While some critics put my work on par with cat poo, few have ever considered that my work could actually contain and control feline fecal matter.
But reader John Notis of Portland, Ore., is a visionary.
While he prefers a wall cabinet for his woodworking tools, he took the basics from “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” to make this litter box. It is impressive. (The only thing more impressive would be to get one’s cats to defecate in a wall cabinet.)
I hope my wife does not see this post or I know what I will be building next week.
It’s always tricky business talking about upcoming projects because people want updates on their favorites.
So as my e-mail Inbox is sagging from the weight…. Peter Galbert’s book “Windsor Foundations” (still a working title), is still a work in progress. The reason is the drawings. There are hundreds of hand-drawn illustrations that Pete has to finish up.
What you see above is a low-resolution screen capture. These illustrations are going to take his already amazing text to another level. In fact, Pete’s drawings look so good that are re-evaluating the paper stock we’ll be using for the book to better display his handwork.
So Pete’s text is done. A bunch of us have edited it (thanks Raney Nelson, Caleb James and Megan Fitzpatrick in particular). And now Pete has to finish things up so he’s happy with his drawings. He’s shooting for the end of the month.
So don’t send him an e-mail. Don’t attend his workshops at Woodworking in America (kidding). Let the boy draw.
We are the only publishing company I know of that doesn’t have a release schedule for our books. When they are done, they go to press. No sooner.
So it’s amusing to me that it looks like we are going to have three new products in the store in time for Christmas. This was not planned; it just happened. Here is the list.
l’art du Menuisier: The Book of Plates For years, I resisted publishing this book. That’s because the true genius of “l’Art du Menuisier” is how André Roubo’s plates and text work together to illuminate the craft of woodworking.
What changed our minds about publishing “The Book of Plates?” The short answer is that the best way to experience “l’Art du Menuisier” is to have the plates printed in full size as you read the text.
No matter how you read Roubo’s text – in a book, on a computer screen, in French, German or English – having the full-size plates before you is immensely helpful to grasp Roubo’s intent. And so we have endeavored to make this book useful for the woodworkers and scholars of today and tomorrow.
The plates were digitized at the highest resolution available and are being printed on #100 Mohawk Superfine paper (the same paper as our deluxe Roubo editions) at a level of detail that requires great skill on a top-line printing press. The book will be 10” x 14” and the pages will be sewn and bound so the book will lie flat on your bench and last for generations of use.
All of the plates will be printed at the same size as the 18th-century originals. The only difference in their presentation is with the 45 fold-out plates. We could not find a U.S. printer to produce the fold-outs. So we are printing the fold-outs over a spread of two pages with a small and intentional gap between the two halves.
The hardest part of this project was making the 472-page over-sized book affordable. We succeeded. “The Book of Plates” will be $100. It will be available in November.
Calvin Cobb: Radio Woodworker! A novel with measured drawings by Roy Underhill
This book is in the final design stages and will go to press at the end of September. The book is a total hoot – I read about half of it last night. I didn’t mean to. It just happened.
This book represents a significant chunk of Roy’s life and has been revised and revised and revised about four times since I’ve known him. It will be worth the wait.
We have just commissioned an artist to create the cover illustration – a 1930s-looking piece that would look at home on the front of a pulp comic.
This book will be available in November or early December. We are still working out the details, but expect it to be less than $30. It will be hardcover, sewn signatures, U.S.-made – all the regular hallmarks of Lost Art Press books.
Lost Art Press Full-zip Hoodie Sweatshirt After many requests, we are going to produce our first-ever sweatshirt – a black, U.S.-made hoodie with a full zipper up the front. The Lost Art Press logo will be screened on the front using a design created by an artist who specializes in hand lettering.
There won’t be any clever phrases. Just the logo and some beautiful hand-lettered text. We expect this hoodie – designed, made and silkscreened in the United States – to be about $55. Also available in November (we think).
I get asked regularly for permission to use my plans and writings for the following things:
The basis for a woodworking class.
The foundation for a presentation to a woodworking club.
To make a commercial product to sell – a Roorkee chair, workbench or campaign chest, for example.
My answer to these questions is always: absolutely. Everything I publish is free for you to use for classes, in your club or even to make a commercial piece of woodworking to sell.
In fact, the only thing I object to is when someone violates my copyright by reproducing an entire book or DVD then reselling it as their own work or giving it away on a torrent site. That’s just theft. (It’s uncommon in the woodworking business, but it happens.)
To be honest, little that I do (or any other woodworking author, for that matter) is original. My work is inspired by old books, new books, old work and new. If my work inspires you to teach others about it, I’m happy. If it makes you want to share it with your club, ditto. And if it helps you make something you can sell, that’s great, too.
So please, take these ideas. Use them to inspire others to pick up the tools and build.
I’ve never been a fan of battery-powered woodworking tools – except for a begrudging acceptance of cordless drills. (And only because of their clutch technology.)
Tool manufacturers, however, have been trying to introduce cordless everythings – routers, sanders, jigsaws, nailers, miter saws, circular saws – into furniture-making shops since batteries were invented.
Heck, one year Black & Decker came out with both a battery-powered tape measure and a C-clamp. I tested both. Both broke immediately.
For the most part, woodworkers have resisted battery tools. Here’s why.
When a battery reaches the end of its cycle life and cannot hold a charge, you are faced with two expensive solutions: buy a new OEM battery or replace the tool. You might think these options have different price points. But typically, they don’t. Try buying a 12-volt battery for a 10-year-old cordless drill. It is usually cheaper to buy a new drill.
Here’s a typical equation: Replace my 14.4-volt batteries for my Bosch drill at $159.99? Or buy a new Bosch 18-volt drill for $10 less? (Note: The prices at Amazon might will change.)
(Yes, I know you can have the battery rebuilt or buy a gray-market battery; I have yet to be satisfied with those products.)
My skepticism on battery tools extends beyond the economics. At Popular Woodworking Magazine we were deluged every year with all manner of battery tools to test. In general, battery tools are built to a lower manufacturing standard than their corded brethren. I can say this after burning up a fair number of cordless doo-dads during typical woodworking operations, such as drilling a 3/4” dog hole in yellow pine.
In use, battery tools are generally less powerful. And when you need them, the batteries always seem to be discharged – so you need to wait while they recharge.
And that’s why I usually recommend new woodworkers buy corded tools or sweat-driven hand tools. I have the first corded drill, jigsaw and circular saw I bought in the mid-1990s. They are still going strong. I also quite like my meat-powered hand drills, braces and coping saw, which have been going strong since my grandfather was in college.
So why do I own a battery-powered drill? The multiple speeds and the clutch. Craftsman came out with a corded drill with these features, and I loved the heck out of it. Sadly, these features are rarely put on a corded drill.
Last caveat: I’m not a contractor or a carpenter. Battery tools might make sense to those professions, but I can’t say.
