Lost Art Press

Ty Black Builds a Work Table for a Tough Customer

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So I received this commission from my wife that starts like this:

“When are you going to make something for me that I want? I mean I appreciate the Roubo bookstand but it’s too fancy with all the curves at the top. That blanket chest looks unfinished. It’s not sanded well and it has those nails poking out like some sort of …like a kindergartner nailed it together. I like simple things; clean lines.”

I proceeded to defend the works and explain all their merits, for the third time. The problem is that my wife comes from a family of furniture and cabinetmakers. She was carving entry doors when she was in 10th grade. Me, on the other hand, I am new to this (comparatively) and tend to be clumsy compared to my wife who… let’s just say she has a knack for infant airway reconstruction. With all that in mind I have the determination to make something as perfectly as I can.

This is the actual commission’s description:

“It needs to be ‘yea’ big,” she says as she holds out her arms. “And about this deep.” More arm flailing. “I also want the bottom drawer to hold paint brushes standing up and a can of thinner. The top drawer needs to hold full-size drawing pads – you know the big ones.”

I reply with humph. She continues, “I want it to be Shaker-ish, Moser-ish, with clean lines, no crap and I want your best.”

To me that looks like 45″ x 31″ for the top, 24″ wide for the drawers and the bottom drawer is 12″ tall.

So here is the sketch that I came up with.

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I prepped the boards and started gluing up the major panels. Once that is done I’ll go back and correct the drawing to match the actual size of the panels.

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Now the only problem is one of these eight boards that make up the top is flipped over, and my wife will surely notice. With that in mind I’m scraping the boards and having a drink. For tomorrow, I’ll cut it apart and fix it.

— Ty Black

Books in the Works – January 2013

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As promised, here is a quick update on the books we are working on at Lost Art Press.

“By Hand & By Eye” by George Walker and Jim Tolpin
Layout artist Linda Watts has just finished her part of the book – with a couple loose ends. Tonight, Megan Fitzpatrick and I are going to review her layouts and make sure everything looks good before we do the final copy editing and send it to the authors for their approval. I hope to have this book to the printer in about three weeks.

“To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” by Don Williams, Michele Pietryka-Pagán and Philippe LaFargue
This project has been keeping us up late at night. I have a bit of editing to do on the last chapter. Don is taking some additional photography. And book designer Wesley Tanner is now laying out pages. We are running behind schedule, but we are all doing everything we can to get this book to the printer in February.

“Windsor Chairs: A Foundation” by Peter Galbert
Peter has completed his first draft of the chapters. He is revising the first draft and drawing the illustrations for the book. I’ve read through most of the chapters. As a chairmaker, I am very excited about this book. Peter is a gifted craftsman and has many methods that are new to me. We hope to have this book ready for Christmas.

“Saws: Construction, Tuning & Use” (Tentative Title) by Andrew Lunn
Andrew has been plugging away on this book. His first draft is mostly complete and it is pretty mind-blowing. I don’t know when this one will be done, but work continues.

“Build a 17th-century Chest” (Tentative Title) by Peter Follansbee
Peter is building chests – they look great – for this book. No word yet on when he’ll be done.

“Virtuoso: The Tool Chest of H.O. Studley” by Don Williams
Don and the photography team will make a return visit to the chest in March. Don has been researching Studley’s masonic history. No release date yet.

“Furniture of Necessity” by Christopher Schwarz
I’ve written three chapters now. But I have put all my personal writing projects on hold until I get Roubo and “By Hand & By Eye” to the printer.

“Campaign Furniture” by Christopher Schwarz
Ditto. I’m designing the second campaign chest for the book, which I’ll begin building next month. But progress is slow because… see above.

“Super-secret LAP book” by Cannot Say
I’ve hinted at this book for some time. This is a project we have been working on since the day we started this company. Things are finally coming together on this title, thanks to a computer script written by shop assistant Ty Black. This allowed us to process thousands of images automatically, shortening our timeline by at least two years. We are shooting to announce this book sometime this summer and publish it in late 2013 or early 2014. Don’t bother asking more about this book because we’ve all sworn a blood oath.

There are other projects still in the pipeline, but these are the ones we are actively working on.

— Christopher Schwarz

Knowing our Prey: A Case for ‘With the Grain’

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Let’s say, for example, that you really like the taste of armadillo meat.

You love it poached, pan-fried and in a white wine sauce. Your taste buds can tell when one had nibbled on some acorns.

