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.
The Ringling Bros. final dates in Cincinnati just happen to be during that weekend. The circus is closing up shop and so this might be your last chance to see it. The performances are at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati – right across the river from Covington. Details here.
The Cincinnati Museum Center has an exhibit of Viking artifacts (which I really need to get over to see). Lots of swords, a recreation of a Viking ship and additional programming that young Vikings would dig (Viking games). The Cincinnati Children’s Museum is also in the facility, and we spent many long Saturdays there when our kids were young.
If your kids dig fish, penguins and sea life, the Newport Aquarium is a great day trip. The aquarium is at Newport on the Levee, an entertainment district that’s five minutes from the hand tool event. There’s a movie theater, restaurants and other fun stuff for kids there. Also, oddly, Mitchell’s Fish Market is exactly next door to the aquarium. I always wondered….
The Cincinnati Zoo is an outstanding zoo. I can say that because I’ve been dragged to zoos (legal and sketchy) all over the Western world. In addition to seeing all the animals that would like to eat you, there are animals you can pet. The children’s section of the zoo kept our kids occupied for hours so we could fall half-asleep on a bench.
If you have a child who is obsessed with trucks, you can soothe the little savage with a trip to the Cincinnati Fire Museum. It’s downtown – a short hop from Covington.
The Cincinnati Art Museum (free admission!) is another great day trip. For the younger kids, there’s the Rosenthal Education Center, with hands-on stuff to keep little hands occupied between filling diapers. The rest of the museum is great, too, if they happen to take a nap in the stroller.
If you like to warp your children’s minds (like we did), go to the Contemporary Art Center in downtown Cincinnati. You start at the top of the amazing building and work your way down. Our kids were always shocked and amazed and surprisingly curious when we went to the CAC. (There’s a section for kids at the top of the museum, too.) It’s not too freaky – promise. Also, stop by the 21c Museum Hotel next door. It has two floors of art exhibits that are always fun and interesting (our kids still ask to go). There’s lots to eat all around the CAC, but I’ll save that for another post.
The walnut family also includes butternut and the hickories. Juglans means nut of Jupiter, nigra, or black, refers to the dark wood. Its natural range is from New England through southern Ontario to South Dakota, south to Texas, and east to northern Florida. Walnuts grow best in the deep rich soils of river valleys and bottom lands, where they reach a height of 60′-100′ (18-30 m). The tree generally has an open crown with thick, sturdy branches. Walnut leaves are compound, 1′-2′ (30-60 cm) long, with 13-23 lance-shaped leaflets. Leaves grow alternately on thick, stubby twigs. When cut, the twigs reveal a light brown pith, about the thickness of a pencil lead. Overall, the light green foliage is scant, giving the tree an airy appearance. Early in the fall the leaves turn yellow and drop, leaving a distinctive 3-lobed, notched, leaf scar. The nut matures at about the same time, enclosed in a thick, green, pulpy husk about the size of a billiard ball. The deeply grooved black nut is very thick and hard, but well worth the effort of extracting the meat. The dark brown bark grows in broken, crossed ridges.
Black walnut is as close to a perfect cabinet wood as can be found in North America. The light sapwood, 10-20 rings wide, is often steamed commercially to make it blend with the heartwood, which is a medium chocolate to purplish-brown. The wood is medium hard (with a density of 38 lb/ft³ or .61 g/cc at 12 percent MC), strong and works well with both hand and power tools. Classified as semi-ring-porous the vessels (containing tyloses) are large enough to be seen on any surface. Walnut is very decay-resistant, and was once used for railroad ties. Many early barns, houses and outbuildings in the Appalachians and the Midwest were constructed with walnut frames. Its color, beauty and workability make it a prime cabinet wood. Gunsmiths use it for stocks because it moves very little once dried. Top-quality veneer logs will sell for thousands of dollars and will panel miles of executive offices.
