Lost Art Press

Dutch Tool Chest DVD Now Available from Lie-Nielsen

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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After many requests from readers, I shot a DVD with Lie-Nielsen Toolworks on making a Dutch tool chest, and the DVD is now available from Lie-Nielsen.

thumbnail,w_500,h_500,m_aAt 185 minutes, the DVD covers all aspects of chest construction, from design and stock selection to hardware installation and finishing. The work is entirely by hand.

In the DVD I show how to build the smaller chest, which has one bay below the main tool well. But the DVD contains cutting lists and plans for both the small and large chests. It also includes plans for the mobile roll-around cart I built as a lower storage unit (free plans are here).

As always, the Lie-Nielsen crew was great to work with. They always allow me to use my own tools and my approach to the work. They’ve never asked me to use or promote Lie-Nielsen tools in any DVD. I consider this classy, though I know it befuddles some people.

The DVD set is $40 and is available now from Lie-Nielsen.

— Christopher Schwarz

 

Approved by the Practical Woman

Posted on by fitz

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Women are now “Doing Over” Their Own Furniture

Whether the fad for collecting old pieces of mahogany furniture—most of it being in unpresentable condition—is responsible for the new direction given to woman’s energies, or whether it is merely an effort to invade a hitherto little known field of work—one in which the majority of the sex is interested, however—the fact has become known that furniture restoring and renovating are added to the list of accomplishments approved by the practical woman.

She may be a housewife or she may be living in tiny quarters by herself, but if there is room anywhere for the few tools required in the simpler lines of cabinet work, she spends an hour or more now and then in improving the appearance of her Heppelwhite desk or polishing a candle stand until its value is increased, while its charm is more than doubled.
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Children’s Toys and Future Men

Posted on by fitz

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As the public school is the lever by which the improvement of society must be worked, every effort to provide means of training for those who would otherwise be without it—every endeavour to give the children of the poor useful knowledge of common things—merits the support of every educational influence. And this brings us to the practical observation that toys ought to be made to advance education, whereas a majority of those furnished to children in this country do more harm than good. At least half of them should be burnt ignominiously as early corrupters of public taste.
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Stanley Handplane Instructions, Circa 1968

Posted on by Lost Art Press

plane_use_2 Stanley Works used to publish a brilliant booklet called the “Tool Guide” that contained miniature posters that offered instruction on setup, care and use of hand tools.

These booklets weren’t just for woodworkers – you can learn to rivet and create a lock edge on sheet metal with these posters. The 38 pages were bound together, perforated so you could remove them and were pre-punched with holes for a three-ring binder.

Last weekend a student in a class handed me a mint copy of the “Tool Guide” from 1968. He was a retired shop teacher and had used them in his classes. What a treasure. I’ve always wanted one, but they can be hard to come by, especially in this condition.

This morning I read the pages that dealt with handplanes. Stanley packs a bunch of good, no-nonsense information into just seven pages. I scanned them so you could check them out for yourself.

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— Christopher Schwarz

H.O. Studley Book: Free Shipping, Postcards & Release Date

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Apologies. That giant “whooshing” sound you heard from the Tristate area was just me. Our printer has just informed us that “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of H.O. Studley” is on track for delivery a day or so before Handworks.

Disasters could still happen – Tennessee could burn to the ground, there could be a plague of hermit crabs or Cletus could get his willie stuck in the die-stamp machine. But chances are excellent that we will have the book in Iowa.

We’ll be selling it in the Festhalle Barn at Handworks and delivering it to customers who requested to pick it up at Handworks. A remote Lost Art Press team (look for a Swede or a redhead) will be selling the book at the Studley exhibit in nearby Cedar Rapids.

(Note: If you asked to pick up the book in Iowa you will need to come to the Festhalle Barn to pick it up. The Lost Art Press people at the exhibit will not have the list of people who ordered the book. They cannot give you your pre-ordered book. They can only sell you a book.)

In other good news, the commemorative 4×6 postcards have arrived. They are beautiful. If you have placed a pre-publication order by this point, you will receive a postcard.

Also, free domestic shipping on “Virtuoso” ends next week. If you order the book now, you will save $8 to $10, depending on where you live. And chances are good you will get a postcard, too.

After Handworks, the remainder of the pre-publication orders should ship the week of May 18.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. We hope to have information soon on a special poster that will be sold at the exhibit.