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).
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.
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.)
Spend a weekend in October cutting dovetails with me (Megan Fitzpatrick) in gorgeous central Kentucky at the Woodworking School at Pine Croft (with luck, the trees surrounding the school will be a riot of fall color by then!).
It’s a two-day class – Oct. 14 & 15 – in making a classic Shaker silverware tray, with gently arced ends, handholds and, of course, dovetails. And speaking of Shakers – if you’re in the area, why not also plan a day at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.
In the class, you’ll learn:
– Fitz
At the request of readers, we have created a way for you to donate to help fund the two scholarship classes we are holding at Lost Art Press this fall.
In September, we are holding our second Chairmakers Toolbox class with six students. All students are from populations that are underrepresented in woodworking, including women, people of color and those who are gay, bi, trans or otherwise outsiders.
In November, Jerome Bias will lead a class of six African-American woodworkers as they build a blanket chest using hand tools.
I am picking up the tab for the wood and all the lunches during the classes. If you would like to donate to help with the wood or meals, simply click on this link, where you can make a donation with a credit card or with your PayPal account.
You will be able to designate which class the money goes to support, if that’s important to you.
I know that some of you have also mentioned donating tools for Jerome’s class. I’ll talk to Jerome about it and see if we can come up with a mechanism.
Thank you for your understanding and your generosity.
— Christopher Schwarz
We are thrilled to announce that we will offer a scholarship class this fall for six African-American woodworkers that will be taught by our long-time friend and hand-tool woodworker Jerome Bias.
The class will run from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2023, at our storefront in Covington, Ky. The scholarships include tuition, materials and lunch every day. All African Americans are encouraged to apply: men, women, straight, gay, beginners, intermediates, whatever. No previous woodworking experience is necessary. Just a passion for learning the craft.
During the five-day class, Jerome will show students how to build a six-board chest using hand tools, white pine and traditional tapered nails. The chests can be personalized with different mouldings and details on the feet. These chests are fantastic as blanket chests at the foot of a bed or for storing hand tools in a workshop.
But just as important as the chest, students will learn to wield handplanes, chisels, hammers and handsaws – the core tools of a trade shared by many of our ancestors.
Jerome is a talented woodworker, chef and interpreter living in North Carolina. In addition to building furniture, Jerome has worked as an interpreter at Old Salem Museum and Gardens and has studied the life and work of 19th-century African American woodworker Thomas Day. He has also presented his work at Colonial Williamsburg and regularly travels to former plantations to cook traditional meals as a way to enable African American visitors to connect with how their ancestors expressed hope and love while still enslaved.
Applying for the scholarship is easy. Simply send an email to: scholarship@lostartpress.com by Sept. 15, 2023. In the email, please let us know:
We have room for six students in this class. Jerome will select the students from the pool of applicants. As mentioned above, the class includes tuition, materials and lunches during the class. Students will be responsible for travel to Covington and lodging – we are happy to help suggest places that fit your budget.
And don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of tools. We will be able to loan students the essential tools for the class.
Finally, please share this post with any African-American woodworker (or wanna-be woodworker) you know. We want to cast as wide a net as possible.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Whenever we offer scholarships for woodworkers who have been traditionally excluded from the craft, we often hear the cry: Why not offer scholarships based on need? Our answer: We already do that. All of my teaching outside of my shop (Florida School of Woodwork; Marc Adams School of Woodworking) goes to fund need-based scholarships at those schools. I teach for free; all the money goes to scholarship funds. During my career, I have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the Roger Cliffe Memorial Foundation, which supplies woodworking scholarships for veterans and people who face financial hardship. So please, before you take a swing at us, please know that we seek to help anyone get into the craft. These scholarships are just one of the ways we do it.