Lost Art Press

Obsessed with H. O. Studley

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Narayan Nayar’s eyes hop briefly off the road ahead and aim right at me.

“Do you think you are an obsessive person?” he asks.

“Um, not really,” I answer. “Do you think I obsess about things?”

“Absolutely,” he replies, returning his eyes to the road.

At first I thought it was an oddball question that came out of the blue during a long car ride. But in hindsight (or perhaps thanks to three beers at dinner), it now makes sense. Because today Don Williams, Narayan and I are on the trail of one of the most obsessed-over woodworking gems of the 19th and 20th centuries: the tool chest of H.O. Studley.

On Tuesday morning we will begin measuring and photographing the famous chest for a book that Don is working on that is tentatively titled: “Virtuoso: The Toolbox of Henry O. Studley.” After years of work, Don has managed to get access to this much-heralded tool chest.

So after Woodworking in America wrapped up on Sunday afternoon, the three of us took off on a car ride to an undisclosed location to visit the chest and and the workbench of this piano and organ maker who worked for the Poole Piano Co. of Boston and died in 1925.

Even in his lifetime, Studley was well known for his tool chest.

“Mr. Studley had for a great many years been in the employ of the Poole Piano Co., and was accounted a rather unusual mechanic,” according to his obituary in The Music Trade Review. “He was the possessor of a set of tools that was the envy of his co-workers, all of them made by himself by hand and some of them beautifully inlaid with pearl and ivory, and which were always proudly exhibited by Mr. Studley to those who showed an interest.”

The chest is quite obviously the result of one man’s amazing obsession with his tools and the chest that holds them. Every tool is perfectly fitted into a compartment – even the small items in the tiny drawers.

And obsessions with the chest have survived for almost 100 years after Studley’s death. Woodworkers have pored over the poster of the chest published by Fine Woodworking. The episode of “The New Yankee Workshop” that features the chest has been analyzed frame by frame. People have built near-replicas or miniatures of the chest. One company – Shepherd Tool – even tried to produce a commercial kit of the chest. Planemaker Wayne Anderson says a photo of the Studley chest is what first inspired him to become a toolmaker.

And now we are set to photograph and measure every square inch of the thing – a rather obsessive chore – for a book that probably will be 18 months to two years in the making.

In fact I shouldn’t even be telling you this – it’s far too early to discuss a project like this. And I can’t tell you much else – such as where we are or who owns the chest. All that I can tell you is that we are staying in a roadside motel (all the chain hotels are full) and we ate a huge meal of … no, that might give something away.

Stay tuned here. We’ll be giving you more details as we obsess over them.

— Christopher Schwarz

WIA Surprise No. 2: Anarchist Tool Chest Art Prints

Posted on by fitz

Just in case you need yet another reason to stop by the Lost Art Press booth at Woodworking in America: we’ll have limited-edition, signed Anarchist Tool Chest art prints for your viewing (and purchasing) pleasure.

There are two prints on offer. One design features a collage of 22 images from “The Anarchist Tool Chest” and a silhouette of the iconic Anarchist’s Square. The other design is a poster-sized version of the “chest design” image on page 354 of the text.

All prints have an imaged area of roughly 20 x 30 inches and are made by me in my studio. And to make things even less straightforward, both designs are available in two formats. Why two formats? Honestly, it’s because Chris had a brain aneurism while trying to decide which format he liked better. Don’t worry—he’s fine now. Mostly.

1: Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308, one of the finest giclée papers in existence. This matte paper seems to absorb light and draws you in like nothing else. The detail, depth and tonality of images printed on it and its velvety texture make it one of my all-time favorites and the gold standard in the fine art print industry:

These sheets are 24” wide by 36” tall, signed at the bottom by both myself and Chris and can be framed like a poster (they won’t be matted and shrink-wrapped version in the photo above). The HPR prints are $80 at the show and will come in a protective bag and rolled in a tube.

2: Canvas Gallery Wrap. These prints are made on a coated cloth canvas, dried, given a protective coating, then stretched by hand onto a wooden frame about 1-1/4″ deep. Images made on canvas have a unique character derived from the surface irregularity of the canvas and the dimensionality of the wrap:

The coating applied to the canvas after the print is made has a slight sheen to it and protects from UV degradation. The wraps can be hung as-is or inset in a frame, offering a very different look on a wall than a traditional framed paper print. These canvas prints measure approximately 20” x 30” and have a black border. They’ll come in a protective sleeve but are a bit unwieldy because they’re mounted on rigid stretcher bars. (They’ll be a great option for those of you driving to Cincinnati). They cost $120 at the show and will also be signed by me and Chris.

