And there’s a possibility that Derek Jones and Chris Williams will be crossing the Atlantic to teach here…but that’s still up in the air due to travel restrictions. If they are able to make the trip, we’ll let you know about their classes ASAP.
We will require that all registrants be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by the class date, and follow CDC guidelines on masking at the time of the class.
There are six bench spaces available in each class; a waitlist will kick in once a class is sold out. (And I beg you: Please be sure you have the class dates available before registering.)
If you’ve taken a class at the storefront in the past, you might notice that the registration is a little different this year: The full class fee is collected at registration (the instructor will still, however, determine the stock fee, which will be payable to her or him at the start of the class).
Note: While you can click on the “Register Now” buttons on the Covington Mechanicals ticketing site, sales won’t be live until May 17 at 10 a.m. Eastern.
And because it’s been a while since we offered classes, here are a few FAQs to jog everyone’s memory:
If you have questions about a class, send an email to covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com. Please DO NOT email the LAP help desk.
“Why can’t the LAP help desk help with classes?” These classes are not through Lost Art Press; I’m handling all the backend stuff and billing, and each instructor (including me) is an independent contractor who is, in effect, renting the space for the class duration. Meghan handles the LAP help desk (questions about books, orders, etc.), and she is busy enough without having to forward stuff about classes to me.
“Why isn’t the stock fee included with the registration fee?” Each instructor does her or his own stock buying and prep, and we have no way of knowing far in advance of the class how much the wood (etc.) will cost. Especially right now. So the instructor will let registrants know the stock fee at least a week before the class starts, and payment will be due to her or him at the start of class.
“What is the cancellation policy?” You can cancel for a full refund up until four weeks before the class date. Refund for cancellations within four weeks prior to the class date will be issues only if the slot can be filled.
“I tried to sign up right when classes went live, and didn’t get in. You suck!” I’m sorry. We have limited space and only six benches for students. But please see below.
“Should I bother signing up for the waitlist?” Yes! We do have cancellations – and when that happens, I notify the first person on said list, who then has 24 hours to register. And if that person can’t make it, on to the next, and so on.
“Will Chris be teaching any classes?” Nope – he’s crazy busy with publishing projects.
“I’m coming from out of town; where should I stay?”Check out this blog post, which has suggestions not only on where to stay, but where to eat and non-woodworking-related greater Cincinnati attractions.
“Will you offer a class in X?” Possibly. Send me an email, and if we think there would be enough interest, and we can find the right person to teach it, we will consider X topic.
“Will you offer more classes in 2022?” Most likely – but far fewer than we did in 2019. We’re extremely busy with other stuff, and while it’s great fun to have people in the shop, we can’t get much other work done while classes are going on.
Two 40-year-old settin’ chairs spruced up with white paint.
I first reached out to an Appalachian chairmaker in about November 2019. It was before this project came about, before the search started in earnest to find chairmakers in the region. Our initial phone conversation discussed the details about an upcoming two-day visit. I struggled to keep up; the chairmaker’s fast talk and dialect were tough to follow over the phone, especially because he did not get strong service in the mountains and our call dropped a few times. My hope for the visit was to observe, listen, learn and, if at all possible, lend a hand. He outlined a schedule and made a few suggestions for our time.
I asked about local lodging, a place to stay after we worked together. He lives in Eastern Kentucky, which is rural, mountainous and remote. He offered me his guest bedroom, a trusting and generous gesture. The next part of the conversation was memorable, despite the poor connection. I reluctantly accepted his offer to stay, saying I’d be happy to find a local hotel so as not to impose.
He replied, “If things go poorly, I’ll just feed you to the pigs….” *
No follow-up. No laughter. I hoped it was due to the poor connection. My wife made sure I left the chairmaker’s address before leaving for the visit, something to assist the authorities, just in case things did not go well.
*I scanned for barns or signs of livestock upon arriving at his property. None. All clear.
Kentuckian Terry Ratliff, resting after opening a walnut log.
