Lost Art Press

Nobody’s Business and Half Done

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System is not work, but is simply a law of action for reducing work. It does not require special executors, but permits few to accomplish much. It loads no man with labor, but lightens the labor of each by rigidly defining it. Hard work begins when system relaxes. System never, under any circumstances, interferes with variations in human action, but includes them. Elasticity is not a quality of system. Comprehensiveness is.

System is the result of two rigid laws: a place for everything and everything in its place, and specific lines of duty for every man… .

In many shops half the things are everybody’s business and never done; the others are nobody’s business and half done.

— James W. See, “Extracts from Chordal’s Letters” (American Machinist, 1880)

Joint Stools Built by Readers

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“Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” has been out a while now, so once you’ve digested  your copy, go get at some oak and let us see what you came up with. Hopefully summer will let go soon, so the heavy work of busting open a log won’t seem so daunting. I know I have cut back on what I have tackled during the heat and humidity.

Here is a stool sent in a while ago by reader Larry Barrett:

Here’s what Larry had to say:

“Attached are a few photos of joint stools, carved boxes and chairs – all made thanks to things I have learned from you both, either via your new book, Peter’s blog or classes with Jennie.  I have a good sized black (or maybe red) oak and a chestnut oak on the ground so there may be more to come.”

We’re thrilled to see this sort of work, so keep them coming. If you are working your way through the joint stool book, send me some stuff. We’d love to see it.

— Peter Follansbee, one of the authors of “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree”

Introducing Lost Art Press Love Wax

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If you have a tool that generates heat – and who doesn’t? – then you know the power of regular lubrication.

But with lubrication comes the loss of your source of lubrication.

How many times have you said the following to yourself:

“My plane sole is so hot and hard to push that I need to wax it up with some copious globs of paraffin. But gosh, I cannot find my block of paraffin. I wonder where I put it?”

And so, like the prison movies that inspired “soap on a rope,” Lost Art Press brings you: Love Wax. Yes, it might look like a simple piece of Gulf Wax from the local Kroger that has been crudely hacked into a heart shape and then bored with a Forstner after a couple beers and then stamped with the Lost Art Press shop mark and then threaded with some leather left over from a run of Roorkhee chairs, but it’s not.

It’s your never-lose lubrication solution.

Put the adjustable leather strap around your neck. Nice. And when that plane sole gets too hard for your pretty little arms to push, cup your hands around the ergonomically designed piece of specially impregnated love wax. It’s waiting right there, next to your heart.

And with long strokes, rub the love wax on the the rough, too-hot-to-handle sole. Rub some extra in the corrugations in the sole – if you’re coo-coo enough to have them.

And there, isn’t the pushing all the easier now? We thought so.

I’ve Made a Huge Mistake

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“The things you own end up owning you.”
— Tyler Durden, “Fight Club.”

I am not a wood collector. After you finish reading this blog entry, however, you’ll probably call me a liar.

Yesterday I and a couple friends filled a 17’-long U-Haul truck with wood and drove it three hours to my home, where it sits outside my house this morning. The wood came from the basement of a woodworker who is winding down his craft. It is stuff he amassed during the last 20 years.

He approached me a few months ago about buying it, and I resisted. I never like to buy wood unless I have the project ready to build. Why? Oh there are so many reasons.

1. I don’t have the space to store wood. Every scrap of storage space in our house is given over to books – the basement, the guest bedroom, the sunroom, the garden shed.

2. I think you get a better color match if you use wood that all comes from the same tree. It’s easier to get it from the same tree if you buy small quantities right when you need it.

3. When I have had a stock of wood sitting around, I find that I always end up with too much or too little wood for what I need. So I end up buying more (with a poor color match) or having little bits of waste sitting around. And I have no space for that.

I could go on and on. But the question of the day is why did I say “yes” to this guy after saying “no” to similar offers since 1993?

It must have been the 30”-wide clear cherry and the 20”-wide walnut. People do dumb things for wide wood. And so Megan Fitzpatrick, Ty Black and I spent all day yesterday loading up this huge U-Haul truck. Today I will spend all day unloading it. Sorting it. Making a pile of stuff to burn through the winter.

I don’t feel like I own this wood – it owns me and I don’t like that. Already I’ve started looking for specific projects for these pieces. Megan needs walnut for a blanket chest. Ty needs mahogany for a drawing table. We need bookshelves galore.

But right now, I need two ibuprofen and some clean gloves.

— Christopher Schwarz

Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You

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All of the pre-publication orders of “Mouldings in Practice” have been packaged and labeled – they will all be in the mail stream by lunchtime.

The photo above shows about one-third of what we boxed up on Monday. The other two-thirds are in the truck or already with the U.S. Postal System.

I think you’ll enjoy Matt Bickford’s book, which I can recite almost by heart by now. While the information is golden, we’re also happy with the printing and binding, which was done in Michigan.

Several readers have asked for details on where this book will be available for sale, plus the electronic edition and the leather-bound versions. So here’s a quick update.

1. Stockists: “Mouldings in Practice” will be carried by Lee Valley Tools, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and Tools for Working Wood in North America. In the United Kingdom, Axminster and Classic Hand Tools have agreed to carry it. Please note that whether or not a retailer carries a particular title is a decision made by the retailer – not us. If you would like your retailer to carry the book, let them know.

2. Digital Versions: We are converting “Mouldings in Practice” to both ePub and Kindle versions. I do not know when they will be ready, however. When they are ready, they will be available to international customers and will be DRM-free, of course.

3. Corinthian Leather: There will be a leather-bound version of the book for sale. I’m taking the unbound book blocks to the bindery today. Once we settle on the details we will put the book up for sale in the store. It will be first-come, first-serve. There is no waiting list or special VIP list or list of people who have bribed us with beer and saucy photos. But perhaps there should be. No, no. Scratch that. There is no list.

4. Signed Editions? These books are not signed by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. If you want one signed by him, I highly recommend you take one of his classes or catch up with him at one of the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events.

— Christopher Schwarz