Lost Art Press

Lost Art Press Storefront’s Paint Job Complete

Posted on by Lost Art Press

img_6696

Today the painters finished their job on the Lost Art Press storefront. There were a lot of details to manage, and a lot of cold weather to weather. But a crew of six guys spent the entire day going over every nook of the building, calling to each other to rework a detail or cover up a bare spot.

I’m quite pleased. And my neighbors are even more pleased – they’ve been interrupting the painters all week to tell them what a good job they are doing.

While I’m happy, I’m also trying to keep up. Today I built a new transom window for the side of the building that faces south. And I have two more transom windows to make. I also have to add a coat of wax to the front door and seal up the threshold below the new front door. And… the list is endless. Old buildings are fantastic obligations.

Despite my long to-do list, the next couple days will be all about cooking and eating for me. Thanksgiving is the only holiday I take seriously. It’s not about commerce. There are no greeting cards or gifts to buy. It’s just about getting together with the people you like and sharing a meal.

I hope you have the same sort of day – no matter where you live.

— Christopher Schwarz

img_6692

Seeing Red

Posted on by Lost Art Press

adb-13-cothele-open-img_9352

Sometimes I think my taste in furniture comes from the fact that I’m easily startled. I’ll sometimes spit a mouth full of toothpaste onto the mirror when my wife appears behind me in the bathroom.

I don’t want to be alarmed or injected with adrenaline when I look at a chair, table or a sideboard because of its car-like surface finish, carving, inlay or dizzying grain patterns.

Furniture should be as natural as your fingers. Your hands are logical, unadorned and familiar. Yet when you choose to examine them closely you will be amazed at every aspect of their mechanics and form.

So when I look at furniture, I mentally divide what I see into pieces that are “red” and those that are “green.” This is all standard color theory stuff that you can learn about in an introductory psychology class.

Colors in the “warm” spectrum – red, orange and yellow – tend to excite us. Colors in the “cool” spectrum – blues and greens – tend to relax.

The first time I visited Winterthur Museum – Henry Francis du Pont’s amazing collection of high-style furniture from the entire timeline of American history – I felt like I needed a stiff drink afterward. While there are some fine vernacular pieces in the collection, the entire experience left me wrung out and on edge. That was a red day.

Seeing one carving by Grinling Gibbons inspires awe. Seeing an entire room of his work induces nausea.

I don’t mean to pick on Winterthur. It’s one of the most fantastic furniture collections on the planet. To be fair, I get the same unpleasant blood buzz in European castles and manor homes. There is only so much of the stuff I can endure.

Contrast that with my first visit to the Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, S.C. The 1820 house is opulent in many ways, but much of that is muted by the fact that many rooms were empty of furnishings during my visit. For me, what’s most remarkable about the house are the slave quarters and work areas on the building’s ground floor. And the work yard.

(more…)

‘The Woodworker, Vol. III, Joinery’ Has Arrived

Posted on by Lost Art Press

joinery_cover_web_img_2253

We weren’t expecting Vol. III of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years” on joinery to show up until at least next week. But it landed in the warehouse yesterday and employees are busy scheduling an assembly line to ship out all pre-publication orders next week.

Vol. III on joinery (and the forthcoming Vol. IV on the workshop and furniture design) are the two volumes I’m most excited about. The joinery book contains almost everything from Hayward’s book “Woodwork Joints,” plus much more additional information on designing and cutting joinery that isn’t in “Woodwork Joints.”

At $37 (which includes domestic shipping), we think this is a bargain. You can order it here from our store if you live in Canada or the United States. If you live overseas, you can check in with the following sellers.

Vol. IV on the workshop and furniture design is due out early in 2017 – probably in February or March. The entire book has been designed by Meghan B., and Managing Editor Kara Gebhart Uhl is working on the final copy edit now.

Vol. IV will be the final volume in the series. All four books will be the same height and width, use the same paper and cover cloth. So they’ll definitely look like a set when grouped together.