Chris Schwarz asked me to share a little about my upcoming book, “Backwoods Chairs.” The original details of how the idea came together are a little fuzzy, though it had to do with our mutual appreciation for the Appalachian chairmaking traditions. The chairs were the spark that ignited this project.
In “Backwoods Chairs,” I search for post-and-rung chairmakers still working within central Appalachian traditions due to their historic ties to the region (the chairs also go by the name ladderback, hickory-bottom, common and slat-back). But that search proved challenging. Though there’s a rich tradition, the current field of chairmakers is small and dwindling. The makers have little Internet presence, and there is no central information source, such as a person who knows the makers and their locations. I’ve chased dozens of leads and recall laughter on the other end of the phone line as I ask about traditional chairmakers. “Good luck,” they giggle.
Are there makers still out there? Even the chairmakers ask me that question upon hearing about this book project.
There is an abundance of green woodworking in “Backwoods Chairs,” though it’s not all that. Some makers turn their parts from planks, others split and shave. You will find plenty of handwork and hickory bark, a little history and humor within the pages. There are stories about the makers, pictures of their shops and tools, and emphasis on their techniques and their chairs, along with discussion of their successes and hardships. And plenty of chairmaking romance with a dash of capitalism’s ruthlessness. The book’s final section is a step-by-step build of a couple chairs, created for someone with a home shop and lack of backyard access to a deciduous forest full of oaks and maples.
Appalashop, Chester Cornett’s final chair, 1978
There is another thing that draws me to this project beyond my love of the chairs. It is an attitude that is incredibly tough to capture: that these chairs are somehow (and mistakenly) the bottom rung of creative woodworking. That they are almost worth looking beyond, to find something more impressive. The Ronald L. Hurst article “Southern Furniture Studies: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going,” for the MESDA Journal, catches some of that vibe (emphasis mine):
Southern furniture is one of the most dynamic subjects in American decorative arts research today. Institutions and private scholars alike are actively investigating a wide array of the region’s cabinetmaking traditions, and their compelling discoveries are regularly revealed in new publications and exhibitions. Yet interest in the topic is comparatively recent. Antiquarians began collecting furniture from the North as early as the 1820s, but there was almost no awareness of its southern counterparts before the 1930s. Even then, study of the material would remain sporadic for another thirty years. Although a small core of early-twentieth-century southern dealers and collectors was aware of the South’s cabinetmaking heritage, the rest of the American decorative arts community was convinced that southern furniture makers fashioned nothing more complex than ladder-back chairs and utility tables.
The following paragraph, from the same article, continues on this theme of regional furniture ignorance:
Ironically, one of the principal catalysts for a widespread change in attitudes about southern furniture came at the 1949 Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum. Joseph Downs, curator of the MMA’s American Wing, addressed that first Forum audience in a lecture titled “Regional Characteristics of American Furniture.” During the question-and-answer session that followed, a participant asked Downs why his presentation on American regional style had included only goods made in the North. Downs reportedly replied that “little of artistic merit was made south of Baltimore.” Either Juliette Brewer or Eleanor Offutt, both knowledgeable Kentucky collectors and preservationists, purportedly offered a follow-up question. “Mr. Downs,” one of them asked, “do you speak out of ignorance or out of prejudice?” Downs graciously pled ignorance, but his then widely accepted view on the subject, stated in that place to that audience, generated outrage and launched a movement that remains alive today.
The MESDA article is in reference to collecting and recognizing the value in Southern furniture. It’s my understanding that high-style Southern furniture is now receiving its due. So some things are changing.
Sherman Wooten Rocker
There are significant differences between high-style work and the backwoods chairs. In one, creativity is born out of abundance. The conditions foster beautiful work, yet I am fascinated by creativity out of necessity. Making not in partnership with affluence, but within communities of modest means. Within central Appalachia, the tradition of making out of necessity points directly toward slat-back chairs and their makers. Or at least it did. I’m interested in hearing from the makers about today’s conditions and if they are optimistic about traditional chairmaking continuing forward with future generations.
