Lost Art Press

Category: Woodworking Classes

A Modest Proposal to Get Some Amazing Lumber

Posted on by Lost Art Press

midwest_teak_IMG_1970

The following idea is a long shot and likely to end up being a pain in my butt. But here goes.

For those of you signed up to take my class on building a campaign chest in May at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, one of the biggest challenges is coming up with wood that is worthy.

Frank David at Midwest Woodworking in Norwood, Ohio, has a good stock of wide stock (including hineyloads of mahogany) that is gorgeous, old and fairly priced.

If I can get enough people interested, I’d be happy to try to arrange a visit to Midwest on the Friday before the class begins, May 3. You can pick out the stock that suits your fancy and your budget. You’ll get to see the very awesome Midwest Woodworking lumber stores. And, if you’re not too weird, we can all go to Gordo’s afterward for a great burger and an even better beer.

I promise you that you will be glad you made the trip.

Yeah, I know that this might be impossible for some students who are coming from long distances.

No, I can’t pick out wood for you. I can barely even pick out wood for myself.

Yes, you can come and purchase wood even if you aren’t signed up for the class.

No, I can’t pick out your wood for you and bring it to the class or drop it off at your house.

Yes, you can bring your truck and buy all you want (bring cash. American dollars).

No, I can’t send you photos of some of the boards and purchase them for you.

Yes, you can eat a hamburger from Gordo’s with goat cheese and grape compote and still call yourself a man.

No, I can’t transport your lumber to Indiana for you (I have only a little car).

Midwest is a jewel of a place. If I had any sense I’d never talk about it on the blog, never tell any of my friends about it, and deny it even exists. But I’m an idiot. So come take advantage of my idiocy.

If you are in, send me an e-mail at chris@lostartpress.com.

—   Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Honestly, I can’t buy lumber for you. Or transport it. Or store it. Or cut it. I can barely wipe myself. If you need wide mahogany for the class and can’t find any, call Wall Lumber in North Carolina. Or Irion in Pennsylvania.

Rust Hunting in Australia

Posted on by Lost Art Press

infill_mathison_IMG_5128

I always enjoy tool sales, such as those put on at the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association, but after years of attending them, surprises at these shows are few and far between.

So it was quite a rush to attend a tool meet put on by the Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia this morning. There were so many tools and brands that I’ve never seen before. I stayed until they started packing up the boxes to leave.

What’s different? Plenty.

  1. Common Stanley stuff was pretty expensive. While you could still find garden-variety bench planes for $50 or so, the 19th-century Stanley planes were crazy expensive – like $250 for a Type 8 No. 7.
  2. Some expensive stuff in the U.S. was cheap in Australia. I saw a Millers Falls No. 42 coping saw for $2. Tons of Swedish Eskiluna chisels for almost nothing. Sweet combination squares (in Imperial measurements) for less than $20.
  3. Used Japanese tools. Thanks to Australia’s somewhat closer proximity to Japan, they actually get a fair amount of used Japanese tools imported into the country. I saw many beautiful Japanese chisels for $15 each. I didn’t dare buy one because I don’t know any of the names.
  4. Infills, infills, infills. They were everywhere. I saw Norris, Mathison and a bunch of other lesser makers. There was an unused shell casting ($55). Lots of shoulder planes and bullnose planes, many in gunmetal. Two panel planes. And infill mallets ($55 each).
  5. Buttloads of cross-peen hammers. I think I saw 50 or 200, I can’t remember. Most were going for about $20.
  6. Very few moulding planes. Unlike U.S. shows, there were hardly any moulding planes. I saw one beat-up beader. One hollow. A few wacky profiles.

In any case, it was great fun poking through all the piles of rust. I could have stayed for another three hours and still not seen everything I wanted to pick up and play with.

I did buy one small item – a wooden architect’s triangle made from boxwood and very cleverly joined.

— Christopher Schwarz

12 Tool Chests, 5 Days, 1 Tired American

Posted on by Lost Art Press

melbourne_chest_complete_IMG_5116

When I teach woodworking classes, I am sometimes asked the following question: Do you consider yourself first a writer or a woodworker?

