Don Williams, the author of “Virtuoso” and the ringleader of the A.J. Roubo translations, will attend the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event this weekend at Braxton Brewing in Covington, Ky.
Don will be signing books and (no doubt) spreading his wisdom on historical finishing techniques. So bring your copies of “Virtuoso” and Roubo translations. If you ordered the standard edition of “Roubo on Furniture” you’ll receive it this week. They all went out in the mail late last week.
And Don isn’t the only Lost Art Press author who will be attending the Lie-Nielsen event this weekend. Narayan Nayar, the photographer for “Virtuoso,” will be there. And Matt Bickford, the author of “Mouldings in Practice,” will be demonstrating both days.
I’ll be there. And, as you know, I’ll sign anything. So bring your books.
My daughter Maddy will begin mailing out a new set of stickers this week. She ran out of the previous design last week, so if your SASE is in transit you likely will receive the new designs.
The new stickers include:
A round sticker with the Lost Art Press emblem and the “farting divider,” as some people have called it.
A die-cut sticker in the shape of the English A-square from the cover of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”
Want a set? You can order them from her etsy store here.
Or, for customers in the United States, you can send a $5 bill and a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) to Maddy at:
Stick it to the Man
P.O. Box 3284
Columbus, OH 43210
As always, this is not a money-making venture for me or Lost Art Press. All profits help Maddy squeak through college without debt. Also, as her 21st birthday is coming up on March 22, some of that money might go to buying cider.
I didn’t intend to start revising or adding to “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” but new designs are gushing out of my sketchbook these days, so I’ve stopped resisting.
This stool design started with a Welsh stool from the 18th century and came together in two days. It needs a second prototype to reach the finish line, but it’s good enough to show. Here are some details if you are interested in designing your own.
The stool is 25-1/2” tall, which is perfect for me. I can sit on the bench with my feet resting flat on the floor. The stretcher is 6-3/4” off the floor, so when I put my feet on it, my legs are in a traditional sitting arrangement.
The seat is 1-3/4” x 12” x 20”. This gives you enough depth so you don’t feel as if you are falling off and you won’t cut off blood circulation to your legs if you sit back on the seat. (Also, 12” is a classic stool depth.) The 20” length is suited so you can place your hands on the seat to either side of your torso. This allows you to easily reposition yourself or to help give you a push if you wish to hop off the seat.
The 45° cuts at the back remove weight – visual and literal.
The legs are 1-3/4” double-tapered octagons and start life about 27” long. The double tapers meet at the point where the stretchers intersect the legs – a natural place for bulk. The front legs use the following angles: 26° sightline and 13° resultant. The rear leg has a 0° sightline and 22° resultant. These angles give the stool immense stability.
The legs have 1-1/4” diameter tenons at the top. They start out about 2” long. The tenons are not tapered on this design.
The stretchers start as 1-1/8” octagons and are turned. The front stretcher is a cigar shape and terminates at each end with a cove and a 5/8” diameter x 1” tenon. The T-stretcher is 1-1/8” diameter at the rear leg and tapers to 3/4” at the front stretcher. Both ends have 5/8”-diameter tenons. (Note I swiped this tapered tenon from Bern Chandley, a chairmaker in Melbourne, Australia.)
What am I going to change for Stool 2.0? I’m going to add a wide and flat chamfer all around the top of the seat and saddle the seat. I’m going to bulk up the legs and stretchers a bit to see what happens. I might replace the 45° angles on the seat with ellipses.
But the second prototype will have to wait. I have tea coasters (yes, coasters) to build for a special client.
There are a lot of great places to eat in Cincinnati and Covington, and I’m not talking about chili parlors. In fact, the only thing I’m going to say about chili parlors is this: They are the only place you can order a “child’s three-way” and not get arrested.
To make this list manageable, I’m going to focus only on establishments that are in Covington and downtown Cincinnati. If I covered other neighborhoods, it would be a book.
Covington Otto’s: This is one of my favorite places for lunch, dinner and brunch. It has a small menu of Southern food, but everything is outstanding. Get the tomato pie for lunch. Otto’s is also one of my contenders for best burger in the city.
Bouquet: Great wine bar and good food made with local ingredients. I love the trout.
Frida 602: A bustling Mexican place that specializes in mezcal and tacos. Get the queso. You’ll thank me.
Cock & Bull: The best fish and chips in town and a draft beer list that is insane (Delirium Tremens on draft – dang).
