Lost Art Press

Sticker Set No. 11 from Lost Art Press

Posted on by Lost Art Press
All three stickers in the set.

I am happy to tell you that my daughter Katherine is now selling the following stickers in her etsy shop. This sticker set features three images on 100-percent waterproof vinyl material. The stickers are sold as a set. We cannot sell individual stickers (sorry).

The Return of “Sharpen This”

One of our most popular (and notorious) stickers was this image of a bony hand making a gesture superimposed on a sharpening stone. With the publication of the new book, “Sharpen This,” we received a lot of requests for the sticker. We decided to go even further. This sticker fits on the cover of “Sharpen This” book and covers its diestamp. So your sticker becomes the image on the cover.

Build Instead of Buy

This sticker combines two of our favorite things. The expression “Build Instead of Buy” is the ethos behind “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” The image is the first known pictorial representation of a stick chair. It’s a 12th or 13th century drawing from a Welsh book of laws. It also proves that stick chairs predated Windsor chairs by at least 300 years.

Rest for the Weary

We also brought back one of our favorite stickers that is based on an image I modified from a banner of the Fancy Chair-makers. Illustration from the Memoir prepared for the celebration of the completion of the Erie Canal by Cadwallader D. Colden, 1825. Instead of a fancy chair, I put in a silhouette of my favorite stick chair from St Fagans.

The stickers ship out in an envelope. Domestic orders are $10 with shipping included. They ship USPS first class. International orders ($12 with shipping included) go airmail.

You can order here.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. This is Katherine’s first time fulfilling stickers, so please be a little patient as we work out the system together.

My Personal Sharpening Kit

Posted on by Lost Art Press

We are filming a full-length video to complement my “Sharpen This” book. Megan is filming it, and I am editing it. The video will be available next month.

One of the film’s many segments is about my personal sharpening kit. You might find the information interesting. Plus, this short video will give you a feel for the level of immaturity in the video as a whole. Serious information. But with a bit of levity. 

As mentioned in the video, all of this equipment is mine. I bought it. Paid full price. And so I have stuff to say about it – good and bad.

Here are links to the products mentioned in the video. I do not get any kickbacks from these links. I chose these suppliers because I use these suppliers. Yes, the last two links are to our store.

I suspect that this blog entry will kick off a lot of questions along the lines of: Could you compare this brand of fart sharpener to a second brand? And the answer is: no, not reliably. I have used a lot of systems. But comparing them in a meaningful manner is beyond the scope of most humans. 

Here’s what I can say: All the systems work. You get what you pay for. Buy from a reliable manufacturer that stands behind its products. And complexity is not your friend.

— Christopher Schwarz

Praise for ‘The Belligerent Finisher’

Posted on by Lost Art Press
One of John Porritt’s chairs. Inspired by Welsh and other vernacular chairs.

Touching a surface that had been gently used for hundreds of years is something that cannot be easily replicated. And so, for the most part, I’ve never attempted it. 

Why? I’ve seen hundreds of new pieces of furniture that have been “aged” through chemical and physical abuse. And to be honest they reminded me of people who had also been through those kinds of abuse. Empty – and a bit wanting.

It wasn’t until I met John Porritt, a professional chairmaker and finisher, that I encountered surfaces that had the same magical quality of an antique from 1790. It’s not that John was trying to fool me with his finishes. John was completely upfront about his work. But his finishes had the same spirit of old work. 

Arm detail.

Everything – and I mean everything – has been mellowed. Nothing shouts or screams or insists upon itself. The surfaces are there. They are believable. And they feel… human.

That’s because they are made with great care and zero cynicism.

Most surprising was the amount of careful burnishing that goes into John’s work. After three seconds of thought, this should be obvious. Furniture surfaces aren’t just abraded by the years of use. They are also gently compressed by everything from your tailbone to the rivets on your pants.

A pot scrubber for burnishing.

The tools for burnishing are pretty simple. A couple deer antlers. The shaft of a screwdriver. A chainmail pot scrubber and a few special pebbles. But what isn’t simple is how they are applied during the process and how often. Burnishing isn’t like a seal coat of shellac (“And now we burnish!). Instead it is an ongoing process throughout finishing. Different amounts of burnishing on different areas of the piece.

The subtle glow and shine that results from the work is its own reward.

The underside of a seat.

Also fascinating is how John applies and removes color. Again, color isn’t just a single stage in the process. It is added and removed (using a variety of simple processes) to produce surfaces that are almost luminous, and that fade into the surfaces above and below the color.

If all this sounds too complex or way over your abilities, it’s not. Nothing in “The Belligerent Finisher” is difficult. Or beyond the ability of a passionate beginner. Indeed, it is the combination of these simple and individual steps that is the genius of John’s work.

John’s shop in Upstate New York.

If you know my work, you know I make no effort to tone down the crisp lines and newness of my work. I do this out of honesty. But at the same time, my goal is to create work that reduces your blood pressure (read the chapter “Seeing Red” in “The Anarchist’s Design Book”). So John’s work has me thinking – a lot.

