Lost Art Press

New Download: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest DVD

Posted on by Lost Art Press

OK, after a technical hiccup, we have this worked out.

The 60-minute movie about the tools in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” is now available for instant download in our store for $8. The download includes all the extras available on the DVD: the slideshow of the step photos, the SketchUp file and a text document that further explains some of the tools I chose and why.

This purchase is available for domestic customers through this link. International customers can also purchase this by sending $8 via PayPal to john@lostartpress.com. You will then receive a link to download the files.

Note that this download is a big file – 700 mb – so it will take some time when you order it. The download is one file – a zipped file. After you download it, it will decompress into a folder containing the video (an .mov file) plus the extras.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Box Inside a Box that’s Inside a Box…

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Whenever visitors stop by, they look at the secretary I’m building, scratch their heads and say something like: “I don’t get how this works.”

So here is a photo of the secretary’s gallery inside the top drawer, which is missing its drop-front right now. I think this project is starting to look like something.

As I was fitting the gallery inside the top drawer and fitting the top drawer inside the carcase today, I had an odd thought: How do people do this process with only power tools? It’s not a snide remark, really, just my plain ignorance. I’ve never fit a drawer with power tools, so I have absolutely no clue how it’s done.

I think I know what my old boss, Steve Shanesy, would say: Build it right, and it will fit perfectly the first time.

But I know that’s not typical. Even a little bit of bow or wind can jam a drawer.

The only thing I could come up with is using a dull block plane and then sanding away the tool marks. And I once saw cabinetmaker Troy Sexton fit a drawer on a 8” jointer – no lie – and he wasn’t even wearing Depends.

Surely one doesn’t use a belt sander?

— Christopher Schwarz

Shipping Update on ‘Make a Joint Stool from a Tree’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

More than half of the orders for “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” were dropped into the mail stream on Saturday. Then we ran out of packing material.

We spent all day Saturday trying to find the corrugated material that we’re using for this oversized book, but all the vendors we use were sold out. Luckily, one of the vendors was right by a store that sold growlers of beer. We bought a growler of Sierra Nevada’s “Ruthless Rye,” so the day was not an entire loss.

We have more packing material on the way and shipments will resume on Monday.

All our technology did do a bad thing, however.

A handful of people who bought “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” in 2011 will be receiving a copy of the joint stool book. If you get one of these books in error, could you please send an e-mail to John Hoffman at john@lostartpress? He’ll e-mail you a return label for the book. Our apologies in advance for this mistake.

— Christopher Schwarz

Joint Stool Book Arrives (Right Before the Tornado)

Posted on by Lost Art Press

With the weather looking awful today  – heavy thunderstorms with a chance of locusts – I knew the joint stool books would arrive from the printer. That’s why Lost Art Press has invested heavily – perhaps more heavily than any other publishing company in the world – in plastic tarps.

Sure enough, as large drops of rain began to fall, the truck pulled up to the driveway.

Luckily, the driver was strong, affable and good with a pallet jack. And thanks to our extensive investment in infrastructure (e.g. more tarps), all the books are now under roof.

We will start packing them up tonight and the first batch will go into the mail tomorrow.

“Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” looks good. The printer did a nice job. And the dust jacket – designed by woodworker, designer and printer Wesley Tanner – is the icing on the cake. Thanks Wesley.

In addition to the new size – 9” x 12” – the full-color printing and the dust jacket, there are a couple other changes you might notice. Each book is shrink wrapped to protect it. And we are using a new custom corrugated package to mail the books. They’re ribbed for protection.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did. I can’t wait for you to read it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Update on our Upcoming Books

Posted on by Lost Art Press


Now that “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” on its way here, we have many readers asking about the other titles that are in the works here.

Before I do that, let me say that we don’t operate like a traditional publishing company with a publishing schedule. We don’t release a book until everyone – me, the author(s), the layout artist – are happy. So I might tell you a date that we hope to have a book complete, but it will always be a guess.

So with that said, here’s where some, but not all, of our projects are this morning.

“Mouldings in Practice” by Matt Bickford. This will be our next book this year. The book is written and edited. The photos are processed. The hundreds of illustrations are converted to a publishable format. We have a design template, and the designer, Linda Watts, is starting to put all the pieces together on the page. I hope to send this book to the printer by the end of March.

“To Make as Perfectly as Possible” by Don Williams. As many of you know, this project stalled temporarily when one member of the translation and review team had to tend to some important personal business. Things are moving forward again, and the goal is to have this book ready for Christmas. Don has a new blog entry ready on the project that I will post this week.

“By Hand & Eye” (tentative title) by Jim Tolpin and George Walker. Jim and George are hard at work on this book – I’ve been following their collaborative process in GoogleDocs. This book is due in my hands in June. We hope to have this ready for 2012 as well.

We have lots more projects in the works, including two books that I’m writing myself and several projects that I can’t even talk about for competitive reasons. One of these books has been in the works here in my living room for two years and involved a network of helpers here in the city. It should be big – literally – maybe a five-pounder.

Now I’ve got to get back to the shop. I have to finish that secretary in less than two weeks. If I don’t respond to your e-mails quickly, that’s why.

— Christopher Schwarz