This is a quick reminder that the storefront is closed today – our next open day will be June 13.
We’ll be using today to catch up on publishing projects and commission work (I have to build a crate to ship a chair). We might also scoot down to Crafts & Vines because Vic is smoking some wings.
We look forward to seeing you in June and hope to have a special day planned.
— Christopher Schwarz
A reminder that the deadline – January 15 – is almost upon us for our True Woodworking Tales Contest to celebrate celebrate the release of Nancy Hiller’s second edition of “Making things Work: Tales from a Cabinetmaker’s Life.” The writer of the best tale – as selected by Nancy, Christopher Schwarz and me – will win a $100 gift certificate to the Lost Art Press store (usable online or in person at the storefront). Plus, we’ll serve up the winning tale here, along with our other favorites.
Details:
• Your tale must be true (though you can change names to protect the innocent – and not so innocent).
• It can be no longer than 1,000 words.
• Make sure your name, email address and phone number are atop your entry (Pages, Word, PDF…whatever type of file you like, as long as I can open it on a Mac).
• Send your tales to fitz@lostartpress.com, with “Tale Entry” in the subject line.
• While not required, an accompanying image would be swell, so that we’ve appropriate art to go with the tales we share on the blog. (It’s either that, or you get a picture of one of the cats to go with it.)
I’ll be in Omaha, Neb., on March 28-29, 2020, to build a Dutch tool chest for the Omaha Woodworkers Guild. I’ll be building the chest entirely by hand and discussing all the techniques in detail, from dovetails to dados to cut nails and tool set-up. Then, at the end of the presentation, the completed chest will be raffled off.
During the evenings, I’ll be offering two presentations to the members: one on the history and construction of vernacular stick chairs, and the second on the history of workbenches.
If you would like to attend the two-day seminar, you can get details from Patrick Brennan via email at pmjbrennan@cox.net.
I’m afraid I won’t be able to bring Lost Art Press books or Crucible tools to sell – my truck will be filled with all the materials and personal gear I need to complete the presentation. As always, I am happy to sign books (whether they’re mine or not) and babies (whether they’re mine or not).
— Christopher Schwarz
My January column at Core77 is available to read for free and covers the design process we went through to develop the Crucible curved card scraper.
It’s a simple tool, but it’s remarkable how much work goes into something before you make several thousand of them. This article covers everything from the historical research to the pricing. Some of you might enjoy seeing how the sausage is made. Some might not.
Thanks as always to Core77 for giving me wide latitude about the topics I cover. And thank you for reading it.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. You can read all my Core77 columns via this link.
When we think of Thomas Chippendale, let us never forget his greatest achievement: Cutting his dovetails tails-first. That, and trolling the Frenchies in his workshop for cutting the joint in the opposite manner.
And chairmaker Robert Manwearing, who shall be forever remembered for keeping his chisels sharp with Belgian coticule stones only. None of that low-rent Turkey-stone rubbish with a loogie for lube. (If it ain’t from the Ardennes, it’s crap.)
We all know that Batty Langley was perhaps the world’s biggest fiend for sloping gullets, especially when it came to backsaws he filed for cutting miters. Whilst some might remember his pamphlet “The City and Country Builder’s and Workman’s Treasury of Designs,” his true fame came when he switched to Swiss triangular files, changing the face of the craft forever.
George Hepplewhite worked secretly in metric, which is why the “Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide” remains one of the most sought-after pattern books of the late 18th century. The base 10 that is hidden in plain sight in that book will blow your mind, as it has blown the skulls of secret metricians for generations.
And let us never forget Robert and James Adam, who used only second-hand tools that were scrounged from carriage boot sales. They made their own tack rags with only the finest waxes – carnauba, bee and ear – which is why every student at North Bennet Street dresses up as one of the brothers at Halloween.
We will never forget our woodworking heros: William Morris used only a 1:7 dovetail slope to bring handcrafted furniture to the masses. Charles Rennie Mackintosh insisted on a 30° primary bevel and a 5° back bevel on his plane irons, which is why the Glasgow School endures. Gustav Stickley used only laminated steel chisels, which changed the course of furniture design between 1898 and World War I.
And – of course – Sam Maloof used only Titebond II, which spawned two generations of imitators to his curvaceous, Titebond II style.
— Christopher Schwarz