Lost Art Press

The ‘Caveat Emptor Season’ has Begun

Posted on by Lost Art Press

LAP_logo2_940During the summer, tool manufacturers crank up the factories to create new products for the big selling season: September through Christmas. The manufacturers also hold media junkets to ply journalists and bloggers with free travel, meals and tools.

This blog entry is a warning from someone who covered the tool industry for 16 years and was sent (against my better judgment) on a few of these junkets when our tool reviewers couldn’t.

Here’s How it Works
A tool company invites you to a city to see the new products they have planned for a fall release. They pay for your plane ticket, your hotel and usually all your meals. Usually you get a tour of the factory (the best part – I love factory tours). They show you the new tools, you get to play with them and then they send you (for free) the ones you like when they are released.

Some companies are more ethical about it – they loan you the tools and they ask you to pay your way to the press event. Others are less ethical about it – they take you on a beach vacation, pay for family to come and send you home with anything you like from their catalog. One editor brought home a cabinet saw – for himself.

Rather than shaming bloggers, YouTubers and journalists by delving into the details further (one story involves a strip club; another involves an escort service), I’d like to tell you how to protect yourself as a consumer.

Don’t Buy Newly Released Tools
Just like with cars, there is a shakeout period with manufacturing tools. The first ones off the line and into the stores are more likely to have problems, such as manufacturing errors. Or they are likely to suffer a design defect that the designers couldn’t foresee (such as a switch that is prone to dust contamination).

New technology – like new software – is buggy.

I know it’s tempting to want the latest gadget, but you are better off buying the gadget that has been in the stores for a few years and has all its bugs worked out. Plus, you can ignore the social media spooge-fest that occurs when someone puts a laser on a scratch awl.

Check a Blogger’s Disclosure
Believe it or not, bloggers and social media people have to disclose to you if they received an item free or were paid to promote it. The Federal Trade Commission covers this in Title 16 part 255 of the federal regulations of electronic commerce. Read the section here. A plain-spoken guide is here. Lost Art Press’s disclosure is here.

Some bloggers are really transparent and ethical. A good example of this is Paul Sellers, probably the hand tool woodworker with the most eyeballs. His disclaimer is linked to right from his home page and is completely clear. Bravo Mr. Sellers.

Other writers are ignorant or simply ignore the law. If someone doesn’t have a disclaimer or disclosure statement, I assume they are taking free stuff.

I know there are some of you who don’t believe that giving people free tools affects what a person writes. This post is not for you. For the rest of us, I advise being a little more wary of what you see on Instagram, blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter during the coming months. You might just end up a part of someone’s brilliant marketing plan.

— Christopher Schwarz, christophermschwarz.com

Closeout on Tremont Cut Nails

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Dovetailing-a-nail

Horton Brasses is selling off its stock of Tremont cut nails at a significant discount – 50 percent to 70 percent off depending on the type of nail.

You can start shopping here or read on.

Basically, Horton has slashed prices so most of its stock of cut nails are $6 a pound, with the exception of the expensive cut headless brads, which are $6 for 1/4 lb. (still a good price).

Among the highlights (for me):

Stock up if your credit card can take it. These prices are rare to encounter for new cut nails.

— Christopher Schwarz, christophermschwarz.com

A Saddlebag for my Workbench

Posted on by Lost Art Press

saddlebag_open_IMG_8839

I’m a tool chest guy. At the end of the day all my tools go back in my chest to protect them and to soothe my head (I am a tidy German). When I’m working with my tools at the bench, I also like to keep them sorted – simply so I can work faster.

And that’s why I bought a Texas Heritage Woodworks Saddlebag and screwed it to the rear of my workbench. (FYI, I buy all my tools and etc. at full retail. I receive no “promotional consideration,” “affiliate monies” or “reach-arounds.”)

Like everything Jason and Sarah make, the quality is top notch. The seams are tidy, sturdy and riveted for strength. The pockets are thoughtfully designed to hold a variety of small woodworking tools.

My Saddlebag is set up to work like a traditional rack on a French workbench – it’s located opposite the face vise and slightly below the bench’s work surface. With the Saddlebag in this spot I can stick my typical small tools there while I work, and I always know where my 6” square and mechanical pencil are. (My ears are simply too big to tuck a pencil there – it would have to be the size of one of those pencils we had in kindergarten.)

The Saddlebag is also ideal for hanging inside a Dutch tool chest (check out this gallery of these chests on the Popular Woodworking blog).

I’m sure this will be on my “Anarchist’s Gift Guide” this holiday, so now you can beat the rush.

— Christopher Schwarz, christophermschwarz.com

saddlebag_detail_IMG_8841

Conquer a Wonky Slab

Posted on by fitz

Big slabs of wood move as they dry – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. In my experience, the worst of the movement happens in the first six to 12 months of drying. The hardest two problems to deal with that emerge from the drying process are: a crown over the length of the slab, and the more common twist or wind over the length.

This movement (particularly a bad twist) can mean removing a tremendous amount of wood to get a flat surface. A jack plane with a cambered iron can do wonders, but if there is a lot of wood that has to come of it, can be quite a job. Another factor can be the wood itself. Most of the benchtops I deal with are red or white oak; once dry, it is hard to take much of a bite with a handplane.

IMG_5371

The past couple of years I have been using a hand held electric plane for hogging off the majority of the offending wood. It works quite well across or with the grain. When using it cross-grain it will take close to 1/8″ off each pass. Once I am close to where I need to be, I can easily finish up with handplanes.

IMG_5373

These little electric planes vary in price, I think I paid $120 for the one I have. This one has seen some pretty heavy use and has held up well so far.

IMG_5377
This top had about 1/2″ of twist over 6′ length. It took about 10 minuets to get it true enough to move on to a surface planer or handplane.

In the video Chris and I shot, “Roubo Workbench: by Hand & Power,” we used one of  these electric planes to flatten one face of the benchtop. We did the opposite face of the top with a 20″ surface planer. After all was said and done, wrestling the 300 lb. benchtop through the surface planer was much more exhausting than going the electric plane/handplane route.

— Will Myers

Look sharp, men! The cat’s away.

Posted on by fitz

The following is a description of the break room at the military museum where I worked as a carpenter’s assistant in 1987.

IMG_2063
Part of the farewell card I made for my colleagues  when I left.

 

By far the best thing about the job was the break room, where about a dozen of us from different departments gathered each morning around half-past 10, then for lunch at one, and again, later on, for tea. An industrial-size kettle sat on the stove; a roster indicated who would be in charge of making tea before the others arrived. On my first day, George told me how much tea to throw in the pot and how high to pour the water when the kettle boiled. There was always a bottle of milk in the fridge and a bowl of sugar nearby.

The men would stroll in, pour themselves a cup of tea, and take their customary places. Aside from two younger fellows, most of them appeared to be in their 50s or 60s and coasting toward retirement. The break room sped them on their way like one of those moving sidewalks at the airport.

Most of them were married. Their wives packed their lunches, wrapping sandwiches in neat paper or plastic bags, tucking in a packet of crisps alongside some radishes or carrots from the garden. They’d pop in some other little treat — a couple of chocolate digestives, a small container of fruit cocktail, a slice of leftover Madeira cake from a picnic with the grandkids. It seemed clear that most of these men were well cared for and well trained. And because they were expected to behave themselves at home, they leapt at the chance to have some fun with the 27-year-old temp.–Excerpted from Making Things Work