West Virginian Tom Lynch, gang-cutting slats at the band saw.
This project is possible only because the makers generously opened their workshops and shared their stories. They graciously adjusted along with me throughout the uncertainty of the last year. I planned the first visits for this project for spring of 2020 (you remember last spring). Travel was quickly postponed until conditions improved. A couple visits happened last fall, on good weather days when we could distance and be outdoors, with makers in Eastern Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia. Upcoming travel includes trips into Tennessee, North Carolina (again) and Virginia. At that point I should have plenty of material for the book.
I have high hopes for “Backwoods Chairs.” I want to do right by the chairmakers, write an engaging and informative book for the woodworking community, and create something worthy of Lost Art Press. Since starting I have added one more aspiration to my list: I intend to stay clear of any hungry pigs.
Good coffee is the official beverage at the Lost Art Press workshop. And for years, we’ve wanted to offer a high-quality U.S.-made coffee mug that wasn’t the typical give-away and throw-away thing that corporations hand out.
After lots of searching, we finally found a stoneware mug that is handmade in Minnesota by a small company. These 12-ounce mugs are dishwasher- and microwave-safe. Each mug has a two-toned glaze – blue and white – and is stamped on the underside with the potter’s maker’s mark.
The mugs are approximately 4-1/4” tall. They are 3-3/8” diameter at the base and 3” diameter at the rim. As these mugs are handmade, these dimensions are approximate, but close. The price is $25, which is a good value for work of this quality. You can order one in our store via this link. The mugs are in stock and ship immediately.
Each mug is signed by the artisan who made it.
The mugs are emblazoned with a detail from the Lost Art Press logo that features our dividers and the motto: “Traditional Hand-Tool Skills.”
Even if you don’t drink coffee, we think you’ll find a use for this mug – tea, hot chocolate, vodka (we don’t judge) or pencils.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Hate coffee? We’re working on an LAP beer stein for the holidays.
We will open the doors of Lost Art Press’s storefront to the public for the first time since 2019 on Aug. 7, 2021 (which also happens to be Megan Fitzpatrick’s birthday).
We will give away free Lost Art Press yardsticks to the first 200 visitors. We also will sell blemished books and tools for 50 percent off retail (cash sales only on blems). And, of course, we will have our complete line of books and tools for sale as well (cash, check or credit).
We ask that all visitors be vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus, and follow CDC guidelines on masking. No exceptions. This is no different than asking you to wear pants. (Don’t bother flaming us in the comments because we will delete them.)
In the next week or so, Megan will have an announcement about 2021 classes at the storefront.
We have been insanely busy since 2019. Lost Art Press has grown to the point where I cannot travel or teach without neglecting the company. That’s a good thing.
We have a contracting crew on site right now that is sprucing up the old bathroom area. The last business in the building before I bought it was a bar. As a result, the toilets were a little sketchy.
We are converting the men’s room (farewell urinal) to a kitchenette. This will give visitors a nice place to get coffee, grab a drink or store their lunches. The women’s room is being upgraded with nice tile, cabinets, fixtures and radiant heat. We’re also doing some work in the library.
All this should be done by August, and we hope you can join us.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. What does Megan want for her birthday? She says she has enough whiskey and Shakespeare doo-dads. What she really needs is a live-in contractor who can help her finish her home remodel.
The Fauteuil [armchair] that I am going to describe is one of those that is called a Cabriolet, because of the circular shape of its plan, [which is] different from that of the Queen’s Fauteuils [armchair], which is straight from the side of the back, as one could see in the view of which I made the description of the Queen’s Chair, page 614, etc.
I have chosen this form so that in the description of chairs and fauteuils [side chairs and armchairs], I am not required to repeat myself. What I said of the Queen’s Chairs can be applied to armchairs of the first type. What I am going to say about cabriolets can be applied to side chairs of the second.
