of cabinet doors today.
Set correctly. When we recreated the pantry in Lauri Hafvenstein’s 1917 house, I followed the original pattern Lauri had seen in a neighbor’s kitchen, with inset doors and half-inset drawer faces.(Lauri Hafvenstein)
Are doors and drawers inset, overlay or half inset? Drawer faces were sometimes half inset even though the doors in the same set of cabinets were fully inset.
Moulding profiles It should go without saying that moulding profiles are important. They can vary enormously and are one of the most distinctive and delightful details in a period kitchen. If you cannot replicate a profile yourself, you can usually have it done in the species of your choice by a millwork shop willing to custom-grind knives. Just be sure you order extra, as there will usually be a hefty set-up charge along with the grinding fee, and different batches can have dimensional variations invisible to the eye but great enough to cause headaches during installation.
Edge treatment of half inset drawer faces These may be eased, quarter-round, beveled or moulded.
Graduated. Notice the proportions of door elements in this elevation of a pantry “dresser” from an 1899 carpenter’s guide. (A gift to the author from Charles Bickford)
Proportions of graduated drawers Along with the proportions of face frames and door components, one of the least-noticed and most critical aspects of historic kitchens is the proportions of drawer faces. Many cabinetmakers make the mistake of building all the drawer faces in a stack to the same size. Not only does this look terrible, because when viewed from above (i.e., from normal standing height), the bottom drawer will inevitably look smaller than the rest, and so, out of scale. It’s also not how drawers were traditionally sized. You can make as many adverse comparisons as you like between 19th-century cabinetmakers and the furniture made by those who worked in the golden zone of northeastern American states during the late 18th century, but even oft-maligned Victorians worked with a tradition grounded in classical proportions. This was one of the first and most important lessons I learned from Roy Griffiths in 1980.
Toe kicks. Flush toe kicks were an option in 1927, and still are today. (1927 Universal millwork catalog)
Toe kicks Are they flush (i.e., does the bottom rail of the face frame go all the way to the floor) or recessed? If the toe kick is partially recessed – i.e., if the face frame stiles extend down to the floor with inset toe kicks between them – note the rhythm of this variation. In some cases the stiles are full-length only at the end of each cabinet run, with the kick recessed everywhere else. In others, the stiles may run down to the floor on each cabinet.
You are probably familiar with the reproduction bookcases at Monticello, a portable shelving system designed by Thomas Jefferson for his personal library. The individual boxes could be easily taken apart and temporary fronts were nailed on to protect the books during transport.
And Jefferson did just that when he sold his library to Congress in 1815.
I don’t know what happened to the originals (if anyone out there does, please holler). But there are nice reproductions at Monticello. I’ve built several versions of the bookcases through the years. Once for the library here and many other times for customers. They are a lot of work, but they’re fun (if you like cutting dovetails). Free plans are available here.
This week Mark Firley sent me some photos of another reproduction at Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, which was his retreat from Monticello. These are painted a beautiful red, but most of all the details are similar to the Monticello bookcases.
— Christopher Schwarz
A version I built in walnut and pine for a customer.
