Lost Art Press

‘Honest Labour’ Now Available for Pre-publication Ordering

Posted on by Lost Art Press

HL-cover-mockupAfter four years of honest labor, I am happy to announce you can place a pre-publication order for our newest book: “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years, 1936-1966.” This massive book (474 pages) compiles Hayward’s best columns about the craft during his tenure as editor of The Woodworker magazine in the United Kingdom.

The book is $34 and can be ordered here from our store.

Hayward’s columns cover an enormous swath of woodworking philosophy, from discussions of our insecurities about our skills to the regenerative power of time at the bench. Hayward writes from a unique perspective: He was a traditionally trained woodworker, World War I veteran, professional woodworker, draughtsman, photographer, writer and editor. He steered The Woodworker through World War II (without missing an issue) and was a comforting voice for woodworkers through the most tumultuous portion of the 20th century.

We’ve taken his best columns during the 30 years he was the editor and reprinted them in “Honest Labour” for you to enjoy and think about. Each column occupies a single spread in the book – just open the book to any page and you will find a complete column. And each is illustrated with drawings from that particular year of The Woodworker – many of the drawings from Hayward’s own hand.

“Honest Labour” is the fifth and final book in The Woodworker series, which was a multi-year, multinational project to preserve the hand tool knowledge that almost disappeared in the 20th century. “Honest Labour” is the same trim size as the other Woodworker books in the series, printed on the same paper and features the same tough binding. The only difference is the cotton cover cloth. We chose a deep scarlet instead of the green to differentiate this volume from the others.

The book is currently at the printer and should ship in early May 2020. We hope our retailers will carry this book, though we have no control (obviously) over their stock choices.

In the coming weeks we’ll publish an excerpt for those of you who are on the fence or unsure this book is worth your time and effort.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. I know we have been releasing a slew of stuff this week – pinch rods, linocut prints from “Good Work” and now this book. It was completely unplanned and is what happens when you run a publishing company with the “it’s done when it’s done philosophy.” Sometimes that means you have nothing. Sometimes it means you have too much.

Chair Chat with Rudy and Klaus: Give It Up Or Turn It Loose

Posted on by fitz

Editor’s Note: Today we introduce a new column called “Chair Chat” with Rudy Everts and Klaus Skrudland, both keen amateur chairmakers. Rudy is in Germany and Klaus is in Norway.

One of the most important parts of learning about chairs is to look at a lot of chairs and listen to people talk about what they like and don’t like. Even if I don’t agree with someone’s assessment of a chair, I am interested in how that person reacts to a design.

For many months, Klaus, Rudy and I have been chatting about different chairs via WhatsApp, an internet messaging program. And I think that you might enjoy a look at some of these lighthearted talks.

Beware: This is like talking about a chair after a couple of beers. These are not formal critiques based on the column orders or Vitruvius’ “De architectura.” They are a look at what chairmakers talk about when they look at old chairs – both beautiful and a little on the funky side. The language is a little salty (though no worse than you’d see on broadcast television). If you are sensitive, please don’t ready any further.

These chats are one of the highlights of my day. I hope you enjoy them and they help you form your own opinions about design.

— Christopher Schwarz

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Ordering Now Open for Linocut Prints from ‘Good Work’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

imafges drying

You can now order hand printed linocuts of the gorgeous images that Molly Brown made for Christopher Williams’ new book “Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown.”

Molly, one of John Brown’s daughters, is offering limited editions of the 12 prints featured in the book. She is currently making the prints. Ordering will end May 15, 2020, and the prints will ship in June. Lost Art Press is offering these prints to the U.S. market. Customers in the U.K. and Europe can order the prints from her website.

All the prints are made from hand-carved plates that are inked and then printed by hand on Japon Simili paper using an Albion press in her workshop in Wales.

You can place an order here through our store. Shipping is a flat $8, no matter how many prints you order. (Order one print and the shipping is $8. Order 10 prints and the shipping is $8 total.)

Here are details on each of the prints that are available.

1-cardigan-chair

Cardigan Chair
12.5” x 9”, edition of 75
This chair form was the earliest one John Brown made after seeing an antique chair in an antique shop in Lampeter. It also is the chair made famous in the book “Welsh Stick Chairs.” This print is shown on the rear of the dust jacket of “Good Work.”

2-armchair

Primitive Armchair
12.5” x 9”, edition of 75
This chair is on the front cover and dust jacket of “Good Work” and was featured many times in John Brown’s column in Good Woodworking magazine. For many chairmakers, this chair form launched their love affair with Welsh stick chairs.

3-Williams-chair

Chris Williams’ Chair
12.5” x 9”, edition of 75
A square-on elevation view of one of Chris Williams’ chairs, which is shown in Chapter 3 of “Good Work” to illustrate the different parts of a primitive Welsh stick chair.

4-Sentinel-Chair

Sentinel Chair
12.5” x 9”, edition of 50
John Brown and Chris Williams often mused that a monument to Welsh stick chairs should be built at the head of the Severn Bridge, where you enter Wales from the south or west of England. Molly created this scene for the linocut, which shows the bridge and sentinel chair in the distance.

