Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think every thing you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping…. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive. If you don’t claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler.
It must not be forgotten, however, that tools are for use, not for show. The man – and such, though scarce, are to be found – who regards his tools as if they were so many dolls, and is never weary of counting them, polishing the handles and arranging them, simply makes himself ridiculous.
On the other hand, the tools of some carvers might well complain of “offended dignity” (if they were entitled to any) on account of the careless manner in which they are thrown about the bench. They lie in every conceivable position, and present an appearance which (bar the horrors) might be taken to represent a deserted battlefield.
— The Cabinet Maker, Jan. 1, 1881, from the column “The Workman’s Corner.” This was a series of articles on tools, particularly carving tools, featured in the magazine. You can read the complete excerpts by downloading them from Jeff Burks’s web site via this link. All thanks to Jeff, who has been digging up and organizing some excellent material of late.
After years of publishing woodworking information, you often hear that there is nothing new in the craft. Everything has been done before, written before and fully figured out.
I used to believe that was true, until I read the manuscript that was to become “Mouldings in Practice” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. This books explains how to make mouldings in a simple way that I have never ever encountered – either in print or from an instructor.
The book turns a set of complicated mouldings into a series of predictable rabbets and chamfers that guide your hollow and round planes to make anything – anything – that has been made in the past or that you can envision for your future projects.
During the last several months, we had many proofreaders edit this book and the universal reaction was much like this:
“Well crap. Now I want to buy some of these stupid planes.”
During the past 14 months, Matt and I have been working to make “Mouldings in Practice” into a book that is accessible for even the beginning hand-tool woodworker. It uses more than 200 color illustrations and dozens of photos to explain how to lay out, prepare for and cut any moulding you can draw.
The first half of the book is focused on how to make the tools function, including the tools that help the hollow and round planes – such as the plow and the rabbet. Matt also covers snipes bills and side rounds so you know their role in making mouldings. Once you understand how rabbets and chamfers guide the rounds and chamfers, Matt shows you how to execute the mouldings for eight very sweet Connecticut River Valley period projects using photos and step-by-step illustrations and instruction.
The book has a full index by Suzanne Ellison (the saucy indexer for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”), plus appendices on fixing up old moulding planes, building a sticking board and how to capture moulding profiles in the wild.
This book is, by far, the most complex thing we have published here at Lost Art Press, thanks to the hundreds of illustrations, photographs and geometry involved. Like all our books, “Mouldings in Practice” has been produced entirely in the United States. It has color illustrations with black-and-white photos, and it is printed on #60 white uncoated and acid-free paper. The pages are Smythe sewn to last a long time. And the book is hardbound and covered with cotton. Old school.
You can buy the book now for $37 with free domestic shipping from now until the book arrives from the Michigan printing plant in early August. After the book arrives in our warehouse (read, basement) the book will be $37 plus shipping.
As a bonus, everyone who orders this book through Lost Art Press will also receive an instant download of E.J. Warne’s book “Furniture Mouldings.” We acquired an excellent copy of this hard-to-find book and created a top-notch scan. The book is a collection of full-scale mouldings from historic furniture pieces. It is the perfect companion to “Mouldings in Practice.”
After you check out you’ll get a link to download Warne’s book.
After intense lobbying from customers, we have decided to offer 26 leather-bound copies of the third printing of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”
These leather-bound copies cost $185 postage-paid to U.S. customers. The books will be bound in the same brown leather we used for the first printing. The leather will be hand-distressed, and the end sheets will be hand-colored paper. As always, the work will be performed by the life-long artisans at Ohio Book in Cincinnati.
Unlike the first two printings, the third printing includes a complete index and a new ending – I’ll post that new ending here later this week.
We are going to be selling these leather books a little differently than in the past. Instead of starting a waiting list and spending hours administering it for people who fall off or want to jump on, we have decided to do it Roman-style: First-come, first serve.
The first 26 people to place an order for the book in our store will receive the book when it is complete, which will take about six weeks. This simpler system will save us hours of exchanging e-mails (yes, we still love you; no we don’t want to see photos of your Komodo dragon) and phone calls.
As a nerd who saw my fair share of the scummy bottoms of school garbage cans as a kid, I take a dim view of bullies. So for the next couple weeks, we at Lost Art Press are going to hold some auctions to raise money to help The Wood Whisperer fend off a nasty DDoS attack – because defense against this crap costs a lot of coin.
To kick things off, we are auctioning off the final leather-bound copy of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” (which normally runs $185), which I will ship anywhere in the world on my dime. This is a hand-bound book, made by artisans at The Ohio Book store in Cincinnati. It is made to last several lifetimes.
So here’s how the auction will work. I’m going to start the bidding at $50. If you want to bid, leave a comment stating your bid. The highest bid that is posted BEFORE midnight on Friday, March 9, wins the book. Yup, I’ll ship it to Japan, Iran or even any of the -stans. That is as long as your payment clears.
Note that 100 percent of your bid will go to Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo. I’m not making a dime.
During the weekend we’ll post more auctions, including some copies of the out-of-print “The Art of Joinery,” which some nutjob is selling on Amazon for $500. Plus some Lost Art Press T-shirts that are no longer available.
Stay tuned. And stay strong, Marc and Nicole. You aren’t alone in this.