One of the big pluses of filling orders from Covington occurred today. Mark, one of our fulfillment employees, was at the Anthe building on an errand and saw a box that wasn’t in the right place.
It was a sealed box of 20 engraved lump hammers. We’ve been out of these hammers for months and don’t have any plans to make any more until next year. I don’t know how they escaped the inventory count, but things have been a bit chaotic here as we get set to move the remainder of our inventory to Covington.
Anyway, if you have wanted one of these special engraved hammers, here is your chance. Or wait until next year.
A wedged through-tenon after the gelled glue has been removed.
In 2018, I shared this trick that David Savage used to improve dovetail joints. He called it “Juicy Lucy,” and it involves flooding the exterior of a joint with extra hide glue to swell the fibers and improve the joint cosmetically.
We continue to use his trick with dovetails with great success. And at some point I started using it with the wedged through-tenons on my chairs. Here’s how I do it.
Applying glue around all show surfaces of the joint before wedging.
After I glue the joint and assemble it (but before wedging), I paint a thick coat of glue around the show surface of the joint. Then I paint glue on the wedge and knock it in place.
Once the glue has gelled, I remove the excess with a dry rag and let the joint continue to set up overnight.
I’ve been real happy with the results.
— Christopher Schwarz
What the glued tenon looks like just before wedging.
We have been packing up materials for our trip to Iowa this week for Handworks, our favorite woodworking/sausage show in the world.
Our booth will be in the same place as it has been during every Handworks. We plan to have almost all of our titles with us, all of our tools and some of our apparel. (Basically, we won’t be bringing the T-shirts, chore coats and vests – we don’t have the room to travel with all the sizes.)
To make your experience better, we will have two different ways for you to check out when you buy something from us. If you just want to pay for something and head to the next booth, we are going to have an “Express Checkout” person on the right side of our booth. They will get you on your way as fast as possible.
If you want to chat (also great) we will have the “Chatty Checkout” people – basically me and Megan. We can sign books, answer questions and the like – and process your order. Our line will move slower than the Express Checkout line.
We’re trying this to attempt to reduce customer frustrations during the last three Handworks. I can remember one customer bending my ear for a good 15 minutes while the people behind him simply wanted to pay for a book and bolt.
We want to make everyone happy. So use the Express Checkout (there will be a sign) if you are in a rush.
We’ll be accepting cash, checks and most major credit cards. The first 300 or so customers will also get a free embroidered Woobie with their purchase.
Scraping the backrest of an Irish armchair in bog oak.
This has been a wild week, and we should be sitting by the pool with some margaritas. But instead, we are here for the Lost Art Press Open Wire.
If you’ve got questions about woodworking, our books, tools or grub ephemera, we are your answer team.
This week’s open wire is hosted by me and Megan. Here’s how it works: Type your question in the comment field. Brevity is appreciated. We will do our best to answer it. It is that simple.
Two notes: 1) Comments for this entry will close about 5 p.m. Eastern. And 2) Next week’s Open Wire will be held in In Person at Handworks in Iowa. So come to the Amana Colonies and meet some of your 5,000 closest friends.
NOTE: Posts are closed for this week’s session. Next week we will be LIVE at Handworks in Iowa answering questions.
