Lost Art Press

The Lost Art Press storefront in Covington, Ky., will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, and we hope you can stop by to say hello.

The special (and free) lecture for that day will be about the non-toxic finishes that we use all the time in the shop. I’ll be mixing up some soap finish, plus I’ll show you the beeswax/linseed oil finish we use on chairs, how to use a polissoir for a burnished finish and demonstrate shou sugi ban – a charred finish (weather permitting).

And we’re all happy to answer your questions about finishing. The lecture starts at 2 p.m. and is free.

As always, we’ll be working at our benches and are happy to discuss or demonstrate any techniques that you have been struggling with. Want to learn to use a beading plane? Just ask. Sharpen a travisher or auger bit? We know how.

On the commerce side of things, we now have stock of the special historical reprint of “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker.” It’s as cute as a bug’s ear and is just $12 American. We also have Crucible lump hammers and scrapers in stock. Plus all our regular titles.

If you are looking for a good place to eat during your visit, we can’t get enough of Libby’s Southern Comfort. The fried chicken is aces. The bourbon slushes are dangerous. And the staff is wonderful. Also, the Covington Farmer’s Market is a great place to pick up baked goods. It closes at noon, so be sure to stop by the North South Baking tent and get an almond croissant.

Gawd, I’m making myself hungry.

— Christopher Schwarz

Update: The spot has been claimed.

We’ve a last-minute cancellation for Kieran Binnie’s Anarchist’s Tool Chest class, Sept. 23-27 at the Lost Art Press Storefront. The class is $900 plus $500 for materials (which we got today – gorgeous sugar pine from California).

To claim this spot, send an email to me: fitz@lostartpress.com.

Here’s the description from our now-defunct Eventbrite page:

Join Englishman Kieran Binnie to build a full-size English tool chest (a.k.a. “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”) with his assistants Christopher Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick.

This class is all about the dovetails (and building a traditional chest to hold around 50 hand tools) – you’ll get plenty of practice hand-cutting this joint on the carcase, skirts and dust seal, plus you’ll build a bomb (and butt) proof raised-panel lid to top it off. Though we will have time to build only the outside of the chest, you’ll see some options in the Lost Art Press shop for outfitting the interior.

Kieran Binnie is a woodworker and writer. Kieran’s love of hand tool work started when he enrolled at renowned Totnes School of Guitarmaking in Devon, England, and his interest expanded from lutherie to furniture making following classes with Christopher Schwarz and Roy Underhill. He writes a weekly woodwork blog (overthewireless.com) and is a regular contributor to Furniture & Cabinetmaking Magazine and to Popular Woodworking. He is also working on a forthcoming book on the history of books and bookcases for Lost Art
Press.

* Apologies in advance for the comic stylings of Christopher Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick, who will be on hand to assist as needed, and translate from rebate to rabbet, cramp to clamp, centimeters to inches and so on.

— Fitz

 

I think that some of the modern rules for making a comfortable chair are inflexible, misinterpret the human body and ignore the needs of people on the shorter half of the bell curve.

I wrote up my thoughts for my column for Core77, and you can read it for free here.

Most of my ideas on chair comfort come from making chairs since the 1990s, everything from frame chair, Morris chairs, Windsor chairs and vernacular chairs, which is where my interest is right now.

After years of making chairs based on historical examples, I encountered modern design rules for them. I gobbled them up. But I found them at odds with my own experiences. This column is my attempt to reconcile them.

— Christopher Schwarz

We delivered a big load of finished lump hammers to the warehouse this week and they are now available for purchase in our online store. The cost is $85 plus shipping.

These are machined, assembled and polished here in Kentucky using domestic materials.

We also will have a batch of these hammers here at the storefront for the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event on Sept. 20-21 at our Covington, Ky., storefront (in case you miss them online).

— Christopher Schwarz

After six hard months of pure casework, I am back on making chairs every day in the shop. As such, I have a couple tools I’ve been meaning to write about but have put off because of the all-consuming nature of casework.

First is the Blue Spruce 4” Sliding Bevel Gauge. I bought one of the early prototypes that Dave Jeske had made and was impressed. It’s a great alternative for the woodworker who cannot afford a Chris Vesper 4” bevel or who needs one immediately (Vesper is currently out of stock on this tool). The Blue Spruce locks like crazy and is the perfect small size for chairmaking. Bevels with long blades can’t get as close to your drill bit as those with short blades.

You can, of course, make a bevel out of wood or cut down the blade of an old Stanley bevel. I’ve done both myself.

One of the nice things about the Blue Spruce version is that you get to pick out all the materials, colors and finishes for the tool. The bevel shown above is the one Dave made for me. If I were making one for myself it would be much more plain Jane – silver body, satin blade, stainless hardware.

The bevels start at $125 and are excellent. Highly recommended.

Also on the bench is the Bevel Monkey from FirstLightWorks in the U.K. This simple laser-engraved piece of laminate makes setting your sliding bevel a breeze. The cost is 28 pounds, which includes shipping to North America.

Both of these tools have earned a place in the till in my tool chest that is devoted to chairmaking tools.

— Christopher Schwarz