Cabriolets are the seating [that is] the most fashionable at present, and at the same time demand the most attention on the part of the Worker, especially with regards to their construction and the cutting of the wood for the back, which being circular in plan and splayed, forms a part of the surface in a tapering shape, which the Joiners call faire la hotte [make the hood. “Unehotte” is a reference to the type of large conical basket splayed toward the top – like the back of the armchair – you cut a cone in half on its center and there you have it, a “hotte” and the back of the armchair].
To make these sorts of armchairs with all the perfection that it is possible to accomplish, one must first begin by taking account of the shape of the plan, which normally is an S in the front, and in a half-circle, or better said, a half-oval in the rear, like in Fig. 5 and Fig. 8, which represent half of the plan Fig. 5, a half larger than the latter, so as to make the operations more sensible.
After having thus drawn this plan of Fig. 8 (the half could be taken for the whole) at about 15 thumbs from the front of the seat on the line from the middle a b, you raise a perpendicular c d, which you set at 11 thumbs in height. Then from point d to point e, which is the center of the part of the circle of the back of the seat, you take a line e f, which represents the middle of the rear leg, to both sides of which line you trace the width of the rear leg parallel to the latter. Whatever be the flare, or to speak like the Workers, the reverse [the angle/tilt] of the back, the face of the upright should always present itself perpendicularly to the curve of the seat where the exterior contour is indicated by lines g, g, g and the interior (at least of the cross-pieces) by h, h, h. Then there remains to draw on the plan the length of the back seat rails and their splay. This cannot be done except after taking into account the height of the back and the form of its contours that you must first draw separately on the surface developed from the back, which is done in the following manner:
The splay of the back being determined, as in Fig. 5 from a b, from these points you lift two perpendiculars on the line of the middle of the seat, which parallels you extend indefinitely outside of the Figure. From point e, (which is the center of the arc of the back of the plan), you lift up likewise a perpendicular parallel to these latter, which you extend indefinitely on both sides. Then, at whatever distance, like in Fig. 4, you lift from this line perpendiculars f g, and g d, of which distance f g is equal to the height of the back. Then, from point d, you pass an oblique line by point h, that you extend until it meets line g f e i at point i (which is found outside the plate), from which point like the center and distances i f and i g, you describe the circular arcs f m, and g n, Fig. 4. This being done, you take on the plan, Fig. 5, the distance a l, that you transfer, Fig. 4, from f to o. From this point and from point i, you pass a line o p, which is the middle of the rear leg. You draw this as usual for both the curves and the meeting of the back rails, whether this curve is of a normal form like side A, on which I just made the demonstration, or even if it is an oval like on side B, which is no matter. The only exception is when the upright must be wider within, which I will speak of in its turn.
The curve of the back being thus drawn, you draw separately, Fig. 7, the upright of the back (which is double the proportion of Fig. 4 in order to correspond to the plan in Fig. 8), that you extend just to the total height of the back. Then you draw on the upright all the locations of rails, both at the top and bottom at their greatest width, as indicated by points a, b, c, d, from which points you lower the line i l, as many perpendiculars as the distances on this line are carried over to the plan of Fig. 8; namely, that of i h, Fig. 7, from I to 2; that of i g, from 1 to 3, which gives the splay of the bottom back rail, that of i f, from 1 to 4; and that of i e, from 1 to 5; which gives the splay of the top rail, which you draw, like the other, with the circular arcs described from center e, Fig. 8.
The lower sections of these rear legs is nothing different from the others of which I already spoke; it is only that the serpentine leg is more splayed to the outside so as to make more of a stable position to the seat, what the Joiners call shoring up [to brace], which should be 2 thumbs at least.
I said above that armchairs differ from side chairs in that the first have these armrests intended for the elbows of those who are seated within. These armrests are composed of an arm a, Fig. 3, of a bracket b, which is assembled at one end to the side seat rail and the others in the arm, which is assembled itself by mortise and tenon on the upright, with which you should take care to make it match in a smooth and gracious manner, as I have noted in Figs. 1, 2 & 3.
