Lost Art Press

Using your Tool Chest as a Sawbench

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Though some books decry the act, the archaeological record is clear: Woodworkers used their tool chests as sawbenches.

Many tool chests I’ve examined have edges that have been scarred by saw teeth. And as a woodworker, I’ve also felt the urge to saw upon the lid of my tool chest. OK, confession time: I’ve done it.

The only real problem with using your chest as a sawbench comes if your lid has a traditional raised-panel lid, such as the one on my current tool chest. The problem is that the raised field of the panel leaves some portion of your work unsupported, hanging out and vibrating like crazy when you saw.

The solution, according to Australian woodworker Phil Spencer, is the “Spratling Bead.”

This feature, named after Spencer’s grandfather, Lindsay Spratling, adds a raised bead between the lid and the dust seal that helps support work when you saw it on top of the chest. It also will help support work when you clamp it on top of the chest – something I do all the time.

Spratling was a carpenter and later a woodwork teacher at the former Caulfield Tech in Melbourne.

“I remember when he had his apprentices building their tool boxes he would have them incorporate two raised hardwood strips into the lids running along the edges of the lid,” Spencer wrote in an e-mail. “The idea of the strips was to sit proud of the raised panel and gave the owner something solid to rest a plank on so it could be cut, if the plank was rested on the raised panel it would usually rock.”

I must admit that the Spratling beads are quite clever. And if you think you might saw anything on the top of your tool chest, they would make an excellent addition.

— Christopher Schwarz

Roubo Holdfasts in the Works

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While visiting North Carolina this week, I visited the shop of blacksmith Peter Ross and saw a few of his dang-amazing full-size Andre Roubo-style holdfasts in the works.

I’ve been using this holdfast every day on my bench at home. It is an incredible piece of iron and a great asset when sawing, mortising or planing on my bench. And, best of all, it makes other holdfasts look like pipe cleaners.

Peter says he’s built about a dozen of these holdfasts since he made mine. And though they take a lot of physical effort to produce, the biggest challenge is in finding the material that is suited for a holdfast of this size.

These holdfasts are more expensive than smaller ones – about $385. But the craftsmanship is outstanding, and they function brilliantly. If you cannot swing the price of a full-on Roubo holdfast, I highly recommend the Joseph Moxon-style ones that Peter makes, which hold better in thick benches than any holdfast I’ve ever used, and they have a low profile. Those are more like $80 each. Read my discussion of them here.

You can reach Peter by phone or by e-mail through his web site: peterrossblacksmith.com/.

— Christopher Schwarz

Smythe disclaimer: You’re still reading these? OK, I paid full price. And shipping.

Roy Underhill Reading ‘The Joiner & Cabinet Maker’

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Lost Art Press is pleased to announce that Roy Underhill will be the voice reading our audiobook presentation of “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” which will be released later this summer.

Roy and I have spent the day recording the first part of the original 1839 text, and we will work on the remainder of the book this week. The audiobook will be available for download from LostArtPress.com or as a CD set available from us and our retailers.

The tentative price for the book will be $16 for the download and $20 (plus shipping) for the CD.

We’ve been recording the audiobook at Roy’s cottage in Graham, N.C., where we have taken over his office and covered all the walls with quilts and blankets from his house (apologies to Jane, Roy’s wife). Roy is doing somewhat of a dramatic reading of the text, using different voices for the different characters in telling the tale of young Thomas and his journey of apprenticeship in a rural English joiner’s shop.

The only hitch in the recording so far has been controlling some of the hard “P” sounds with the microphone. We fixed that using a wire hanger and a piece of Megan Fitzpatrick’s pantyhose that she donated for the recording.

You can download a short (and somewhat rough) clip from our recording session for free by clicking below.

JandC_sample

— Christopher Schwarz

Christmas in India

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“Here I must breakfast, tiffin, tea, dine, and sup. Here I must taste – oh! joy of little birds – boiled quails inoculated with green chillies. Here I must know what curry means. From here I must ride, drive, play golf – do what I like. Here, undisturbed, I can write, read, dream, and dose; and here for my special use is set apart that one secret of all Indian luxury and calm, the Indian chair.

“…Here is the easy chair, with a box of cigars by our side, a peg within call, and intellectual men of the world with whom to converse. We from home have doubtless much to say, but we have also much more to learn.”

— Clement Scott, “Pictures of the World” (Remington 1894)

Tool for the Outhouse Trade

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A trip to North Carolina would not be complete without visiting Roy Underhill at the Woodwright’s School and the black hole of my disposable income, also known as Ed Lebetkin’s tool store.

I came to drop off some Lost Art Press Books to for Ed to sell in his store, but I walked out of there owing him money. It happens every time.

The highlight of the visit was the corncob curved drawknife/scorp-like tool that Ed picked up at auction recently. I shudder to think of what dirty job it was relegated to.

I picked up a box of hardware – old brasses and iron chest handles. Plus a complete box of Jennings augers, an old center-finding tool and a homemade layout triangle that was too cool to pass up – I’m a sucker for shopmade layout tools.

Ed’s store is completely full of stuff at the moment, as you can see in the photos. And if you need a corncob scorp (or any other hand tool), drop him a line at edlebetkin@gmail.com.

When I wasn’t giving Ed all my money, I was taking pictures of carver Mary May for an upcoming feature I’m writing on her for Popular Woodworking Magazine.

— Christopher Schwarz