Lost Art Press

Hand-tool Classes for New Woodworkers – How You Can Help

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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Since I announced the two discounted classes I’m teaching in 2015 for young adults, I’ve received many offers of assistance – everything from cash to tools to food.

First off: Thank you. Your generosity is much appreciated.

After discussing these offers with the owners of the schools, we are creating a mechanism for how you can help. For those who wish to help with the class in England with the New English Workshop, we will post details on how you can help there shortly. You can register to attend the class here.

For those who wish to help with the class in North America at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, here are the details.

Tuition: If you wish to sponsor a student taking the class, you can send a check made out to the Roger Cliffe Foundation. You can send the check to me (so I know who is donating what) and I will forward them all to the school. My address:

Christopher Schwarz
Lost Art Press
26 Greenbriar Ave.
Fort Mitchell, KY 41017

Simply write in the memo section of the check that the donation is for the Hand-tool Immersion Course. This donation is tax deductible. If you have any questions about donating tuition money for students, contact Paula Bueno at the Marc Adams School at 317-535-4013.

Tools: If you would like to donate some of your tools to the class that will be given to the students, you can send them to me at the same address above.

Note that unlike a tuition donation, tools are not a tax-deductible donation. Below is a list of the tools we hope to supply for all 18 students with details of what we are looking for in the tools.

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Tool Kit for the New Anarchist

Planes

  • No. 5 jack plane, such as a pre-war Stanley with a clean iron (no rust) and a tight chipbreaker.
  • Low-angle block plane, such as Stanley 60-1/2 with a clean iron and movable toe piece.
  • Wooden rabbet plane (skew or straight iron). Wedge needs to work.
  • Large router plane, such as Stanley No. 71 or No. 71-1/2.
  • Card scraper.

Boring

  • Hand drill, sometimes called an “eggbeater,” such as a Millers Falls No. 2 or 5 with a 1/4” chuck and intact chuck springs (i.e. the jaws are spring-loaded and work).
  • Brace with a 10” sweep. Good chuck with its springs still intact and a tight pad.

Striking

  • Bevel-edge chisels with wooden handles (1/4”, 1/2” and 3/4”).
  • 16 oz. hammer with a wooden handle. Striking face should be smooth and slightly crowned.
  • Square-head joiner’s mallet.

Marking/Measuring

  • 12” combination square that is square, locks tight and has clear markings.
  • Marking gauge. The metallic ones, such as the Stanley No. 90, are preferred.

Sawing/Rasping

  • Backsaw with a 10”- to 14”-long blade. Straight sawplate, comfortable wooden handle and little or no rust.
  • Coping saw that takes pin-end blades and locks tight.
  • 10” cabinet rasp (older and sharp is better).

A few people have asked if they can donate food or tutoring assistance during the class. I’m going to try to come up with a plan for those aspects of the class early in 2015. So stay tuned.

If you have any questions about helping out with these classes, drop me a line at chris@lostartpress.com.

— Christopher Schwarz

Hand Tools from The Cronkwright Woodshop

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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For woodworking I prefer wooden layout tools – squares, straightedges, winding sticks and the like. They are lightweight and so much easier to keep in truth than metal tools.

While most woodworkers make their own layout tools, some don’t have the time or persnickety nature necessary to do it really well. If you are one of those people, you need to get to know Neil Cronk of The Cronkwright Workshop.

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Neil was a student of mine at Rosewood Studios – he was a professional carpenter, drywaller and furniture-maker. Then he chucked it all to make layout tools and custom furniture (and make ends meet by working at the local bike shop).

Right now Neil makes winding sticks, a Benjamin Seaton try square and the Durer Melencolia square. You can see them in his store here. I purchased his winding sticks and a Melecolia square to help support him and check out his work.

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And then last weekend I looked over all his wares at the Woodworks Conference in Perth, Ontario. Neil’s work is impeccable. Every joint in his squares is flawless. The winding sticks are superb – way better than my beat-up pair. Neil inlaid stripes of contrasting woods on the inside face of each stick. It’s not window-dressing. The stripes allow you to effortlessly see how far out of truth a board is.

In other words, I think most woodworkers I know would be humbled by this work and it would serve to inspire them to do better work. I am certain that some commenters will balk and grumble about buying wooden tools that can be made. But these small items will help support a truly talented woodworker with a young family and I promise you will be damn impressed by the tools themselves.

Even if you aren’t interested in Neil’s tools, be sure to check out his Hand Joinery Tutorials that he posts on Twitter via live Tweets. He tackles a wide variety of joints and shows each step, and his photos are in real time.

— Christopher Schwarz

More Praise for Naked Woodworking

Posted on by Lost Art Press

NW_wrap4_1024x1024Mike Siemsen’s “The Naked Woodworker” DVDs have been well-received by Lost Art Press customers – we’ve had trouble keeping them in stock during the last month. And the downloaded version has been watched almost 700 times on our streaming site.

If those facts aren’t enough to convince you that “The Naked Woodworker” is an excellent bootstrapping introduction to becoming a hand-tool woodworker, perhaps you’ll listen to what other bloggers have been saying about the videos during the last couple weeks.

Bob Rozaieski of The Logan Cabinet Shoppe wrote up a full-length review of the DVDs on his site this week – check out the full write-up here.

Bob is not a beginning woodworker – far from it. He purchased the DVDs so he could donate them to his local woodworking club.

Here’s the gist of his review: “…let me just say, that if you are the new woodworker I just described, you need this DVD. It will be the best $20 and the most valuable 4½ hours you can spend before you start woodworking.”

Other recent reviews:

The Slightly Confused Woodworker weighs in on the DVDs.

The Accidental Woodworker covers the second DVD in detail.

And here’s a blog I didn’t know: The Wood Nerd. He discusses the DVDs as his jumping-off point to get into the craft and the results. Good stuff – this guy even gets into his failures. That’s helpful stuff.

“The Naked Woodworker” is available in our store for $22 for the two-DVD set or $20 for the download. Stay tuned for more nudity – Mike Siemsen is working on a video that we will post for free here that shows you how to use the workholding on his bench.

— Christopher Schwarz

André’s Big Coloring Book of Bois

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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When we announced the upcoming publication of “l’Art du menuisier: The Book of Plates,” I received an unusual e-mail from Suzanne Ellison, a Lost Art Press contributing editor, researcher and indexer.

“I’m getting out my colored pencils.”

Yup, Suzanne is going to color some of the 384 full-size plates in “The Book of Plates,” which will delight Ted Turner and horrify some scholars (especially when she adds those parrots to the woodlot in plate 4).

To encourage her artistic vandalism endeavor, I sent her a pre-publication proof of the book and she has been making plans and even coloring some of the low-resolution plates.

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My favorite so far is a diorama she made using plate 99, which shows the menuisiers fitting out a room with paneling and windows.

“The Book of Plates” is at the printer and is expected in November. It will be available from Lost Art Press and these retailers. The price will be $100 – crayons not included.

— Christopher Schwarz

Old Post Office 1:2000 Scale Model

Posted on by fitz

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While you can’t see the inside of Washington, D.C.’s Old Post Office building (and Calvin Cobb’s clocktower workshop) until renovations are complete, for $1.50, you can have your own model.

And in fewer than two months, you can “see” the inside of the building through the eyes of “Calvin Cobb: Radio Woodworker!”

— Megan Fitzpatrick

p.s. Check out the other postcard scale models from Wurlington Press, too – cool.