Lost Art Press

Category: Woodworking Classes

2 More Stick Chair Classes Added for 2024

Posted on by Lost Art Press
Irish Armchair in red oak.

We’ve gotten many requests for more stick chair classes this year, so we added two more to the calendar. Both classes will be held at our Covington, Kentucky, storefront and the cost includes all materials and hearty lunches – plus pastries, coffee and tea each day.

Some students have remarked that my classes are equal parts food tour and chair class. You will not leave hungry.

Registration for these classes opens at noon (Eastern) on Wednesday, May 8, through our page at TicketTailor. If you fail to get into a class, I encourage you to get on the waiting list. A couple spots usually open up.

Here are the details:

Irish Armchair: Aug. 12-16, 2024

This chair is one of the two most comfortable forms that I build. Based on Irish examples I’ve studied on my travels, this chair is great fun to build and very strong. Though Irish chairs are not traditionally saddled, we will saddle these chairs for extra comfort. You’ll make every component of the chair, cut all the joints and even have time to apply finish to the chair.

Comb-back in ash.

Welsh-style Comb-back Chair: Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2024

This is the most popular chair I make for customers. It is comfortable and versatile, and it can be configured as a dining chair, an office chair or for relaxing. This comb-back design is based on historical examples I’ve measured and studied on my trips to Wales. Students will be encouraged to customize their chairs with different designs for the hands, shoe and comb. Plus you’ll be able to fit the chair for sitters who are short or tall.

— Christopher Schwarz

Editor’s note: The Ticket Tailor page reads “Register Now”…But you can’t do that. As noted above, the ticket link will be live at noon, Eastern, on May 8.

More Classes with Chris (Near & Far)

Posted on by Lost Art Press

I have two more classes this year that have open spots. One in Germany, and one in Indiana.

I’m teaching people to build the Dutch Tool Chest in Munich July 14-16. You can register and read more about the class here. The class takes place next to Dictum’s lovely Munich showroom and is easy to get to via train. There’s lots of good food and touristy stuff in the area for your family to do while I yell “Schneller! Schneller!” as you dovetail.

The other class is on how to build a peasant cupboard on July 27-28 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. You can read more about the class and register here. This is a fun class because the cabinet construction is the quick part. Then we paint the face frame, learn about spells and engrave them.

I probably will announce two more chair classes for this year in the coming days. One in London and one here. The class here will likely be for an Irish armchair with a saddled seat.

— Christopher Schwarz

Reminder: New Classes on Sale 10 a.m. Eastern

Posted on by fitz
Among the classes on sale at 10 a.m. is Chris Williams’ Welsh Stick Chair Class – we’ll have to dig out our Y Ddraig Goch.

The following Covington Mechanicals classes go on sale today at 10 a.m. Eastern. They will likely sell out quickly – some in seconds – so be ready to register. (But before you do, please check your calendar to make sure you can attend the class for which you want to register).

If you don’t get into your desired class, do sign up for the waitlist – because I can’t remember a class in which we didn’t have to fill at least one slot.

• Comb-back Chair Class with Chris Williams, June 24-28
• Carving Oak – 17th-century Style with Peter Follansbee, July 8-11
• Make a Magic Mora Knife with Jögge Sundqvist, Aug,. 26-27
• Karvsnitt: Chip Carving Scandinavian Symbols & Patterns in Wood with Jögge Sundqvist, Aug. 30-31
• Make a Dovetailed Shaker Tray with Megan Fitzpatrick, Dec. 7-8

– Fitz

Classes are Now Open for Registration

Posted on by fitz

Just a reminder that registration is now open on our ticketing site for classes at the Lost Art Press storefront for the first half of 2024. (We’ll post classes for the second half of 2024 in February).

– Fitz

p.s. If you have questions about the classes, please read our FAQs. If, after reading those, you still have a question, email covingtonmechanicals@lostartpress.com (not the LAP help desk).

Covington Mechanicals Classes, January-June 2024

Posted on by fitz
Paul Murrett, working on a seven-stick stick chair during an early 2023 class.

Next Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, at 10 a.m. Eastern, bench spaces go on sale for January-June 2024 Covington Mechanicals classes at the Lost Art Press storefront. (And we’re excited to announce that both Roy Underhill and Matt Cianci we be once again make the trek to Kentucky to teach!)

We have only eight benches, so classes are – with rare exceptions – limited to six students (which leaves the not-teaching editors here at LAP one bench on which to work). Thanks in part to the small class size, most classes sell out in nanoseconds – for which we are grateful; thank you. But it does mean that it’s best to be ready to hit “register” the split second classes go live on the Covington Mechanicals Ticket Tailor page (and it helps to have a pinch of luck). If a class is sold out, I recommend registering for the waitlist; we end up filling a slot or two from the waitlists for almost every class.

Dovetailed Shaker Tray class, February 2018 (I wish my knees still bent like that, sans pain).

Upcoming classes are:
• Build a Comb-back Stick Chair with Christopher Schwarz, Jan. 15-19, 2024
• Make a Dovetailed Shaker Tray with Megan Fitzpatrick, March 9-10, 2024
• Window Joinery with Roy Underhill, March 23-24, 2024
• Build & Engrave a Shepherd’s Coffer with Christopher Schwarz, April 5-7, 2024
• Build a Traditional Sawbench with Megan Fitzpatrick, April 20-21, 2024
• Saw Sharpening 101 with Matt Cianci, May 18-19, 2024
• Build & Engrave a Shepherd’s Coffer with Christopher Schwarz, June 7-9, 2024

Classes for the second half of 2024 will be posted in February.

Click here to go to our registration site. From there, you can click on each class for more details about it. NOTE: There will be a button on each class page that says “Register Now.” You can click that, but you won’t actually be able to register until 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 25.

Check out FAQs about classes here. If, after reading the FAQs you still have questions, please post a comment here, or email covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com. (These classes are independent of Lost Art Press/Crucible Tool, so please do not email the LAP help desk.)

– Fitz

p.s. There are still 2 spots available in my Shaker Tray class in beautiful Berea, Ky., Oct. 14-15, 2023. Come cut some dovetails with me; I promise to pay more attention to my students than to Woodsy, the new Pine Croft shop cat. (Or I at least promise to try.)