For those of you waiting until all four volumes are available thinking that we’re going to offer a special discount on the set, don’t hold your breath. The price can only go up from here.

— Christopher Schwarz

Lots of Soft Wax from The Anarchist’s Daughter

Posted on by Lost Art Press

penny_wax_img_6681

Katy has been stockpiling soft wax during the last three weeks so she can (hopefully) keep it in stock through the holidays. The tins are $12 plus shipping (calico cat not included).

Katy also wants to have some money in her pocket for our holiday trip to Grand Canyon. You have to tip the mules, I hear.

Thanks for all your support of Katy’s business. You can read more about the wax or order some from her etsy store here.

— Christopher Schwarz

About Panels and Their Grooves

Posted on by meghanlostartpress

This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. 

Although framed panelling is not employed as much as formerly, it still plays a part in woodworking. Many homeworkers will use the method for a good class cupboard or wardrobe back, while the ever popular oak linen chest is, to most of us, unthinkable unless panelled.

There are a few points regarding panels and their grooves which are well worth thinking about. In the first place, see that the grooves in all the members of a frame are of uniform depth. The panels should be taken to size so that they are 1/16 in. less each way than the measurements taken between the groove bottoms. Thus, assuming that the grooves are 1/4 in. deep, the panels should be cut 7/16 in. more in length and width than the sight size of the opening. This allows 1/16 in. clearance, which ensures that when the frame is cramped up there shall be no pressure on the panels. If the depth of the grooves varies so that here and there the panels are without clearance, they will come in for some pressure when the joints are cramped up, and so may show hollow or round on the face.

panels-1
FIG. 1. REBATED MULLET

Mulleting
Then there is the matter of the width of the grooves in relation to the thickness of the panels. A panel should be a push fit in its grooves, no tighter and certainly no looser. Panels too tight often make it difficult to squeeze the joints up well; loose ones, with their movement and rattle, are an abomination.

panels-2
FIG. 2. BEVELLED MULLET

It sometimes happens that panels have to be fitted into grooves too narrow to receive them in their entire thickness. Thus they must be thinned at the edges. This thinning is called mulleting. A common method of mulleting a panel which does not need much thinning is shown at Fig. 1. It will be seen that the panel can hardly be said to fit into the grooves, since at the back it touches only the groove edge. Many workers dislike this method. But it must be admitted that, in the case of plywood panels (which do not shrink), it serves quite well. Solid panels, however, because of shrinkage across the width, would be likely to become slack in the grooves at their edges if mulleted in this way. Even so, if the stuff used for the panels can be relied upon to shrink but little, this may not amount to much.

A sounder job is illustrated at Fig. 2, where the panel is shown rebated. Here the panel does fit the groove and shrinkage cannot cause looseness. It takes a fair amount of time, however, to get an accurate fit of the rebates against the framing at the back. So, in the case of panels not seen at the back, it is a common practice to work the rebates well on, giving, say, 1/8 in. clearance between rebate and frame.

panels-3
FIG. 3. HOLLOWED MULLET AND METHOD OF WORKING

Fig. 3 shows the commonest machine-worked mullet. It is essentially the same as the rebated mullet, but the appearance is better. In fact, it is often employed on the face of panels, usually in conjunction with an ovolo moulding worked on the edges of the framing. To work this by hand, a plane that will make a small hollow (called a “round”) and a rebate plane are needed. Gauge on the edges the thickness to which the mullet has to be worked. Then work the hollow, as shown in Fig. 3, handscrewing or pinning a strip of wood to the panel to form a guide for the plane. It is also advisable to fasten another light strip to the left hand side of the plane to act as a depth gauge. After working the hollow, remove the waste down to the line (dotted in Fig. 3) with the rebate plane. If the mullet is on the face of the panel, take special care not to let the corner of the rebate plane iron dig into the hollowed part.

Never glue panels in their grooves. The idea of framing is to provide for shrinkage of panels. If this movement is prevented by glueing, the panels will probably split or, when jointed, crack along the joints.

— MB