We’re bringing a very limited run of all of these prints to WIA: fewer than 50. The prints will be first-come, first serve. And yes, if you buy them at the show we can mail them to you at home (we’ll charge only actual shipping and packaging costs).

After Woodworking in America, we hope to offer these art prints to the rest of our customers. We’ll post details in the coming weeks here on the blog and through the LAP newsletter.

I’ll write a little more on the creation of the ATC images in a later post, but even if you’re not interested in taking one of these prints home for yourself, swing by the Lost Art Press booth at WIA just to see the images produced with greater care and in greater detail than what would ever be possible on the pages of a book.

If there are any questions about the prints, I’m happy to take them in the comments.

— Narayan Nayar, the designer who created the photoillustrations that open the chapters of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”

Principles of Shop Setup

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Setting up a workshop is one of the most daunting tasks we all face. I’ve had readers send me blueprints (yes, real blueprints) to seek my advice and approval. I’ve had people ask to hire me as a consultant. One guy wanted to fly me out to see his potential shop space and discuss his options.

This is not to boast. It is to point out how desperate new woodworkers are for real guidance.

I’ve had the great fortune to see a lot of bad shops – plus a few good ones. Even so, I don’t consider myself an expert on any shop except my own. During my last 20 years of woodworking I have developed a list of principles on workshops that are important to me. You might find them helpful or completely useless. I discuss my own journey in setting up my shop in some detail in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”

In any case, here they are:

1. Your shop can be too large. Large shops turn woodworking into a “walking long distances from tool to tool” hobby.

2. Use work triangles: (jointer + planer + saw) (tool storage + workbench + assembly). It’s how efficient kitchens are set up. It works in woodworking, too.

3. The more complex the system, the more maintenance it requires. The fancier the dust collection system you have, the more time you will spend unclogging it.

4. The more tools/machines you have, the more time you will spend fiddling with tools instead of building.

5. Have dedicated stations for the core processes. Sharpening, for example. Surfacing wood. Ripping wood.

6. The right light is better than lots and lots of light. Having your bench under a north facing window is the best light. Texture is best seen in raking light.

7. Concrete floors + your feet + your sharp tools = sore back and chipped edges. Wooden floors — even CDX plywood floors — are heaven.

8. Try to keep the humidity and temperature level the same as the place where your projects will end up. This will result in fewer warped doors and lids in your finished pieces.

9. Wood collecting is a separate hobby. Your shop should have just enough wood storage for the two or three projects in the pipeline. If you collect wood (and that’s OK), get a shed. Or a barn.

10. Tool collecting is a separate hobby. If you haven’t used a tool in two years, you probably don’t need it.

11. Jig-making is a separate hobby. If your jigs have more than 10 parts (or an integral micrometer) then you probably are a hobbyist jig-builder (and there’s nothing wrong with that). If you cannot remember what a particular jig is used for then you probably don’t need it.

12. My favorite shops have nothing stacked on the floor. Don’t know why.

13. Light-colored walls allow you to use fewer light sources.

14. In the 18th century, shops were many times a room in the house where the family lived. If you think of your shop as a place where you live, you will construct and arrange it differently than if you think about it like a utility area — where your water heater and furnace are.

— Christopher Schwarz

2 Reasons to Visit the LAP Booth: Roubo and Studley

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Be sure to stop by the Lost Art Press booth at Woodworking in America next week. We won’t have a workbench in our booth (I loaned all mine to the event’s organizers). Nor will we have any booth babes (maybe next year).

But we will have a few surprises.

At the top of that list is that we will have Don Williams, the mastermind behind the massive André Roubo translation project and the author of the forthcoming book on H.O. Studley, the piano maker with the legendary tool chest and almost-as-cool workbench.

Don will be hanging out in our booth answering questions about Roubo and Studley and what he’s learned about both men through his research. And if you are nice to him, he might even show you some photos and etchings….

Don will be around the Northern Kentucky Convention Center for most of the event, but if you want to make sure to talk to him, drop by our booth at 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

— Christopher Schwarz