Lost Art Press

*Updated to correct fox-wedged tenon.

The natural world provides a huge vocabulary to help us describe what we do and make. Birdseye can be a pattern in maple, a textile and a chile. In the workshop, names of animals (or parts there of) are a shorthand to describe details on furniture, components of tools and workbench appliances.

With input from Chris Schwarz I put together a collage of animal-inspired woodworking features, tools and one misinformed rabbit.

You are free to print this, however, I can’t guarantee resolution on a very large print.

–Suzanne Ellison

Popular Woodworking Magazine was purchased this month by the parent company of Woodsmith magazine, a division of Active Interest Media called Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. The purchase price was $1 million, according to court records.

We’ve received a lot of questions from readers. Should I renew my subscription? Will the magazine continue? What will happen to the staff and contributors?

I talked with a well-placed source at AIM today, and he said there have been no decisions made as to what to do with Popular Woodworking Magazine. All options are on the table at this point: Keep the magazine going as-is, fold it into Woodsmith, maintain it as an online entity or other options.

The magazine will continue on in some form, he said. They didn’t simply buy it to kill it. AIM just has to evaluate the situation and decide on the correct path. Woodsmith itself was acquired by AIM in 2015 and was kept in its hometown in Iowa. Since the purchase there have been changes to the magazine’s content and cuts to the staff, all typical results when a magazine is purchased by a new owner.

Popular Woodworking has substantial legacy content that came with the deal, including the intellectual property of American Woodworker, Woodwork magazine and Woodworking Magazine.

Also notable is that Meredith Corp., owner of WOOD magazine, was a bidder in the bankruptcy auction but lost to AIM/Cruz Bay, according to Folio magazine.

— Christopher Schwarz

Here’s an interesting piece of news for those who might remember the early days of the internet. Pete Taran, one of the founders of Independence Tool, has begun making new dovetail saws again under the Ne Plus Ultra line.

The Independence saws were the first premium saws on the market in the mid 1990s, well before Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley and all the individual makers started cranking up their files. Pete founded the company with Patrick Leach, who now sells antique tools. You can read the entire history here, which is from an interview I did with Pete in 2008.

Short version: Independence Tool was sold to Lie-Nielsen and those saws became the first handsaws produced by the Maine company. The Lie-Nielsen dovetail saw still has the same lines as the Independence tool, which are gorgeous.

Pete, one of the most knowledgeable saw people I know, has remained active since selling Independence. He runs the VintageSaws.com site, where he sells refurbished saws and dispenses advice on saw filing.

And now he’s making new saws again. If you never got a chance to buy one of the original Independence saws, this is probably about as close as you can get. I have no plans on testing them (those days are thankfully behind me). But knowing Pete, they will be nothing shy of perfect.

— Christopher Schwarz

John Hoffman – the co-founder of Lost Art Press – is divesting himself of some tools he no longer needs – and we’ve a handful remaining in the shop after the last open house (plus a few from me and Chris). So, I’m making them available here, for the listed price, plus USPS Priority Flat Rate Shipping (that cost will vary, based on the size of the box into which I can pack it – but a “large” box will be less than $20). The one exception is the DeWalt table saw above; it is pick-up only.

All tools are in good working order (blades may require sharpening…but you know how to do that!).

If you want one of the tools, send me (Megan) an email – fitz@lostartpress.com. Do NOT email the LAP help desk (that’s Meghan, who is 100 miles away and cannot answer questions about these tools). Payment will be via PayPal to the tool owner (plus the shipping), then I’ll pack and send the tool. These are available for shipping only to U.S. addresses.

– Fitz

In an effort to reduce all the things sitting around, I’m offering this leather-bound copy of “Mouldings in Practice” for sale for $250. Domestic shipping is free. International shipping is at cost. Note: This item is sold.

The book is a first edition of Matt Bickford’s landmark book. The boards are covered in calfskin that has been hand dyed. The endsheets are handmade as well. All the work was done by the artisans at Ohio Book, who have created all of our leather-bound editions.

To buy it, send me a message through my personal website via this link.

— Christopher Schwarz