You can watch it here. Or if you missed the livestream, you can watch a recording of it here.
Jan.-June 2022 Classes at LAP
Though we’ve dialed back the number of classes we’re offering at the storefront, we do have a few scheduled for the first half of next year (mostly because Chris is kind to me and – despite the havoc a class wreaks on his shop and life in general – knows I a) love teaching and b) need to feed my cat). We might be adding no more than two classes in the upcoming weeks…but I didn’t want to hold off any longer on announcing these.
The classes will go on sale on Monday, Nov. 29 at 10 a.m. Eastern, through our Ticket Tailor portal. Even though there’s a big “Register Now” button alongside each class at that link, you cannot register until 10 a.m. on Nov. 29. But you can read more about each class, see the estimated stock price, etc., if you click through.
Notes:
1) You must have had the Covid vaccine to attend a class at our shop
2) Please email covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com – not the LAP help desk – if you have questions about classes.
• Build the Anarchist’s Tool Chest with Megan Fitzpatrick; February 21-25, 2022 ($975 + stock fee)
• Make a Carved Oak Box with Peter Follansbee; March 28-April 1 ($1,400 + stock fee)
• Build a Dutch Tool Chest with Megan Fitzpatrick; May 6-8 ($425 + stock fee)
• Make a Dovetailed Shaker Tray with Megan Fitzpatrick; June 4-5 ($320 + stock fee)
– Fitz
SOLD: 3-legged Comb-back Stick Chair
This three-legged comb-back chair is available for sale and immediate shipment. SOLD
The chair is based on several Welsh three-legged comb-back chairs I have inspected that have a distinctive square-shaped arm and seat. This particular iteration is set up for lounging, with back sticks that lean about 16° off vertical. The seat height is 17”, with the overall height of the chair at 39”. The seat is 16” deep x 20” wide and nicely saddled.
Three-legged chairs are common vernacular forms found all over the U.K. and Europe, but many moderns suspect they are unstable. After building and using many three-legged stick chairs, here’s the real deal: When you sit in them, they are stable. You can even tilt back on them on the rear leg (fun!).
The only time they are unstable is when you are not sitting in the chair and you try to lean on the ends of the comb, which are unsupported. That’s when the chair wants to tip.
Construction Details
The legs, sticks and comb are made from dead-straight red oak that was both rived and sawn to yield the straightest, strongest parts. The seat is poplar. And the four-piece armbow is made using slippery elm. The interlocked grain and strength of the elm is what allows the arms to curve 93° and still be strong.
All the joints are made with reversible hide glue, so that repairs in future generations will be easy. The chair is finished with shellac covered by General Finishes acrylic paint in Lamp Black.
Purchasing Information
The chair is $1,100 plus actual shipping via common carrier. This is a little less than usual because of the three legs. Shipping typically runs between $100 and $225 depending on where you live. Delivery within 100 miles of Cincinnati is free – or you can pick it up at our shop in Covington, Ky. If you are interested in the chair, send an email to fitz@lostartpress.com. Ask all the questions you like, but the first person to say “I’ll take it” gets it.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. I have four more chairs in various stages on the bench. The next one is a 16-stick comb-back.
Coming Soon: Crucible Sliding Bevel
As a chairmaker, a small sliding bevel is essential to my work. The tool guides most of the joinery. It also is a companion when I explore historical chairs to understand how they work.
When we completed work on the Crucible Type 2 Dividers, designer Josh Cook and I wondered if we could adapt that tool’s ingenious tension/locking mechanism for a sliding bevel. The answer is yes. And thanks to tool designer and machinist Craig Jackson, we have a bevel in the works that exceeds any expectations I had for the tool.
The Crucible Sliding Bevel is unlike any other sliding bevel I know of. It locks the blade position so tightly that you have to be quite strong to get the blade to move off your desired setting. And if that’s all it did, I’d be happy. But it does something else, too.
Thanks to Craig, the Crucible sliding bevel has dual controls that allow you to do some helpful things. The screw up by the blade controls the rotation of the blade. It works like the adjustment mechanism on any sliding bevel. You can use it to lock the blade, loosen the blade or set the tool’s tension so the blade rotates but with some effort.
The second screw near the back of the tool is used to adjust how the tool’s blade slides in its slot. You can use these two screws to control separately the rotation and the sliding of the blade. That means you can:
- Lock the rotation of the blade and then slide the blade to a different position in the body of the tool.
- Lock the blade so it won’t slide, but it will rotate.
I know this might sound complicated, but it’s not. Much like the dual controls on the Tite-Mark, my favorite marking gauge, these become second nature within a couple minutes. Also good to know: You don’t have to use the dual controls. You can simply use the control at the pivot point to work the tool – bringing in the second control only when necessary.
Some Specifications
We are making the bevel in alloy steel with a 4″ blade, which is my favorite size. The blade is 3/32″ thick, so it is impossible to mangle. The body of the bevel is 11/16″ x 3/4″ x 4-3/8″ and weighs a nice 10 ounces. The bevels are being made in Kentucky. The control screws are the same size as the screw on our dividers (so perhaps we’ll make a screwdriver soon).
One of the other nice things about this tool is that it is extremely easy to assemble and disassemble. So we will offer a 7″ blade that fits in this tool’s body in early 2022.
So when will these begin selling? We are waiting on a large steel order. The production fixtures have all been constructed and the programming is complete. Depending on when the steel arrives, there is a chance we will offer the first batch right before Christmas.
And the price? This is the most complex tool we’ve made so far at Crucible, and there is a lot of milling to make the custom parts. The retail will be $200, and I think the tool is worth every penny. (As always, if you’re feeling salty about the price, I encourage you to give small-scale domestic toolmaking a go. I love it, but sheesh – making stuff is hard.)
I don’t know if we have enough margin in these tools to offer them through our foreign and domestic retailers. But a few months of production will give us that answer.
In the coming weeks I’ll make a video that shows how the bevel operates.
— Christopher Schwarz
Free Download: A Dust Jacket for ‘The Stick Chair Book’
As promised, we created a full-color dust jacket for “The Stick Chair Book” that you can download and print out at your local copy shop.
The dust jacket measures 22.5” x 9.25”, so it can easily be printed out on 24”-wide poster stock (a common size). We recommend a coated heavy-weight paper (70# to 100#), though you can use anything, really.
After it prints out, you’ll find trim marks at the corners of the image that allow you to cut out the dust jacket with a straightedge and a knife.
The pdf of the dust jacket can be downloaded via this link.
We decided to offer the dust jacket as as option for a few reasons. First, the image on the dust jacket – a carving by Rudy Everts – is gorgeous and definitely cover-worthy. But dust jackets add considerable expense, and “The Stick Chair Book” is already expensive at $49. Finally, we hear from a lot of readers who immediately remove the dust jacket and prefer to see the cover cloth.
We hope that this approach satisfies those who love dust jackets and those who think they are wasteful. But I suspect we’ll hear some gripes.
— Christopher Schwarz