Katherine heads back to college on Monday, and could use a little pocket money – so she made another big batch of Soft Wax 2.0. It is now up for sale in her etsy.com store. Today’s jars are brought to you by Wally – the second-most friendly of the cats. Bean is downstairs to greet me almost every morning; Wally pops down most days for his elevenses – he knows I keep treats in my top chest till.
I use Katherine’s soft wax on many of my projects, including the tills in the chest on which I’m currently working. Katherine cooks it up here in the machine room using a waterless process. She then packages it in a tough glass jar with a metal screw-top lid. She applies her hand-designed label to each lid, boxes up the jars and ships them in a durable cardboard mailer.
Instructions for Soft Wax 2.0
Soft Wax 2.0 is a safe finish for bare wood that is incredibly easy to apply and imparts a beautiful low luster to the wood.
The finish is made by cooking raw, organic linseed oil (from the flax plant) and combining it with cosmetics-grade beeswax and a small amount of a citrus-based solvent. The result is that this finish can be applied without special safety equipment, such as a respirator. The only safety caution is to dry the rags out flat you used to apply before throwing them away. (All linseed oil generates heat as it cures, and there is a small but real chance of the rags catching fire if they are bunched up while wet.)
Soft Wax 2.0 is an ideal finish for pieces that will be touched a lot, such as chairs, turned objects and spoons. The finish does not build a film, so the wood feels like wood – not plastic. Because of this, the wax does not provide a strong barrier against water or alcohol. If you use it on countertops or a kitchen table, you will need to touch it up every once in a while. Simply add a little more Soft Wax to a deteriorated finish and the repair is done – no stripping or additional chemicals needed.
Soft Wax 2.0 is not intended to be used over a film finish (such as lacquer, shellac or varnish). It is best used on bare wood. However, you can apply it over a porous finish, such as milk paint.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS (VERY IMPORTANT): Applying Soft Wax 2.0 is so easy if you follow the simple instructions. On bare wood, apply a thin coat of soft wax using a rag, applicator pad, 3M gray pad or steel wool. Allow the finish to soak in about 15 minutes. Then, with a clean rag or towel, wipe the entire surface until it feels dry. Do not leave any excess finish on the surface. If you do leave some behind, the wood will get gummy and sticky.
The finish will be dry enough to use in a couple hours. After a couple weeks, the oil will be fully cured. After that, you can add a second coat (or not). A second coat will add more sheen and a little more protection to the wood.
Soft Wax 2.0 is made in small batches in Kentucky using a waterless process. Each glass jar contains 8 oz. of soft wax, enough for at least two chairs (or 30+ ATC tills).
Every year, your spouse and friends ask us which books they should buy for you during the holidays. And if they aren’t sure which book you want, they ask us: “Well, which books are your best-sellers?”
Until today, I had only a gut feeling about it, but I’d never really looked at the statistics. After some ciphering, I came up with a list that had a few surprises.
10. Doormaking and Window Making by Anonymous. This was a shock. This small book is a reprint of two historical texts brought to our attention by joiner Richard Arnold. It found an audience among people who restore old buildings.
9. Campaign Furniture by Christopher Schwarz. This book is one of the few in print on this style of furniture, which my grandparents collected for many years. I’ve been told by readers that it is a nice text on classical casework.
8. Kitchen Think by Nancy Hiller. I was a little surprised by this one because it was released in the summer of 2020. It’s a fantastic book, as is everything Nancy writes. If you are interested in how to design (and build) a kitchen that is in context for your house, this is the book.
7. By Hand & Eye by Jim Tolpin and George Walker. This one is no surprise. Ever since this book was released, it has continually found new audiences who are interested in designing good-looking furniture using whole-number ratios.
6. The Anarchist’s Workbench by Christopher Schwarz. On the one hand, I am not surprised to see this book on the list. It is, after all, about workbenches (the birdhouses of the intermediate woodworker clan). But on the other hand, the book is free as a pdf. Free.
5. The Woodworker’s Pocket Book edited by Charles Hayward. I love this little book. I knew it would be a home run among woodworkers, and I was (for once) correct.
4. With the Grain by Christian Becksvoort. This book is immensely popular because it is incredibly practical and avoids the heavy science stuff, but it still tells you exactly what you need to know to use solid wood in furniture effectively.