Goodfella’s Pizza and the Wiseguy Lounge: Downstairs is a small pizzeria with New York style pizza (yes, you can order a slice) and beer. Upstairs is one of the best bourbon bars in the state and a great place to relax.
Commonwealth Bistro: A new Southern food restaurant on Main Street. I’ve only been once but I was blown away by the fried rabbit and biscuit.
Crafts & Vines: One of the friendliest bars in the city. Wine on draft (you read that right). Plus an inventive beer selection.
Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar: The bartenders know me by name here. An astonishing bourbon selection. The patio out back is one of my favorite places to hang out with a crackling fire and a bourbon.
Covington Coffee: Super-friendly family-run place. Great pastries and the best bagels (Lil’s) in the city.
Crepe Cafe: A relatively new shop on Pike Street. A cozy family-run place with really good sweet and savory crepes, plus espresso. One of my favorite places for lunch – it’s two blocks from our shop.
Point Perk: My other favorite coffee shop in town. The hours are limited, but the espresso and chai drinks are fantastic.
Coppin’s in the Hotel Covington: Open less than a year, this hotel is the jewel of the city. It’s less than a block from Braxton Brewing. The restaurant and bar are highly recommended for breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch. Get the corn fritters, the 16 Bricks bread and… oh just get everything.
Inspirado: Around the corner from Braxton. Eclectic menu. Osso buco and street tacos? Yes please. A very friendly place – lunch, dinner and brunch.
Pork ho fun at Kung Food.
Amerasia Kung Food: Don’t be fooled by the appearance of this divey-looking Chinese place. People come from all over the city for lunch and dinner. It also has one of the best selections of beer in the city. If you like noodles, get the pork ho fun (and ask them to make it a little extra crispy).
Riverside Korean: Authentic Korean. A karaoke room (yes, we’ve done it). Riverside never disappoints.
House of Grill: Tasty Persian food served up by the friendliest family in the restaurant business.
Keystone Grill: Family-friendly place for lunch, dinner or brunch. The mac and cheese varieties are great.
The Gruff: A pizza place in the shadow of the Roebling bridge. Fantastic pizzas (try the Italian meat pizza or the Margarita) plus local craft beer and one of the most inspiring views in the city.
Whew, Now Cincinnati I’m going to keep this brief. This blog entry is turning into an opus already. All of these restaurants are less than a mile from the river. I’m also skipping places that are so popular (The Eagle, Bakersfield, Taft Ale House) that you can’t easily get in.
Sotto: The best restaurant in the city. Period. The first time my daughter tried the short rib cappellacci she cried. No lie.
Boca: The big brother to Sotto. A bit fancy, but unforgettable in every respect.
Maplewood: The best breakfast in the city. No question.
Mita’s: Beautiful Spanish restaurant with achingly good paella.
Taste of Belgium: Fried chicken and waffles. Great breakfast. Belgian ale on tap.
Morelein Lager House: A local brewery with a restaurant – the view of the Roebling Bridge and Covington alone is worth the trip.
Sweet pea and bacon pizza at A Tavola.
A Tavola: My favorite pizza in the city. Neapolitan-style. Awesome wagyu-beef meatballs and bacon tapenade. Great wine, beer and cocktails.
Salazar: I vacillate between Salazar and Sotto as my favorite places in the city.
Pulled pork sandwich at Eli’s.
Findlay Market & Eli’s: A old open-air market and the pride of Cincinnati. On weekends we walk around, eat whatever smells good and buy sausages (Kroeger meat) for the week. Eli’s is adjacent and it’s my favorite barbecue joint.
OK, that should be enough to keep you fed for one weekend.
Unless something goes awry, Brian Stuparyk at Steam Whistle Letterpress plans to start printing the pages for “Roman Workbenches” this week. The plates are in. The paper is in. Now it’s just a matter of putting the two together on his Vandercook press.
Once the pages are printed, we’ll truck the results to Massachusetts so the bindery can fold the signatures, sew them and bind them. It’s too soon to tell exactly when the book will be finished and then ship – I’m hoping the process takes another five weeks.
Today I stopped by the Steam Whistle shop in neighboring Newport, Ky., to take some photos of the plates and paper to assure you that we haven’t taken your money and run off to Kansas (that’s really about as far as we could get on that sum).
Brian is a newly minted father and seems still as excited about the job as I am – and I don’t think he’s slept since Monday.
When the press starts rolling, I’ll post some photos and video of the process. It won’t be long now.
