Progress consists, not in the increase of truth, but in freeing it from its wrappings. The truth is obtained like gold, not by letting it grow bigger, but by washing off from it everything that isn’t gold.
— Leo Tolstoy’s Diaries (1985) edited and translated by R. F. Christian. London: Athlone Press, Vol 2, p. 512.
We don’t discount at Lost Art Press, and we do not plan on ever getting into price wars with competitors.
Because of our personal policies (crazy as they are), we are discontinuing “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” and “The Workbench Design Book.” You can purchase these titles for considerably less from Amazon.com and every other retailer, and so we feel silly offering them at full retail. Our customers are paying a ridiculous premium for a signed copy. That’s not a good value, and we don’t feel right asking full retail.
So we are closing out our inventory of these two books and are going to offer free shipping on them until our stock is depleted. We have 83 copies of “Workbenches” in stock, and nine copies of “The Workbench Design Book.” Update: We are now sold out of “The Workbench Design Book.”
So if you want a signed copy of one of these books by mail, this is a good time to do it.
— Christopher Schwarz
Clear your calendar, save your pennies and make plans to attend the Handworks event May 24-25 in Amana, Iowa. Lost Art Press will be there with books, tool chests and T-shirts.
If you haven’t heard about the Handworks event, head directly to handworks.co and read up. It’s OK, I’ll wait right here while you do that.
…hmmm….
And hey, what do you think? Pretty cool. It’s an amazing list of hand-tool-only vendors. A great barn. No admission. And there is a brewery nearby. What more do you need?
Be certain to register that you will attend by sending an e-mail to register@handworks.co. There are directions and details on the Handworks site.
— Christopher Schwarz
“After he moved to Indiana, and from there to Ohio, Chester (Cornett) again held his raw materials in a gentle embrace as he shaped them, once more using hand tools which were extensions of himself and with which he caressed his loved ones. He could express his feelings and emotions in the things he made, but he seldom displayed affection for people or for those things in the world that seemed beyond his control and inferior in importance to his immediate concerns. The more strongly he attempted to dominate the objects in his environment, the more enslaved he became by them. Freedom was withdrawal. The day would come, however, as he mistakenly thought it had on several occasions in the past, when he might step forth in the world of men bathed in the glory of his brilliant creations. With his wife gone again for the third and apparently the last time, Chester had only himself and his work, with nothing to divorce the two.”
— “Craftsman of the Cumberlands: Tradition & Creativity” by Michael Owen Jones (University of Kentucky Press)
Most students in woodworking classes fall into three categories:
1. Diligent but slow learners. This is the biggest category, and I include myself as a proud member. Nothing about the craft comes easy to these people. Yet, if they spend enough time in their shops building things and refuse to give up, they improve inch by inch.
2. Golfers. This is a small group, but they exist. Every so often I want to take one of these students aside and suggest they take up golf. Usually this is because of an unholy combination of a lack of dexterity, a lack of gumption and (most confusing) a lack of interest in the work itself. I wonder if these students have been assigned to the class on work-release from prison.
3. The naturals. I hate these people (no, not really). Every so often there is a woodworker who is so at ease with the work that everything comes quickly to them — even if it is their first time picking up a chisel. They cut perfect dovetails their first time with a saw. Their mortises and tenons fit without any tweaking. Their breath is rosy even after a dinner of garlic chicken.
Sam Cappo, one of my recent students at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking, falls entirely into category 3. By day he works in the petroleum industry. But with every other waking hour he’s working on his house in New Orleans or building furniture in his tiny shop.
His dexterity with the tools and the work was impressive. And while you could chalk that up to previous carpentry experience, I think that would be selling him short. The kid is a natural. While everyone else was wondering how they were going to get their tool chests assembled in time, Sam was playing around with different dovetailing techniques that would make his work require fewer hand motions.
To my delight, Sam has started a blog called planedetails.com. It is in its beginning stages, but I hope he will persevere and show us his shop and more details of the historic house he’s rebuilding.
Check out his site, and leave a comment to show more cat photos. It will make Megan Fitzpatrick so happy (Sam and his girlfriend make and sell cool cat furniture).
— Christopher Schwarz