3. The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing. This book is a classic and should be on the shelves of every woodworker who is curious about hand-tool woodworking. We fought hard to bring it back into print, and readers have been thrilled as well.
2. The Anarchist’s Design Book by Christopher Schwarz. I am so happy to see this book on this list. This book took so many years to write and get just right. I feel like it’s the right combination of practical construction advice and a screed about poorly made and overly ornate furniture.
1. The Anarchist’s Tool Chest by Christopher Schwarz. This book helped us get this company on its feet and the capital to publish the works of other authors. Even after 10 years, this book still sells and sells – thanks to word of mouth.
On a last note, please remember that we are a small publisher (we recently graduated to “small publisher,” up from “microscopic publisher”). So none of these books would make a blip on the screens of a corporate publisher. And our annual revenue could easily be found between the couch cushions of the CEO of Penguin/Random House.
Maybe someday we’ll hit the Medium Time – with a book on birdhouses.
This week I am building a Hobbit-y chair for a customer in black cherry instead of white oak. Is cherry strong enough for a stick chair such as this? Of course. How do I know? I added 1/8” in diameter and thickness to some key components. So now I can sleep without worry.
If the above paragraph makes little sense, then you haven’t read my chapter on wood in “The Stick Chair Book.” No, this isn’t an advertisement to twist your arm into buying the book. Instead, I hope to help you think about the strength of wood in a different way.
First, I think we can agree that when we increase the thickness of a tenon, that it will be stronger. Right? So let’s say we have a 1/2”-thick tenon and we decide to double its thickness to 1”. Because we have doubled the thickness, that should double its strength. Right?
Wrong.
When we double the thickness of that 1/2” tenon, it can increase the strength of the component by four-fold or eight-fold. How much additional strength you get depends on the component – whether you are testing its “modulus of rupture” or its “shear strength” (this is covered in detail in the book – this is still not a commercial, I promise!).
The bottom line is this: small increases in the size of components can increase their strength dramatically. This is hugely important when building chairs, stools, benches, workbenches or any object that will see abuse.
Let’s get back to this Hobbit-y chair for a moment. Cherry is weaker than oak. But if I increase the diameter of the leg tenons or the thickness of the seat by a mere 1/8”, I will more than make up for the difference between the two species. And the 1/8” added thickness isn’t really noticeable to the naked eye.
Take a look at these charts for some details.
These formulas are not my doing. They are created using the formulas from the “Wood Handbook” from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (a free download). For me, they help me design furniture that is strong without being bulky. I know that I can increase the thickness of a tenon by 1/8” and get a disproportionate increase in strength. I can do the math to prove it to myself.
Or, as I discussed before, I can prove it with a sledgehammer.
Fig. 6.8 Here is the pin, snaking its way through the offset holes. This joint is a testament to the great strength of oak – that a thin piece of hardwood like this can hold these joints together for centuries. It pulls the tenon into the mortise and never lets it go.
When people ask what sort of books we publish at Lost Art Press, my answer is simple: Difficult books.
Not all of our books experience troubled gestation periods, but many do. “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree,” was one of the most trying. In fact, it probably wouldn’t have been published if it weren’t for Peter Follansbee‘s unending patience/pigheadedness.
Peter and Jennie Alexander had been working on the manuscript off and on for years. When Lost Art Press offered to publish it, Peter went into high gear to get it completed. And after months of work, we had a finished book that was ready to go to the printer. But there was one big obstacle: Getting Jennie to sign off on the text.
After working with Jennie for many years, I concluded that she was more interested in continuing her research instead of publishing the results. We sent her printed proofs of the finished book, but she said she couldn’t read them easily. So Peter did something extraordinary. Over two evenings, Peter read every word of the book to Jennie over the phone. He took careful notes on what she wanted changed.
And, miracle of miracles, Jennie signed off on the work.
And thank goodness. “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” is an eye-opening look at how early joinery was performed – and it’s not like how we do it in modern shops today. The book weaves historical research and practical work together with photos and drawings (made by Roy Underhill’s daughter, Eleanor!) to present a clear and complete picture.
The following is excerpted from “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree,” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee. This book is in its second printing, and we’ve updated the paper stock to a matte coated stock that prints more crisply, plus it’s now a casebound hardcover format and is printed at a different plant (the old one went out of business). As a result of these changes, we’ve lowered the price significantly.