With one of my recent chairs I started burnishing its surfaces, much like he describes in “The Belligerent Finisher.” It wasn’t difficult. It was actually pleasurable. And after some paint and black wax, I could feel the difference the burnishing made. Everything was just a little more wanting to be touched.

I’m not one to make sudden changes in my work. I am completely iterative. But I can feel John’s ideas scratching at the back of my brain. His chairs and his surfaces are just too beautiful to ignore. 

“The Belligerent Finisher” is both a revelation and a bargain at $21. You can read it in an afternoon. But it will stick with you for a lot longer.

— Christopher Schwarz

For Sale: Walnut Comb-back Stick Chair

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This six-stick comb-back chair is one of the four chairs I built during the filming of our “Build a Stick Chair” video. It features a squarish back, 14 sticks and details found on many of my favorite Welsh chairs. (I wouldn’t call this a Welsh stick chair, however.)

This chair is set up for general use. The back leans 11° off the seat, and the seat is tilted 6°, so the back leans 17° off the floor. The seat is 17” above the floor, which is a good height for most sitters. Overall, the chair is 38-1/2” tall and is 19-3/4” tall at the arms. 

The hands of the chair feature through-tenons that have been shaped pyramidal. The stretchers also use through-tenons, which add strength to the chair’s undercarriage. 

Like all my chairs, the joints are assembled with hide glue and oak wedges, so the joints are strong but can be easily repaired by future generations. The walnut is finished with a home-cooked linseed oil/wax finish that has no dangerous solvents. The finish offers low protection, but it is easy to repair by the owner with no special skills or tools.

Purchasing the Chair

This chair is being sold via silent auction. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.) If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday, Sept. 30. In the email please use the subject line “Chair Sale” and include your:

  • First name and last name
  • U.S. shipping address
  • Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
  • Your bid (don’t forget this…)

Shipping options: You are welcome to pick up the chair here in Covington, Ky., and also get a free yardstick and pencil. I am happy to deliver the chair personally for free within 100 miles of Cincinnati, Ohio. Or we can ship it to you via LTL. The cost varies (especially these days), but it is usually between $200 and $500. 

— Christopher Schwarz

How to Hone Slightly Curved Blades

Posted on by fitz
The unused edges of a sharpening stone are a great place to do the dirty work of rounding the corners of the iron.

The following is excerpted from “Sharpen This,” by Christopher Schwarz. I chose this section because I get asked more about smoothing planes – specifically why they leave plane tracks – than anything else sharpening-related in my classes. I’d say that 80 percent of the time, the “problem” is a blade that has no camber. Here’s how to put one on the blades for a smoothing plane and jointer plane (a shallow curve).

– Fitz

The blades for my smoothing plane, jointer plane and block plane have slightly curved edges so that the corners of the iron do not dig into the wood and create “plane tracks.” Plane tracks are the ugly ridges left behind by the cutter’s corners.

To create a slight curve, begin with a blade that has been ground straight across. The curve is generated on the honing and polishing stones.

The first step is to round over the corners of your blade. I do this on the edges of my honing stone.
Why the edges? Because this process cuts a deep gouge in the stone, so the stone’s edges are a good place for it.

For most plane irons, I divide them into five stations. Narrow blades (such as block plane blades) have three stations.

The result is that the corners are rounded over with a small radius – about 1/16″ radius.
Now install the blade in your honing guide. To create the curve for the first time on a straight edge, mentally divide the edge into five “stations” along the tool’s edge. One station is in the middle of the edge. One at each corner. And two more between those points.

With the tool on your honing stone, put firm finger pressure on one of the corner stations and take 12 strokes. Then put firm finger pressure on the opposite corner station and take 12 strokes. Now put your finger pressure on one of the intermediate stations and take six strokes. Switch to the other intermediate station and take six more. Finally, put your finger pressure on the center station and take two strokes.

Remove the tool from the honing stone and check for a burr. If you have a burr, hold the tool up in front of your face with a strong backlight. Place a small straightedge on the tip of the edge to see if the edge is curved. If you cannot see a curve, there’s a fair chance your stone isn’t flat; it’s convex across its width. Flatten the stone (see Chapter 9) and try again.

The curve on a No. 3 smoothing plane. In short order you will get a feel for how much curve each tool requires.

How much of a curve should there be? It depends on the width of the iron and the angle at which the iron is bedded. If you see a curve, continue onto polishing.

Put the tool to use and see if the curve is working (meaning there are no ugly plane tracks). If the curve is too shallow (plane tracks, argh), hone the iron with more pressure at the corners to increase the curve.
If the curve is too pronounced (where the iron will take only a narrow, thick shaving in the middle) then hone again with more pressure at the center station.

The curve on a No. 8 jointer plane. Aggressive handplanes require more curve.

For freehand sharpening of curved blades, I press one corner of the bevel to the stone. Then I raise the back end of the tool 1/8″. As I pull the tool toward me, I also shift the pressure on the bevel to the center of the edge and then to the other corner.