Lost Art Press

October 1951

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For him there need be no looking back wistfully to days when the toil of workshop or factory or office desk perforce kept his life filled. He will have in his skilful fingers the power to recreate his life anew so long as the power to work remains with him, something in which he can be happy and absorbed and be for ever learning, something too which will enable him to add to the attractiveness of his home and give pleasure to his friends. For woodwork is indeed a homely craft, adapting itself to all sorts of conditions. It can be plain or decorative, it can range from indoor and outdoor furnishings to a child’s toy and the humble window wedge. It can embrace both the classical elegance of an inlaid cabinet and a strictly utilitarian kitchen fitting, and each thing in itself be so honestly and truly made as to be perfect of its kind. It can give a man scope for his fancy and every kind of ingenuity. It will both exercise his patience and add to his serenity, for there is something very kindly about wood. It can keep the spirit of creation alive in him till his tools are put away for the last time, since to us all “the night cometh when no man can work.” But at least he will have lived. And who knows what new possibilities will dawn for him when the night ends?

— The Woodworker, October 1951

Which Workbench? Whatever

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What is the best kind of workbench? It’s simple: Any bench that allows you to easily work on the edges, faces and ends of boards and assemblies. Everything else beyond that is tradition or personal preference.

Those of you who have read my first book, “Workbenches: From Design and Theory to Construction and Use,” might recognize that statement. It’s the core thesis of the book.

I’m repeating it here, five years later, because anytime I teach a workbench class I get asked by readers why I’ve changed my philosophy of constructing workbenches. Why have I abandoned the sliding dovetail joint? Eschewed the wooden spindle? Flushed my thoughts about using pine?

Truth is, I haven’t abandoned or changed a thing about what makes a good bench. Make it solid. Use the best joints you can. Use the cheapest material that is the stiffest and heaviest. Make it as long as your space will allow.

The rest is noise.

So why am I building old-world French workbenches without a sliding dovetail through the top? Because we had to make these benches in five days with limited equipment.

Why did we use French oak for the top instead of Scot’s pine or fir? Because that was what was stacked there when I arrived.

Why are the benches only 2 meters (6’) in length? Because that was the longest size that the students’ shops could handle. Many had to cut their tops down even shorter.

Why didn’t we use a wooden spindle for the face vise? Because we couldn’t find any in Europe that were reasonably priced.

And on and on.

Once you recognize the essence of the problem – the workbench is a 3-dimensional clamping surface – you just need to get there by the best route possible.

— Christopher Schwarz

SketchUp Plans for the Metric Roubo

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France was the first country to adopt the metric system, so a French-style workbench drawn in metric seems appropriate.

I’ve uploaded the SketchUp drawing for the workbench we just completed at the Dictum GmbH workshop to the SketchUp 3D Warehouse. You can download it (free, of course), from the warehouse here and play around with it.

The model includes nine scenes that show the construction process, step-by-step.

— Christopher Schwarz

We Had to Sleep in a Lake

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I’ve been teaching in Germany for the last seven days – three long classes followed by four beers each evening with the students. My liver, and the rest of my internal organs, have requested a holiday. As Lost Art Press doesn’t really have a benefits package, however….

On the last night of class, one of the students named Brian Eve drove me to Munich and I helped him move his completed workbench into his shop. It’s tiny. I’ve seen bigger dust collector bags in my time.

But he makes do. After moving his bench off of the car, I took the short video above so you can see what a really small shop really looks like.

Oh, and in case you don’t read my blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine, that’s where I’ve written about my Bavarian adventures this past week. Here are some links.

1. French Bench. German School. American Teacher. Day 1.
2. Mafell Chain Mortiser. Dang.
3. More Mafell Madness: Day 3 of the Workbench Class
4. My Assembly Tricks for Old World Workbenches
5. Knocking Together a Workbench

I’m in Munich now (it’s Monday, I believe). And this morning I had the best Bavarian breakfast ever with Peter Lanz of Dictum GmbH, and then he took me over to the new Dictum workshop and school in Munich. It’s a third-floor space where Peter is now teaching classes in handwork and machine work, along with another teacher.

Dictum is also planning on opening a store across the hall from the workshop, which will sell tools and be a local hangout for woodworkers. All in all, it sounds like a pretty cool plan.

I fly back to Cincinnati tomorrow and then immediately board a plane with my family for San Diego (sorry spleen, no vacation for you). Somehow day and night will resolve themselves. Someday.

— Christopher Schwarz

Worse than Jet Lag: Unit Lag

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“Imperial units should only be used when measuring general levels of rebel scum.”
— Fake AP Stylebook

I leave for Germany on Thursday to teach three classes at the workshops of Dictum GmbH, one of Europe’s leading supplier of hand tools.

The hardest part of the trip might surprise you. It’s not the food or the beer (duh). It’s not the time difference, the language barrier or even dealing with the completely different cultural woodworking tradition (bowsaws, horned planes, pins-first dovetails, etc).

It’s the metric system.

I don’t dislike the metric system. Far from it. After three years of teaching at Dictum, plus many years of dealing with readers from metric countries, I appreciate its base-10 elegance. But it really jerks around my brain switching back and forth between the two systems. Especially when I get the occasional student who uses Imperial. And don’t get me started on the one who spoke Esperanto.

This year I’ve been getting a jump on the switch to the metric system by spending the last four days writing up all the materials for the class in metric and not using a conversion calculator. It’s like I can almost “speak” metric. Almost.

Now if someone could explain what the German Burger King’s “Long Chicken” sandwich is, I think I’ll have assimilated.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. This blog entry is also a reminder that if you e-mail me or post a comment on the blog that I might not be very responsive. I won’t be back in Kentucky until June 28. And if you are seeking to burgle us in the meantime, you’ll have to deal with the ferocity of Lucy and her four attack pussies.