Memorial Day weekend is a good time to remember the fallen, get some woodworking done and check out the Lost Art Press forum. Remember, if you have a question about our products, procedures in our books or anything related to Lost Art Press, the fastest way to get an answer is our forum. Check it out here.
Trestle Desk
It’s interesting to see how one reader took the trestle table from “The Anarchist’s Design Book” and improved it with dovetail-shaped battens underneath. (Shown at top and below.) Very clever. And very nice work.
Keeping Waterstones Flat
Interesting discussion of the DiaFlat diamond stone. Does it make stones flat? Does it last?
Help Identifying a Chair Drawing by John Muir
A very mysterious drawing of a a device attached to a chair. The drawing is attributed to John Muir, the famous naturalist. We think it’s a jig for locating the front stretcher. But we could be wrong. Solve the mystery if you can.
Hollows and Rounds
Dan is making a partial set of hollows and rounds to reproduce some moldings in his older home but has some questions about the measurements. Want to weigh in?
What to Put on Cast Iron Tops What do you use on your table saw to protect it from rust and provide lubrication? WD40? Paste wax? Bowling alley wax? All have been suggested. Put in your 2 cents.
I get a lot of questions about the specific tools I have in my chest. On the one hand, I resist answering the question. “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” was written to give you the ability to make those choices for yourself.
On the other hand, I’d like to tip my hat in appreciation to the toolmakers who have busted their butts to make these tools that put food on my table.
So here is my current inventory of tools. Know that I paid the “bronze price” for every one of these tools. No discounts. No freebies. Full retail.
Handplanes
My bench planes are little changed. I use a Lie-Nielsen No. 8 as my jointer. I still have the same Stanley No. 5 (a Type 11) as my jack plane. My smoothing plane is a Lie-Nielsen No. 3 in bronze with a 45° frog, improved chipbreaker and a (gasp) Veritas PM-V11 iron. I am a huge fan of this steel. It takes a wicked sharp edge that lasts a long time.
My block plane is still the same Lie-Nielsen No. 60-1/2 with the original high-carbon steel iron. This plane will be buried with me. It’s the best production block plane I’ve ever used.
For rabbet planes, I’m still using the Veritas Skew Rabbet Plane. The depth stop has broken off (that’s OK; I don’t use it much). And the fence is off the plane as much as on. It’s a great plane. I also fell into a used Clark & Williams 3/4” straight rabbet plane that I use about half the time. I should probably get rid of one of these planes. I don’t need both.
My plow plane is a Stanley No. 45 that I picked up from Patrick Leach. I decided to mothball my Barrett & Sons plow because its price was so intimidating to beginning users. And Barrett & Sons seems to have closed up shop. The No. 45 is an outstanding plow.
On moulding planes, I’ve been scaling back. I’d purchased a half-set of Clark & Williams (now Old Street Tools) hollow and rounds. That is total overkill, but that was the “frugal” option offered in the 1990s for people who didn’t want a full set. I use my No. 6s, 8s and 10s for the most part. The other planes lie dormant. I’ve been giving away unused planes from this half set to people who need them.
For beading planes, I still have a 3/16” beader that I use all the time (also from Clark & Williams). I’ve tried out 1/8” and 1/4” beaders, but they really aren’t necessary for my work and aren’t in the chest.
But I’ll never get rid of my Mathison 1/2” square ovolo. I love this tool. I also have added a 1/2” ogee plane from Caleb James to my set. It’s another winner.
Years ago I sold off my Lie-Nielsen No. 48 tongue-and-groove plane. That was a mistake. I now have the Nos. 48 and 49 in my chest (I hate buying tools twice, but there you have it). These are essential for making back boards and bottoms for casework.
For router planes, I have the Lie-Nielsen large and small router planes. I own all the extra accessory irons, but those aren’t necessary unless you do specialty work. I never use them.
I still have the Lie-Nielsen No. 73 shoulder plane.
The big addition to the tool chest was the Lie-Nielsen No. 51 shooting plane. The Veritas version works just as well (John Hoffman owns one). But the Lie-Nielsen came out first, so that’s what ended up in my tool chest. The good news is that it fits in the chest (barely).
We reached two major milestones this week with both “Woodworking in Estonia” and “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Furniture.” Both are on schedule for a fall release.
On Thursday I handed over all the files for “Roubo on Furniture” to designer Wesley Tanner, who was responsible for both versions (deluxe and standard) of the first volume, “Roubo on Marquetry.”
We will print both standard and deluxe editions of “Roubo on Furniture.” The standard edition will be released first. I suspect it will be about 400 pages long (the marquetry book was 264 pages), with a retail price of about $60. I think there will be a digital version of the standard edition, though that decision is up to the authors.
After we get the standard edition to the printer, we will open subscriptions to the deluxe edition. It will be printed to the same heaven-scraping standards as the deluxe edition of “Roubo on Marquetry,” which was named on the “50 Books of the Year” by the AIGA.
We will take orders for the book for 45 days. Then we’ll print that many (plus a few for ourselves). So everyone who wants one will get one. More details on pricing will come later this summer as we dig into the production costs.
‘Woodworking in Estonia’ by Ants Viires On Friday I handed over the final page proofs to Megan Fitzpatrick for a final copy edit of “Woodworking in Estonia.” Suzanne Ellison is working on the index plus a fascinating chapter about the illegal English translation from the 1960s.
If all goes to plan, “Woodworking in Estonia” will go to press at the end of June and be out the first week in August. It’s going to be about 300 pages and have a retail price in the neighborhood of $47. I’m afraid we do not have the digital rights for this book so there will not be a pdf version.
So I get to take the rest of the year off….
Not really. I’m hard at work on revising my book “Handplane Essentials” for Popular Woodworking Magazine and writing “Roman Workbenches.” Maybe I’ll take that vacation next June.
The school year ended Friday. To celebrate, Katy came home and made 66 tins of soft wax (her biggest load yet), which are now available in her etsy store.
Thanks to everyone who has been patient with and supportive of this endeavor. Let’s hope she can make enough wax so her father can buy some…..
“Whatever tools you need, you have the eye as the calipers, and the nose as the square; in the old days all work was done by the eye.”
That is how old time measuring is popularly described. This method of doing everything by the eye was quite common in the villages until the end of the 19th century, the hand often aiding as a measuring instrument. To this day some of the Avinurme container makers measure the size of various containers by the hand span, the middle finger and the width of the palm. Thus, for instance, the average-sized wash tub has a base and sides of two spans (12″ or 30 cm), a cabbage dish – three spans, an average-sized vat – two spans and a middle finger (22″ or 59 cm), etc.
Until inches were introduced, the accepted unit was the “pöid,” which was actually the equivalent to an inch but had no subdivisions. A measuring rod was made by “cutting the pöids on a straight rod.” The measuring rods were used by craftsmen and it was the general practice to prepare rods of fixed sizes. Thus, for instance, sleigh builders would have a rod the length of the sleigh width, of the spoke of the wheel, etc. It was not till the end of the 19th century that the ruler divided into inches was introduced and it could then be bought in the shops.
— Ants Viires, from the forthcoming official third edition of “Woodworking in Estonia” from Lost Art Press