Here’s how it works: Type your woodworking question in the comment field; we will attempt to answer it. It is that simple.
It’s time for our weekly(ish) Open Wire, hosted this week by me and Chris (mostly Chris…he’s faster at answering and gets up earlier than do I, plus he knows a lot more than do I about what seem to be the favorite topics: chairs and chair-shaped objects – but do ask him about his Pristolnicul/pristolnice).
So here we go…. Comments will close about 5 p.m. Eastern.
Note: Comments are closed for this session. See you next week.
Monday is the last day that items ordered from Lost Art Press will be certain to arrive before Christmas. After Monday, the chance that the package will make it in time will decrease day by day.
If you are truly a last-minute shopper, you can always get them a digital LAP Gift Card. Or stop by our storefront at 837 Willard St., Covington, Ky. If we’re there, we’ll be happy to sell you something.
The crush of orders this year has been enormous (yay and also aieee!). Megan, John and anyone else we can pull off the streets are pulling shifts packing boxes like overgrown elves.
— Christopher Schwarz
Even Willard Street is a pick-and-pack operation this week.
We just listed 140 more Anarchist Square Kits in our store this evening. This is a fun afternoon project for a budding or experienced woodworker. The joinery and decorative details are all cut – you just have to tidy it up and assemble it.
We published a 14-minute video on how we assemble the squares (see below). Plus we show how to square them up and add a simple lip that makes them even more useful.
If you are shopping for gifts for others, please be aware that Dec. 11 is the last day we can guarantee that your order will make it to its destination before Christmas. Every day after that becomes a little dicier.
Order “Cricket Tables” by 11:59 p.m. tonight EDT (Dec. 4, 2023) to get the free pdf of the book at checkout.
Derek Jones’s book is about the three-legged cricket table, where it came from, what the different variants are and construction details. And the search for the history of the table is also intertwined with the history of the author, who had a long and twisting career in the furniture and publishing world.
And, at the end, Derek shows you how to build three great examples of this vernacular table and sets you off with the basic geometry and hand skills to do the task.
“Cricket Tables” is 112 pages, full color and printed on white, 70# matte coated 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper. The pages are sewn, glued and taped for durability. And the whole thing is wrapped with 98-point boards that are covered in lime cotton cloth! Like all Lost Art Press books, it is produced and printed in the United States.
Derek, helping a student to drive the tenons through a cricket table top.
You can read more about Derek in this profile by the late Nancy Hiller.
Last week, Jerome Bias led a woodworking class of six black woodworkers as they built a six-board chest by hand in our workshop. It was one of the more memorable and enjoyable classes here at our storefront.
In addition to woodworking, every day of class was filled with explorations of the past led by Jerome, who worked as a tradesman at Old Salem Museum & Gardens and now explores African-American foodways by preparing open-hearth historical meals at plantation.
The chests were made entirely by hand, and each student personalized their chest with the decorative cutouts, the mouldings and the milk paint they applied on the last day.
Jerome at work.
This remarkable class was possible because of Jerome’s fearlessness and desire to encourage young black woodworkers. And it was possible because of your donations of cash and tools. Thanks to your help, the wood, the food and the kits of tools we prepared for the class (which they took home) were all covered, gratis.
I feel certain you are going to see these faces again, both here at Lost Art Press and in the world at large. The enthusiasm and drive of these students was infectious.
Thanks to everyone who helped. We hope we can do this again. First we all have to rest, but not for too long. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., Megan and I begin a new project that we hope will plant a seed for future generations. More details to come.
