Lost Art Press

Staked High Stool & ‘The Anarchist’s Design Book’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

black_stool1_IMG_4563

After five prototypes, I’ve completed the first project for the expansion of “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” which should be out in 2018.

I now have to make a SketchUp drawing of the stool, which will take longer than building the stool from wood. After busting out a lot of staked chairs and stools this year, I’m able to build this stool in 3-1/2 hours, which includes finishing time.

The finish on the stool – a combination of “uzukuri” and “shou sugi ban” techniques I’ve been experimenting with for more than two years – also allows me to add an appendix to the design book on these processes and the tools involved.

I’m quite happy with this design. It’s simple, comfortable, inexpensive and easy.

I have to take a break from the projects for the expansion of “The Anarchist’s Design Book” to build a commission and write an article for Popular Woodworking Magazine. When I complete those projects, I’ll return to making a staked armchair, a staked settee and two boarded projects for the book.

The boarded projects include a nailed-together version of the Monticello bookcases I built in 2011 and a boarded English settee. This has long been on my list of projects to build. If you aren’t familiar with the form, check out this entry from TheFurnitureRecord.com.

— Christopher Schwarz

“The Notebook of Philadelphia Joiner John Widdifield”

Posted on by saucyindexer
Widdifield’s plan for a spice box and scrutoire. (Chipstone.org)

In the autumn of 2015 there was considerable interest in the auction of  the notebook of the early-18th century joiner, John Widdifield. A private collector prevailed in the auction and agreed to make the notebook available for publication and study by the Chipstone Foundation and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The initial article about Widdifield and his notebook was published in “American Furniture” and is available from Chipstone to read online here.

If you would like to take a closer look at each page of the notebook click on ‘Show all Figures only’ on the upper right hand of the page and a window will open.

–Suzanne Ellison

Phase One Almost Broke Us

Posted on by Lost Art Press

storefront_IMG_7783

Above is a photo I took of our storefront this morning as I got to work. Notice anything different? Me neither.

But we have a new roof on 837 Willard St., which took almost 10 months of wrangling and four roofing companies to complete. We removed four ersatz skylights, added a hatch to the roof (who doesn’t want a hatch?) and now we don’t have buckets located strategically throughout the third floor.

To celebrate, Lucy and I want to Pontiac barbecue last night and ate a cow.

This is the end of phase one of the work we are doing on the building. Phase one was about stabilizing the structure – concrete and French drains in the basement, new gutters, repair the deck, replace the rotting fence, caulk and paint the exterior, install a sump pump, new windows on the first floor and a new roof. Oh, and gutting the first floor for my workshop.

All that took about 18 months, hundreds of hours of work and more money than most families spend on a college education. And as our personal bank balance veered toward zero this winter, we began to get stressed. Luckily, a couple commissions and articles came through and we are back in the black.

The plan now is to take the next 12 months to work on the cosmetic stuff that doesn’t cost much money or require professional help. I’m going to install a new back door to the shop ($400), install a floating floor in the utility area ($385) and start demolishing the interior walls in the Horse Garage for the machine room (cost: paying for beer for my friends).

Oh, and I’m going to enjoy not writing huge checks for a while (knock wood that there is no Godzilla attack this spring).

— Christopher Schwarz

Batonga stools

Posted on by fitz

Since this blog seems to be transitioning from all-workbenches-all-the-time to all-stools-all-the-time, I thought I’d pass along something I came across recently. The Batonga people, of present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia, have traditionally carved stools out of single log sections. The stools range from very simple:

http://outofthisworld.co.za

to much more elaborate:

http://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/

They sometimes incorporate a carrying handle, as the latter image shows.

Designs vary quite a bit, although there are some recurring themes. I do wonder about the long-term viability of a stool whose supports incorporate a sharp, cross-grain right angle:

http://www.safarifusion.com.au/

Then again, the people who carve and use these probably don’t have BMI levels in quite the same range as our own.

If you do a search on “batonga stool” you’ll find quite a few for sale.

–Steve Schafer