The following is an excerpt out of “From Truth to Tools” by Jim Tolpin and George Walker; Illustrated by Andrea Love. It features some of our tools that you may recognize (Crucible Sliding Bevel and Crucible Brass Bevel Monkey) and explains why we make them and find them so useful.
This comb-back stick chair is designed for dining and working at a desk. Leaned back just enough, this chair is comfortable to sit in for hours at a time.
I’m offering it for sale for $1,400 via a random drawing. The price includes crating and shipping to your door anywhere in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Details on the sale are at the bottom of this entry. First, here’s more about the chair.
This chair is made from soft maple (seat and arm bow) and red oak (legs, stretchers, sticks and comb.) The legs and stretchers begin octagonal in shape then round into the taper. The through-tenons on the stretchers are cut flush with the legs – as with the stick tenons on the arm; Giving this chair a sleek look.
All joints are assembled with animal glue and wedged with red oak wedges.
This chair sits 17” above the ground, a comfortable height for most sitters. However, the chair can be lowered if desired. The overall height of this chair is 39-1/4”.
Due to the difference in color of wood species, I decided to paint this chair. The chair is finished with two coats of “Linen” by General Finishes “Milk Paint.” The off-white color has a matte finish that I believe will age beautifully.
This chair was my fifth chair build overall and my first chair of 2025. Made mostly by hand tools, the occasional tool mark or imperfection may be noticeable. I made this chair to the best of my ability and am proud of the outcome.
How to Buy the Chair
The chair is being sold via a random drawing. If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday, March 7. Please use the subject line: “White Chair.” In the email please include your:
If you are the “winner,” the chair will be shipped to your door. The price includes the crate and all shipping charges. Alternatively, the chair can be picked up at our storefront. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.)
– Kale Vogt
Well it took longer than I expected, but we now have all four volumes of “The Woodworker” back in stock and ready to ship. If you order before April 30, you can get all four volumes for $100 with free domestic shipping. That’s $39 off. Plus the free shipping.
Here’s the link to the page. The books are also available for sale individually.
These four books are the backbone of a complete education in handwork. A team of six people (including some extra helpers) worked for eight years to read, organize, scan, design and produce these four books from the articles written and edited by Charles H. Hayward.
As editor of The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967, Hayward oversaw the transformation of the craft from one that was almost entirely hand-tool based to a time where machines were common, inexpensive and had displaced the handplanes, chisels and backsaws of Hayward’s training and youth.
Our massive project distilled the thousands of articles Hayward published in The Woodworker. This is information that hasn’t been seen or read in decades. No matter where you are in the craft, from a complete novice to a professional, you will find information here you cannot get anywhere else.
The books have 1,492 pages total, with thousands of hand drawings and photos. The books are printed in the USA and are designed to last decades. The sewn bindings will lay flat on your bench. The uncoated paper is easy on your eyes.
For more information on the project, including a complete list of all the articles in the books, click here.
The following is an excerpt from “Sharpen This” by Christopher Schwarz.
One of the most frequent (and unanswerable) questions I get about sharpening is: How often should I sharpen?
The correct but unsatisfactory answer is: Pretty much any time the question “Should I sharpen?” pops into your head.
When I ask myself that question, I stop and look at my tool’s edge. Can I see a glint of light at the tip of the bevel? If I can, it’s time to sharpen. I look at my work to see if the surface is clean or if it’s marred by fine white lines or scratches in the wood. If I can see those lines, the edge is likely damaged and needs to be reground. And I think about the last few minutes of work I’ve done. If the work took more effort than expected, it’s time to sharpen.
You also have to become sensitive to the peculiarities of your tools. There are times when the tool’s cutting edge is not causing the problem. That is, you sharpened the edge, and the problem persists. What do you do then?
Well the good news is that by taking a moment to sharpen the tool you have eliminated the most common ailment of a hand tool: the edge is dull. After that, you need to consider the other parts of the tool. If your handplane is leaving a rough surface in its wake, the problem could be that its sole has become dented somewhere around its rim. So you need to file away any roughness on the sole. If the plane is too hard to push, there’s a good chance that the tool’s chipbreaker is too close to the cutting edge, which can create some impressive resistance. And if the plane is both too hard to push and it is leaving a nasty surface on your wood, there’s a good chance that the chipbreaker has slipped forward of your cutting edge and so the chipbreaker is doing the cutting – instead of the tool’s cutting edge. This is a common problem.
If a sharpening session doesn’t fix a chisel, there’s a good chance that your sharpening efforts did not cut a new zero-radius intersection. This is also a common malady among beginning woodworkers.
But in all honesty, sharpness fixes almost everything.
As you become proficient at sharpening, you will find there is a pattern or rhythm to the process, and it is mostly circular, like the life cycle of a frog. It starts as a tadpole that grows into a frog and then creates the next generation of tadpoles. With tools it is hone, polish, hone, polish, hone, polish, grind – then repeat the cycle. The following flow chart will – I hope – show you how sharpening occurs in a workshop during the long haul. It might take a chisel a year to make it around the circle. Or a week. It really depends on how much you use your tools and how hard you are on them.
The flowchart (below) begins the moment you decide a tool is dull.
From 2-4 p.m. on March 9 (the Sunday after the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at our Willard Street location), we’ll throw open the doors to the public (perhaps literally, if the weather allows!) to welcome you into our new warehouse, storefront and editorial offices at 407 Madison Ave., Covington Kentucky, 41011.
Join us for tours, book and tool sales (including blemished tools and books at reduced prices) and just to hang out with woodworking friends for a few hours.
Hope to see you there, and at the Lie-Nielsen event on the Friday and Saturday before!
– Fitz
