Lost Art Press

Roorkhee Chair in ‘Crazy Horse’ Leather

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We’re starting to stitch and ship out the latest run of Roorkhee chairs to customers. This one – bound for Virginia – is in “Crazy Horse” leather with stitched seams and copper rivets at the ends of the seams.

For the record, no horses were injured in the making of this chair. Cows – not so much.

In addition to stitching this chair and using copper rivets, we made another alteration – we doubled up the leather on the arm straps. I’ve seen it both ways on historical chairs – one-ply and two-ply. I like the doubled-up stuff. So if you are making one for yourself, you might make a sample arm strap to see which you prefer.

The Crazy Horse leather is from Brettuns Village in Maine. It is excellent stuff. Tough. And it comes already dyed and finished. The biggest bonus is it is grippier than the smooth vegetable-tanned leather we use. So if you happen to pass out in the chair (with or without alcohol) you are less likely to slide to the floor in a pool of awkward drool.

— Christopher Schwarz

Classes at Kelly Mehler’s School: Roorkhee Chair & Layout Tools

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Registration is now open at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking for the 2013 season, where I will be teaching two classes. On June 3-7, I’ll be teaching a class on Roorkhee Chairs. And on July 20-21, I’m teaching a weekend class on building precision layout tools.

To register for the Roorkhee Chair class, click here.

To register for the layout tools class, click here.

The Roorkhee Chair class is going to be particularly interesting because of the leatherwork involved. We’ll have an industrial “walking foot” machine with us and riveting equipment so that students can make a very high-quality chair. I think you’ll find the leatherwork skills easy to pick up because a lot of the basics are the same (think: sharpening).

And the layout tool class is always fun – a little inlay, a Roubo try square and a very useful straightedge.

My 2013 teaching schedule takes me far and wide this year – Australia, Canada, Washington state, Connecticut and more. When all the details are final I’ll post a complete schedule.

— Christopher Schwarz

Set a Copper Rivet for a Roorkhee

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Since building my first set of Roorkhee chairs, I’ve been tweaking the details for the set of six chairs I’m working on now.

Most of the changes are in the leather. Instead of riveting the leather, we are stitching and riveting the leather. And we are using different rivets. Instead of rapid rivets, we’ve switched to #9 x 1/2” copper rivets. These rivets take more time to install, but they hold tighter (according to our leather experts) and they are easier to deal with when you are working with leather of inconsistent thickness.

And they are more expensive.

To see how to install them, I shot this short video of my shop assistant, Ty Black, making a sample rivet in some vegetable-tanned leather. There’s also a short clip at the end that shows how we are stitching the leather and riveting the ends.

We are quite pleased with the copper rivets. If you have a Tandy store in your area (or another leatherworking store), stop by and take a look at them.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Delay in ‘Grandpa’s Workshop’

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Because of a shortage of raw materials, “Grandpa’s Workshop” will ship from the printer on Friday, Oct. 12. The book was supposed to be here already, and we apologize for the delay.

The printing plant did not have the boards for the book until today, according to our print manager. The boards are, in book-making lingo, the core of the covers of hardbound books.

With any luck, the book will arrive here in Fort Mitchell, Ky., on Oct. 15 and begin shipping that day.

As always, thanks for your patience.

— Christopher Schwarz

SAPFM Seeks an Editor for ‘Period Furniture’

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The Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) is looking for an editor to its prestigious annual publication, “American Period Furniture.”

The organization seeks an editor who is proficient in both the worlds of writing and woodworking. If you are selected for the job, you’ll be running all aspects of the magazine – both editorial and advertising – plus attending meetings of the organization.

“American Period Furniture” is an excellent magazine; I read the entire thing every year when it arrives in my mailbox. The journal, and the organization’s web site, are why I am a member of the organization. If you are interested in American furniture, it is worth joining – and this is from a person who isn’t a joiner (of organizations). Information on joining SAPFM is here.

If you are interested in applying for the position of editor, you can download the job posting here. Interested candidates can obtain additional information on the job or apply at: SAPFM@comcast.net.

I don’t have any vested interest in this process. I’m not on the search committee – I’m simply a member. And I don’t have any inside information on the position.

— Christopher Schwarz