But let’s also say that at the zoo, you can’t distinguish a live armadillo from a peacock.

I know, that seems crazy. But when it comes to trees, most woodworkers can’t tell the difference between red oak and white, an ash from a birch, and on and on. Most woodworkers – no lie – are lucky if they can distinguish between a tree and an ornamental tree-bush thing.

Is this important? I think so.

Red oak's end grain.
Red oak’s end grain.

Trees have always been this continent’s greatest natural resource. And our close relationship with trees separate us from almost every other culture on the planet. The North American civilization was built on trees. They are the backbone of our homes. Their abundance is the reason that woodworking is so popular here. They are still one of our biggest exports and one of our greatest resources.

And that is why my kids can tell the difference between a maple and an oak and a freaky osage orange (the brain tree). If you know a little about the black cherry, the sugar pine or the hardy catalpa, then working with that species is more gratifying and awe-inspiring. You’ll know when you have a piece of wood on your bench that grew quickly, or struggled in rocky soil. You’ll be able to identify when some unscrupulous lumber merchant has sold you reaction wood from the branches of a tree. You’ll see knots and other structures in a whole new light – not as a defect necessarily, but as part of the tree that you can work with or work around.

This week, we have put the finishing touches on Christian Becksvoort’s first book with Lost Art Press titled “With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood.” This book is the foundation for a long relationship with our raw material.

To be sure, this book is 100-percent practical. There’s no swooning over grain patterns in its 144 pages. Instead, it is an examination of the material from a furniture-maker’s perspective. And Becksvoort has three important lessons:

1. Know the trees around you and know that they can be used to build furniture.

2. Understand how wood moves and how to use the simple formulas and charts that can tell you exactly how the stock on your bench will change with the seasons.

3. How to build your projects so they allow the wood to move without splitting the wood or destroying your joinery.

All this is told in a concise, clear and direct manner – illustrated with hundreds of photos and line drawings. If you have ever wondered about the relationship between the trees in your neighborhood and the wood you use to build furniture, I think you will appreciate this book and the way it links everything together.

“With the Grain” is available for $25 with free domestic shipping (until Feb. 20) from our store.

— Christopher Schwarz

Why You Should Work With a Blacksmith

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Yesterday I put the finishing touches on my traveling Dutch tool chest: strap hinges and a hasp made by John Switzer of Black Bear Forge.

Of course, the metalwork looks fantastic and correct on this old-style piece. But beyond the outward appearance, these hinges reminded me of why it’s always nice to work with a blacksmith on a furniture project.

First, I was able to get straps and a hasp that were perfectly scaled to the piece. I couldn’t find manufactured straps that had leaves where both were the lengths I wanted.

Also, Switzer was able to make the hinges and hasp so they worked perfectly with my lid, which is at a 30° slope. The hasp comes down at 30° and stops just where it should. The hinges lift up just past 90° and stop – I don’t need a chain or leather strap to prevent the lid from flipping back.

Switzer also supplies slot-head screws that are exactly the same color as the hardware. So installing all the hardware on this chest took about 30 minutes – instead of a whole day of stripping, cleaning, grinding, filing and tweaking to get commercial stuff to fit and suit my (admittedly) picky tastes.

And the price was fair for this level of work – $260 delivered for the two hinges and hasp.

Having this chest complete is a huge relief – I drive to Highland Hardware in Atlanta on Thursday for the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event and to teach a one-day class. If you’re in the area, come by and check out the chest and hardware – plus I’ll bring my Milkman’s Workbench.

And if you need some custom iron hardware, I can highly recommend Switzer. I’ll be knocking on his digital door again real soon.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Before I forget: This Dutch chest – fully loaded – tips the scales at 98 pounds, or about 44-1/2 kilograms for our metric friends.

Special Sale on Lost Art Press Hats

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The company that embroiders our hats made a mistake this week and delivered the wrong type of hat.

Rather than let those go to waste (quite literally), we purchased them at a significant discount and are passing that on to you – these hats are $10 plus $3 shipping. That’s a savings of $7 compared to our regular hat.

What’s different? The details. These are still U.S.-made hats made by the same company (Bayside) and in the same color. The embroidery is the same. These less-expensive hats are adjusted with a Velcro strap instead of a steel keeper. And these less-expensive hats lack the white piping on the brim.

We have 80 of them in stock. When they are gone they are gone.

Click here to see the item in our store.

— Christopher Schwarz