I don’t have an answer to that question. I have to do both things just about every day to feel human. And so I usually answer the question by saying: I don’t know. But right now I’m… (pick one) thirsty, tired, bloated, crampy, malodorous or oblong.

But today I was tired. Only tired (and a little oblong).

This evening we wrapped up five days of building “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking in Australia. This is, hands down, the furthest that all the 12 students have come to completing the project. Almost all of the students had their lids glued up and were adding the dust seals when we called it quits. A couple students still had to glue up their lids, but that was more by choice than because it was 5 p.m.

There are two reasons we made it so far. First, I changed a couple simple things about the course with the dovetail layout and the cutting that saved us almost an entire day. Read my blog entry here for more details on that.

Second, the students were relentless. It was honestly unlike anything I had seen before in any class. They worked like dogs during the day (barely stopping for lunch) and we had to shoo them out in the evening. Also notable: They saw, hammer and plane much faster than Americans, Canadians or Europeans. Faster is not always better, but their swifter pace was noticeable.

So now I am about 90 percent prone in my hotel room with a beer from Coopers Brewery at my side. Tomorrow I’m off to a meeting of the Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia and then to visit the shop of toolmaker Chris Vesper.

It’s all enough to make you “dry as a dead dingo’s donger” (my new favorite idiom) and need a second beer.

— Christopher Schwarz

Off to Australia – Spots Still Open in my Classes

Posted on by Lost Art Press

ShakerCabinet

By the time you read this, I will be on my way to Melbourne, Australia, for three weeks of teaching and building at the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking, which is run by Alastair Boell, a graduate of Boston’s North Bennet Street School.

I’ll be teaching four classes there, including a full-size tool chest from “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” a Schoolbox from “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” and an authentic Shaker wall cabinet.

Curiously, there are still six openings in the class for the Shaker cabinet March 25-26. That class almost always fills up pronto when I teach it in the States and Germany. Perhaps some Australians are leery of building a piece of furniture from an odd religious sect. So let me make the following very clear:

During this two-day class, we will not be practicing sexual abstinence. No one will be abstaining from intercourse during the entire two days.

The Shaker cabinet class is a great introduction to the principles of hand joinery. We’ll process stock by hand, cut dados and rabbets by hand and learn a lot about nail technology and fitting doors.

If you have those days free, you can sign up for the class here.

There also is one opening in the tool chest class. Details here.

During the last two weeks, I’ve received a lot of advice on making the 16-hour flight across the Pacific. Here are three perspectives:

1. Slow down a couple of days ahead of the flight. Eat lighter foods, avoid a lot of salt and fat.  Hydrate (not just beer). Do your normal exercise. Once on the aircraft, use anti-bac wipes and clean your tray table, etc. If anyone hands you a bottle, wipe it. Keep drinking water and avoid alcohol (if you can). Move around as much as you can. If you can’t walk around then do whatever you can to stretch/move your body as much as you can. About halfway through the long haul go to the restroom and do a quick wash (I take a small wash cloth & towel along in a plastic bag), change underclothes (that would be your drawers), socks, brush teeth, put in moisturizing eye drops, etc. and you will feel much better.

2. Take some fried baloney sandwiches with you, about six to eight will do. Swill as much beer as they will give you. Take your shoes off, put on some fuzzy slippers, put the seat back as far back as possible and pass out with your mouth wide open. But don’t ask the flight attendant which channel has “the porn.”

3. Drugs. Lots of drugs.

I am planning on using all three strategies.

I hope to post a few blog entries while down there, so be sure to check back during the next three weeks.

— Christopher Schwarz

Two Quick Notes on Atlanta and Tools

Posted on by Lost Art Press

dutch_travel_IMG_4638

Due to my stupidity with the Julian calendar, I have mis-blogged.

I will be at Highland Hardware this Saturday and teaching a class there on Sunday. I will not be there on Friday, Feb. 1, as I stated before. My mistake.

At Highland, I’ll have the Dutch tool chest, the Milkman’s Workbench and a frightened look in my eye. I haven’t been out in public much since Woodworking in America. So be gentle.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Also, I noticed that Ray Schwanenberger has more vintage tools up for sale on his site. Check it out if you haven’t already.