— Christopher Schwarz
About Drawboring
Fig. 6.9 The thinnest awl in the shop is best for this. It can get right in against the circumference and transfer it accurately to the tenon’s face.
Now we come to the most exciting part of the work. Drawboring is the heart of the matter – get it right and your stool should last hundreds of years. Simply put, drawboring is an intentional misalignment of the holes bored in the mortises and tenons. These holes are bored through each component separately, and they are offset so that a tapered pin driven into them will pull the tenoned rail up tight against the mortised stile. We know this technique is a period practice because we have seen it in surviving works, sometimes in disassembled pieces, or in those worn down by misuse. Fig. 6.10 is a pin removed during restoration from a New England joined chest made about 1670-1690, clearly showing the kink in the pin resulting from snaking its way through the offset holes. In addition to this sort of evidence, we have a documentary record for drawboring as well. Joseph Moxon describes it in his section on joinery:
Then with the Piercer pierce two holes through the Sides, or Cheeks of the Mortess, about half an Inch off either end one. Then knock the Tennant stiff into the Mortess, and set it upright, by applying the Angle of the outer Square, to the Angle the two Quarters make, and with your Pricker, prick round about the insides of the Pierced holes upon the Tennant. Then take the Tennant out again, and Pierce two holes with the same Bit, about the thickness of a Shilling above the Pricked holes on the Tennant, that is, nearer the shoulder of the Tennant, that the Pins you are to drive in, may draw the Shoulder of the Tennant the closer to the flat side of the Quarter the Mortess is made in. Then with the Paring-chissel make two Pins somewhat Tapering, full big enough, and setting the two Quarters again square, as before, drive the Pins stiff into the Pierced holes.
Fig. 6.10 This pin was removed during a restoration project. The rail had been cut off at the shoulder, with the tenon still in the mortise. It took 45 minutes to successfully remove this pin intact.
With the test-fitted frames on the bench, mark the tenons for the pins that will secure these joints for the next few centuries. The faces of rails and stiles must be in the same plane. The rails’ outer shoulders should be a tight fit against the stiles’ arrises. The inside shoulders should not touch the stiles.
Check that the apron’s upper edge lines up properly with the marks on the stiles that define the top of the stool. At the stretcher level, be sure there’s no gap in the mortise above the stretcher, where it will be visible in the finished stool. If there is a gap, bump the stretcher upward, shifting the space beneath the stretcher. You might need to check the end grain of the mortise; sometimes it intrudes into the mortise and needs to be cut back so the rail will bump up into its proper position. When all that is checked, scribe inside the hole onto the tenon face with a thin, sharp awl.
Fig. 6.11 The centerpunch needs to fill the hole completely, so make one with material chosen to fit your boring tool. It makes a very clear depression on the tenon face.
Alexander prefers lightly tapping a centerpunch into the pin hole. Make a punch by pointing the shank of an old drill bit or steel rod that fits snugly into the pin hole.
Fig. 6.12 Toward the shoulder – that’s the thing to keep in mind. Bore the hole slowly. The tenon is thin, and you don’t want to blow out the back of it. The piercer bit excels at this; it pokes through the stock very cleanly.
Disassemble the frame and bore the holes in the tenons. It is critical to remember to move in the proper direction – toward the tenon shoulder! You can eyeball this placement, or you might find it helpful to mark the center of the tenon’s pin hole. With the awl, prick the new centerpoint about 1/16″ closer to the tenon shoulder.
Fig. 6.13 This offset looks like it will work fine. Experimentation will help you get the hang of it. There’s leeway involved; it’s not an exact science. Too much offset can be fixed more easily than not enough.
Reassemble the joint and sight through the offset holes. Refer to fig. 6.13 for a general idea of what we’re after; the offset should take up about one-quarter to one-third of the hole. When you have bored all four tenons for one frame, you can test-assemble this frame yet again, and lightly pull the joints tight by driving in tapered metal “drawbore pins.” These pins can be easily made by adapting a machinist’s alignment pin. Any rod or awl that tapers from 5/32″ to 5/16″ along 4″ can be used. Installed in octagonal cross-sectioned wooden handles, they can be tapped in with a hammer and easily removed by hand.