The assembly of the arms with the uprights is done squarely, but I believe that whatever the use, one would do very well to make a cut [an angled shoulder], which, by preventing the inconveniences of squared cuts of which I spoke above, renders the work more solid, in that the cut from below would support the arm and would prevent it from dropping further down.
The arms of Fauteuils are drawn on the plan, as are the rails of the back, with the exception that they are not splayed except at the end where they connect with the upright, the other being perpendicular, which gives it an awkward form that you must keep square, as I have indicated by punctuated lines m n and o p, Fig. 7. See also Figs. 5 & 8, where these arms are drawn on the plan, as well as the brackets, of which I will make a more extensive description afterward in speaking of the different sorts of arms of Fauteuils and their brackets.
The Fauteuil of which I am making the description here is prepared to receive a caned seat, as you can see in Fig. 1, which represents it viewed from the side. That of Fig. 2 represents it viewed from the face, the side A completely disassembled and ready for cutting out, and the other side B completely cut out and assembled but for the seat, which is installed only after being finish with the cane, because the tenon of the bracket passes through it to be pegged in the side seat rail.
See also Fig. 6, which represents the rear seat rail of the armchair which receives the seat, as I explained up above, and Fig. 8, where I indicated by punctuated lines i, i, i, the outside of the frame of the seat, of which the projection ends at both uprights, and where the interior indicated by lines l, l, l is wider at the rear to leave solid wood in front of the upright.
I said up above that the frames of seats are assembled en chapeau [capped] from the front. However, I believe that for the neatness of the work, it would be much better to assemble them mitered in the front, like line l i, and at the rear when they are curved, as in this instance by a forked joint [bridle joint], at the space of the notch of the rear feet. The height of Fauteuils is a bit the same as that of side chairs with the exception that the seat should be a bit lower and consequently the back higher in proportion, especially when they are more splayed.
As to their width, they should be more considerable than that of side chairs given that it is necessary that the person who is seated within be contained comfortably with their clothes. That is why you make some width to the seat of Fauteuils from 22 to 26 thumbs by 18 to 20 thumbs of depth, at least for ordinary Fauteuils, that is to say, in public rooms. For those that serve in particular for a single person, one must, as I said above, consult that person’s taste and needs.
The size and the cut of wood for ordinary armchairs is nothing different from that of side chairs, if only in the case of cabriolets, the rails of the backs should be cut according to their tilt, or better said, their splay, which you can do by drawing the top and the bottom with some templates, of which you should have the curve on the plan, in backing them off [to the back] as necessary. What’s more, you could, without any type of loss, take the top and the bottom rails from the same piece of lumber, sawn as nestled patterns, which is very easy to do given that they are of different curves, such that the outside of one can be the inside of the other, at least pretty close.
There you have a bit of the detail of an armchair (and consequently of a cabriolet chair), after which one could construct all sorts of seats, of whatever form they be, given that the method that I just gave for the construction and manner of drawing it here is applicable to all with some minor differences. I have greatly expanded the manner of drawing, both the plan and the elevation, of these sorts of seats, so as to be within reach of the greatest number. They would have not understood me if I would not have been so expansive if I had simply said, as would seem completely natural, that the development of the backs of seats [of cabriolet arm chairs] is only being one part of the surface of a truncated cone, of which the incline is given by the back and is elongated just to its meeting of the center of the seat which represents the axis of the cone, which determines the crown and consequently the center of its development. This simplicity supposes of my readers (at least of ordinary Joiners) some knowledge which they cannot or do not want to acquire, whether I have given the elementary principles in the second part of this work, at the beginning of the Art of Drawing. That is why I believed it necessary, to be available to all, to make all demonstrations that appeared appropriate for saving time of those who would not acquire other knowledge than that of practice, which, for as little as is reasonable, is barely sufficient in the part that I am treating.
What’s more, Chair Joiners do not take all the precautions that I recommend here for drawing the plan or elevation of their works, which [they do by] sawing as accurately as possible, and that they assemble without dressing them, for cutting them out later, after having assembled them, which they do badly. But finally it is their custom and they will not change from that easily.
