Puebco Clipboards I own more clipboards than bench planes. They manage every project I work on, from new chair designs to glue recipes. I appreciate the way they help me manage things in a chronological manner (and I can quickly change the chronology if necessary).
I dislike the shiny pot-metal-and-hardboard clipboards from office supply stores. They are lowest common denominator products.
So I was curious to see the offerings from Puebco. They have two clipboards that are better than the junk from Staples. They both have unusual mechanisms, which might appeal to you (or not). I love them both.
The Screw Clipboard ($36) is an India-made clipboard that works like no other I’ve seen. You put your papers under the circular screw and turn the brass dial to fasten them. It’s simple. The clipboard holds as firmly as you like, and it’s nicely made.
The other, the A4 Puebco clipboard, is ingenious. It’s made from recycled aluminum and cardboard. The hinge is the interesting part. It looks like a giant binder clip. But to open it you rotate the lever on top of the hinge up. Then you press the lever down to open the hinge. It becomes second nature after only one time.
I can never have too many clipboards. These get used every day.
Work on my next book, “The American Peasant,” has slowed my chairmaking a bit, but it hasn’t stopped me. I have six more chairs in the works right now.
Today I am offering this low-slung comb-back in ash. This chair is completely set up for lounging, and is about as comfortable a comb-back as I can make. The seat is low-slung – 15-3/4” off the ground, like old stick chairs. The seat tilts 5° back and the back tilts 17°. This chair is designed for long and comfortable sits.
The sticks are shaved and left faceted. And the short sticks were left slightly proud off the saw and then burnished to give the feel of the older chairs.
Like all my chairs, this one is assembled with animal glue, which is reversible should it ever need repairs. The finish is soft wax, which does not provide much protection but is easily repaired and develops age quickly.
I am selling this chair via a random drawing for $1,800. That price includes shipping the chair anywhere in the lower 48 states of the U.S.
Purchasing the Chair
If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday, Jan. 12. Please use the subject line: “Ash Chair.” In the email please include your:
U.S. shipping address
Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
We will pick a name via a random drawing. If you are the “winner,” the chair can be picked up at our storefront for free. Or we will crate it and ship it to your door. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.)
Today I am offering for sale this low-slung armchair in red oak. This chair is completely set up for lounging, and is about as comfortable a chair as I can make (it’s comparable to the Gibson chair). The seat is low – 16-1/4” – off the ground, like old stick chairs. The seat tilts 4.5° back and the back tilts 33°. The overall height is 33-3/4”.
This chair is designed for long and comfortable sits with your back cradled by the sweeping backrest.
The sticks are shaved and left faceted. The legs are double tapered and faceted (this is the first time I’ve used this detail on a chair).
Like all my chairs, this one is assembled with animal glue, which is reversible should it ever need repairs. The finish is soft wax, which does not provide much protection but is easily repaired and develops age quickly.
One small flaw. One of the short sticks developed a small split below the arm when I wedged it (this sometimes happens with oak). The split isn’t going anywhere. But if it does ever become a problem, I’ll make good on it via repair or replacement.
I am selling this chair via a silent auction. The starting bid is $500. Shipping is free to the winner in the lower 48 states.
Purchasing the Chair
If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Monday, April 1. Please use the subject line: “Irish Chair.” In the email please include your:
Bid ($500 is the reserve)
U.S. shipping address
Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
The highest bid wins. If you are the winner, the chair can be picked up at our storefront. Or we will crate it and ship it to your door. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.)
The drilling jig in use. I cut some more notches in it after this photo was taken, which are shown in the drawing.
I am fairly jig-averse. Not because of some philosophical reason – it’s just not the way my head works. When I look for solutions to problems, “making a jig” is way down on the list.
But sometimes, jigs are the only way forward. Last week I taught my first-ever class in making Gibson chairs. I was an emotional wreck the whole time, trying to keep seven students on track while I revised my lesson plan. But everyone ended up with a nice elm Gibson chair.
In my recent video on making the Gibson chair, I use the same drilling jigs for the Gibson that I use for all my chairs. But when thrown into a classroom environment, the old jigs were too finicky and required too much setup in order to get the arm positioned in the correct place over the seat.
So I went into our machine room for 20 minutes and devised the jig shown here. I’m sure it can be improved, but for now I’m thrilled with how simple and repeatable it makes the process.
It is made from 2x10s from the home center. Here’s a cutting list:
1 Front piece 1-3/8” x 8” x 14”
1 Back piece 1-3/8” x 8” x 17”
2 Top stops 1/2” x 1/2” x 6”
1 Bottom stop 1/2” x 1/2” x14”
Screw the front piece to the back piece in the T shape shown above. Glue and nail the top stops to the top edge of the front piece. Glue and nail the bottom stop to the underside of the front piece. Done.
Now you need to set up the jig so it can be used over and over. Place the jig so it is centered between the mortises for the short sticks and long sticks. Mark on the jig the location of where the seat meets the jig. This allows you to put the jig in the right place every time.
Place the arm on the jig and position it for drilling (as shown in the video). The top stops put the front of the arm in the same plane as the front of the seat. Shift the arm so it is in the correct position over the front mortise (the inside edge of the arm should be tangent to the center point of the mortise on the seat – also shown in the video). Then rotate the arm so its rear mortise is directly in line – a 0° sightline) with its mortise in the seat. I do this with a laser in the video.
Now trace the shape of the arm on the jig. You just made the process repeatable. Shift the jig to the other side of the seat and repeat the whole process for the chair’s other arm.
Spend a weekend in October cutting dovetails with me (Megan Fitzpatrick) in gorgeous central Kentucky at the Woodworking School at Pine Croft (with luck, the trees surrounding the school will be a riot of fall color by then!).
It’s a two-day class – Oct. 14 & 15 – in making a classic Shaker silverware tray, with gently arced ends, handholds and, of course, dovetails. And speaking of Shakers – if you’re in the area, why not also plan a day at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.
In the class, you’ll learn:
Dovetail layout with dividers
How to cut the joints, aiming to “fit off the saw”
How to wield a coping or fret saw
How to pare and chop to a line with a chisel
Strategies for transferring the tails to the pin board
Techniques for fitting the joint
How to lay out then cut and fair the handles (both the hand holds and the curved top edge)
How to smooth-plane your surfaces
How to use cut nails (to secure the bottom board…if you wish – but there’s an argument for leaving it loose)
And of course, how to put it all together (and why I recommend liquid hide glue).
– Fitz
These make great handmade gifts – above is a stack of last-minute gifts I made in 2022 from pieces in our scrap bin.