If there is a question about a particular joint, remove the pin and sight through the hole against the light. If the interference is too great, use a handheld square-tapered reamer to enlarge the tenon hole. This tool is nothing but a drawbore pin that has been filed to a sharp-edged square cross-section. You are approaching final assembly. Don’t hurry. Drawboring is the heart of the matter. …
Make the Pins For the pins to pull the joints together, they must be incredibly strong. Make them from the straightest-grained off-cuts you can find. Alexander and Follansbee have different approaches to pins; we will show you both methods.
Fig. 6.17 Working long stock like this goes hand-in-hand with the drawknife and shaving horse. The extra length also lends itself to getting a long and gradual taper, the best form for these pins.
Alexander uses a shaving horse and drawknife to make very carefully tapered long pins from riven straight stock. Select the best straight-grained 15″-long rail stock. Rive this into ½”-square sticks. Hold the stick in a shaving horse and drawknife a 5″-long square on the butt so that the shaving horse can secure the stick and register it when it is rotated 90° at a time. Support the thin stock with a narrow board held under the workpiece. Place the square butt under the shaving horse jaw and make a 10″-long taper. Bore a test hole in a thin board with your piercer bit and taper the pin until it goes halfway through. Try your drawknife with the bevel down and up to see what works best for you. After the tapered square stick is finished, slightly relieve the corners.
Fig. 6.18 Riving principles apply here, just as on larger-scale stuff. Split in halves. Straight-grained stock is key. Never throw out any perfectly straight off-cuts. Keep a large supply on hand. Further, these are the driest stock in the whole stool.
Follansbee shaves pins at the bench from short (5″- to 8″-long) stuff using a large broad chisel. These blanks are riven into sections about ⅜” square using a stout knife or small cleaver as a sort of mini-froe. Hold the blank from its top end and shave downward with the broad chisel. Position the tip of the pin on a piece of scrap wood so you don’t mark up your bench. Working each face in turn, shave them into even squares. Then taper them by paring down with the chisel, taking shavings from each face for an even taper. Sometimes you need to flip the pin end-for-end to get the right amount of taper. Once it’s tapered, shave off the corners so the resulting piece is generally octagonal. Then point the thin tip with your chisel or a knife.
Fig. 6.19 It’s easy to think you just trim these, but there’s more to it than that. The body posture makes a difference. The left hand is braced against the torso, helping to hold the stock steady. The right hand has the chisel tucked against the body as well. Very smooth and powerful movements guide the chisel.
People are leery of shaving small stuff like these pins with a large chisel, but like many of these procedures, body position and movement make this task simple and efficient. For a right-handed joiner, hold the chisel in your right hand with the forefinger extended along the back of the chisel. The chisel is braced in your grip, and your arm is tucked against your torso. The movement comes from your legs. Rise up on your right foot and come down with the chisel in place. With your arm braced against your torso, you limit the travel of the chisel. It is quite a short stroke. This posture provides considerable power and accuracy. With some practice you will become quite accurate and able to shape pins quickly and easily.
We will open our doors to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11, to sell books and tools – and allow you to “visit the clock.”
The storefront is at 837 Willard St., Covington, KY, 41011 in the town’s Main Strasse historic district. Our little neighborhood is chock full of good places to eat, drink and shop. In fact, we are part of a developing “oddity” district that we are quite proud of. Tempt your family with:
Hail Dark Aesthetics: A great record store that also sells freeze-dried ducklings, wild taxidermy and things like eyeballs.
Earth 2 Kentucky: If you like vintage memorabilia, toys, vintage action figures, art, quirky T-shirts, you will love this place.
Hierophany & Hedge: A straight-up legit store of magical supplies and arcana. They spent years fixing up the building, and it exceeds anything from the Harry Potter films. Seriously.
Plus there is us! We’ll have our complete line of books and tools – plus blemished examples at 50 percent off retail (cash only for blem sales, please). You can hang out, rifle through our tool chests and even cajole us into a demo or two. I’m sure we’ll have some works in progress on the benches (chairs and tool chests would be my guess).
And there are some great places to eat lunch or dinner around us. Breweries, bars and an axe-throwing bar.
We ask that all visitors be vaccinated. Masks are recommended but not required.
Also, we are happy to sign books, tools, babies and even buttocks (yes, I’ve signed a butt cheek). So feel free to bring any books you’d like personalized. Oh, and be sure to ask to “visit the clock” while you are here. You’ll be glad you did.
I hope you can join us in December. Our next open day won’t likely be until June 2022.
