Lost Art Press

This Stool is Brown, Waxy, a Bit Oily and Sticky

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Sticky? Yes. It’s made from three sticks. So it’s quite “sticky.”

ROUBO212PrI just finished up this campaign stool based (loosely) on A.J. Roubo’s model shown in “L’Art du Menuisier.” I turned round legs, whereas Roubo shows legs that are pie-shaped in section. When those legs fold together, they make a cylinder. Clever.

I know how to make legs like this, but I have to come up with a way to do this that doesn’t waste a lot of wood.

As I explained in an earlier post, the pivoting hardware is made using an eye bolt, all-thread rod, washers and acorn nuts. It looks OK, but I’m going to use different hardware for the next version to make it look bad-asser.

The leather, oiled latigo from the saddle industry, is great. Ty Black finished hand-stitching the seat last night. I attached the seat to the legs using No 10 x 1-1/4” solid brass screws from the maritime industry – they are sweet – plus some brass finishing washers from the home center that look like they had been hanging out there since Johnson was in office.

The stool sits really well. It barely weighs a thing. And it folds up nicely. That’s pretty good for a second prototype. But the next stool will be better.

— Christopher Schwarz

Megan Fitzpatrick’s Next Halloween Costume

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From “The Cabinet of Arts, or General Instructor in Arts, Science, Trade, Practical Machinery, and the Means of Preserving Human Life, and Political Economy, Embracing a Variety of Useful Subjects” by Hewson Clarke, Esq. and John Dougall (London, 1817). Hat tip to Jeff Burks. See the full book here – it’s only a little longer than the title itself.

Hand Stitching for Your Next Campaign

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We were supposed to have finished this three-legged campaign stool more than a week ago. Then our kids got sick, and “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” raised its perfectly ferocious head.

So today, Ty Black and I started tying up the loose ends. He started hand-stitching the seat for the stool – instead of doing it by machine. Because that is a cool thing, I shot a short video of the process that should convince you that it’s pretty darn easy to do.

stool_legs_IMG_4902Me? I chucked the legs back in the lathe and turned a dome shape on their ends so that the legs wouldn’t rip the “sex machine” leather. Plus I added a couple more coats of wax while the legs were on the lathe. I then stripped the zinc off the steel hardware (see a video on this process here) and aged the brass bits that tie the whole stool together and allow the legs to rotate and splay without giving you an amateur enema.

Anyway, we should have photos up tomorrow of the finished stool. The prototype sits quite nicely.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Morning Traversing Teak

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“I sit on a man’s back, choking him, and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by any means possible, except getting off his back.”

— Leo Tolstoy on authority, “Writings on Civil Disobedience and Nonviolence” (1886)

First Look: ‘With the Grain’ Cover Deboss

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The best thing about leaving the corporate media culture after 22 years was that I restored two words to my lexicon: “yes” and “no.”

During the last two decades, most traditional media slashed production quality – paper size, paper weight, paper coatings, cover stock, binding quality. Think I’m full of crap? Pick up a decent magazine from the 1970s (no, not Nuns & Nazis) and compare it to its stunted and skinny 2013 progeny.

It’s easy to blame the Internet for this, but the real cause is far more nuanced and is not something I like to argue about in the comments of a woodworking blog.

Anyway, back to “yes” and “no.” When we print a book, we spend a lot of time mulling the manufacturing details. Some details you might not notice, but that’s OK. We do. So when our printer says, “That will cost you extra,” our response is almost always, “That’s fine. Do it.”

The cover deboss for Christian Becksvoort’s “With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood” is a good example. To get a deboss with this level of detail on a cotton cover, we had to invest in a copper die and rounds of experimentation. Most media companies I’ve worked for wouldn’t bother, saying (foolishly) that it wouldn’t help sales.

But we think it makes for a better book. And better books sell for longer than the typical modern 18-month book cycle.

And what about the word “no?” That’s the best part. We can say “no” to publishing books on routers and table saws and birdhouses that will have broader appeal. And we can say “no” to selling our books through home centers and discount booksellers, which choke small bookstores and publishers.

Now that we’ve approved the cover deboss – the bindery can finish the job. The book will be trucked to us shortly. And I hope that when you open your box from Lost Art Press, you will say: “Yes.”

— Christopher Schwarz