5-Wales-map

Wales Map
12.5” x 9”, edition of 50
To orient the reader, Molly created this map of Wales to show it in relation to England, Scotland and Ireland. The map serves as the opening image to Chapter 2 of “Good Work.”

6-adze

Adze
5” x 5”, edition of 75
A linocut of the adze that Matty Sears made for his father, John Brown. The image punctuates Chapter 9 of “Good Work,” the book’s chapter on John Brown’s toolkit.

7-spokeshave

Spokeshave
5” x 5”, edition of 75
A linocut of John Brown’s favorite spokeshave, the Stanley No. 53. This image graces the Preface of “Good Work,” which was written by Nick Gibbs.

8-brace-and-bit

Brace and Bit
5” x 5”, edition of 75
John Brown kept a rack of braces in his shop. Each held a different bit, and the braces were lined up in the order he needed them in construction of a chair. This image is used on the Table of Contents for “Good Work.”

9-carningli

Carningli
5” x 5”, edition of 75
The mountain that John Brown lived in the shadow of at Pantry Fields. His ashes were scattered there after his death. This image opens Chapter 3 of “Good Work.”

10-eyeplug

Eyeplug
5” x 5”, edition of 75
This image, which opens Chapter 5, requires some explanation. It is a drawing of a wooden plug inserted into the door of John Brown’s workshop at Pantry Fields. When a visitor drove up, John Brown would remove the plug to see who was coming and decide whether to answer the door.

11-tycanol

Ty Canol
5” x 5”, edition of 75
The Ty Canol woods are a magical place, and the colors there inspired John Brown to create his green “Spirit of Wales” finish.

12-mechanics-vise

Mechanic’s Vice
5” x 5”, edition of 75
John Brown pioneered using a mechanic’s vise for chairmaking, eliminating the need for a shaving horse. This image opens Chapter 4 of “Good Work.”

Crucible Pinch Rods Available

Posted on by Lost Art Press

pinch_rod_detail_web_IMG_0990

Our newest tool, the Crucible Pinch Rods, are now available for sale in our store. The price is $48.

We have been quietly selling these in the store for the last month in an effort to ramp up production and build up inventory before mentioning them here on the blog.

Pinch rods are our favorite way to check an assembled carcase for square. They also help you square up any out-of-square box, and they can be used for transferring measurements from one place to another.

Yes, we know that you can make your pinch rods from two sticks plus blue tape or a squeeze clamp. (You can also make a chisel from a screwdriver.) We decided we wanted to make something nicer.

Our pinch rods are based on an antique example we saw at Roy Underhill’s shop more than a decade ago. After seeing those, I immediately built steel versions for myself. But I always thought it would be nice to have a tool that didn’t look like it was scavenged from home center parts (which mine was).

Our pinch rods are made in Kentucky from brass and feature a custom-milled thumbscrew. The pinch rods come with two No. 6 screws for securing the hardware to the wood, which you supply.

pinch-rod-instruction-sheet

The thumbscrew applies pressure in a concentrated point when you cinch it down. This makes a small indent in the wood, locking the setting, even if you drop the tool to the floor. (We experimented with versions with pressure plates. They didn’t dent the wood but they would easily lose their setting.) We are still using our first pair of sticks from the pinch rods I made 10 years ago with absolutely no problems. But if the wood ever becomes too chewed up in about 100 years, someone can easily replace it.

— Christopher Schwarz

‘Good Work’ Now Shipping

Posted on by Lost Art Press
cherry-american-welsh-stick-chair-IMG_5460
The cherry chair I built during class last week.

This week has been quite a ride. I try to refrain from commenting on the seasons, the weather or current events on this blog because it’s about woodworking. But the last week has been one for the books.

Last week I ran a class on an American Welsh Stick Chair with students from all over – Toronto, Iowa, Texas, Michigan. As the week wore on, the news got darker about the health crisis, and everyone seemed on edge. While everyone kept a cheery veneer, it was unsettling when we all went out to dinner at empty restaurants.

GW-web-cover-DSC01526Then two boxes arrived at the front door. Inside were the first copies of “Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown” by Christopher Williams. The book could not have come at a better time for my head. This book is the culmination of four years of heavy lifting on the part of Chris Williams, many members of John Brown’s family and all of us at Lost Art Press.

Publishing any book has ups and downs. This one vacillated between the stratosphere and the earth’s mantle at times. But flipping through the finished product – the physical, good-smelling thing that it is – brought me a little peace and joy. So many people – especially Chris Williams – gave so much to bring this book to life. That fact gave me hope that we will all make it through this dark time together.

I’ve been looking through “Good Work” during the last few evenings, enjoying the different points of view and the many, many beautiful photos of chairs. That’s a rare thing for me; usually I am a bit sick of a book by the time it gets to the printer.

Maybe this book is a special one. Or maybe I’m trying to enjoy it as best I can before I have to take it apart for toilet paper.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. “Good Work” has already begun to ship from our warehouse. If you placed a pre-publication order, it should arrive in the next week or so.