Lost Art Press

This is Where we Fight about ‘Fishtails’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

fishtails_100_3854

Here is joint I have not encountered yet. I suppose they are technically dovetails, but I think the construction looks more like tails of fish.

Paul Windle-Taylor of Brittany, France, discovered them at the back of the bottom drawer of an ornate carved Breton armoire made in about 1908 as wedding present by the father of the bride.

“As with much of this rural working, the external work is of fine quality but the intrinsic build is massive,” Paul wrote. “I was struck by the assumed bomb-proofness of the work. This is one drawer back that will not come off!”

What is awesome about this crazy joint is that it does not require glue to stay together. C’est bon!

— Christopher Schwarz

Petition for a Tree Substitute

Posted on by Lost Art Press

skinnycowOK, please stop calling the hide-glue manufacturers and demanding cruelty-free hide glue. The post on liposuction glue was a joke.

I have received a couple of angry e-mails from industry representatives who are trying to set me straight about my misinformation on how liposuction from cows could make hide glue. Apparently I didn’t do any research on fats….

I love hide glue. If you want cruelty-free glue, use yellow glue, which kills only baby vinyls and fetal acetates.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Petition for Cruelty-free Hide Glue

Posted on by Lost Art Press

skinnycow

Last weekend while lecturing about hide glue to the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association, one of the members mentioned a disadvantage of my favorite adhesive that I’d never considered.

“I bet the vegans don’t like your glue,” he said.

The statement stopped me dead in my tracks. He was right.

And that is why I am asking for your help to petition both Old Brown Glue and Franklin International (makers of Titebond Hide Glue) to change their manufacturing processes to make and market only “cruelty-free” products.

While I fully recognize you cannot make hide glue without animal by-products, these can be harvested in an ethical manner by using animals that have died of old age or in collisions with automobiles. Another alternative is to adopt the methods employed by the “No-kill Mutton Tallow” industry, namely liposuction.

I am certain that woodworkers would be willing to pay a premium for a glue that sticks well and also results in slimmer, more attractive livestock.

Win-win.

— Christopher Schwarz

Question About ‘The Book of Plates’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

lap-roubo-pressmark-1Jason writes: I have a question for you about your announcement of “The Book of Plates.” I have already purchased the first installment that Lost Art Press has published on marquetry, and I plan to get the one on furniture when it comes out. My question is this: Is there more information that can be gleaned from “Plates?” Or would having Roubo 1 & 2 have the same information?

Keep up the good work! I look forward to Roubo 2 and the Studley book (yeah, for French fitting).

Answer: “The Book of Plates” includes all the plates from all of Roubo’s books, which includes architectural woodwork, furniture making, carriage building, marquetry and garden woodwork. So far, we have published most of Roubo’s writing on marquetry. The second book (due early next year) will cover most of his writing on furniture and woodworking tools.

We hope to publish the other books in Roubo’s series, but these translations take many years of effort.

So the primary reason we decided to publish “The Book of Plates” now was so everyone could own the complete set of plates from the entire 18th-century opus.

The second reason is we wanted to ensure that Roubo’s plates could be enjoyed at full size at an affordable price and on quality paper. We printed them at full size in the deluxe edition, but the standard edition has them in reduced size. With “The Book of Plates,” you can easily see all the detail at the scale that Roubo intended. Plus, if you own Roubo in the standard edition or the pdf download, having the book of plates handy in front of you is a great way to absorb the text.

— Christopher Schwarz