Lost Art Press

Recent Shop Talk

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“You could just buy a window like that in a store. But maybe not in oak, or not unless you went to a joiner. What kind of wood did you use for the bottom part there?”

“At school we had real benches, you know made of beech.”

“That’s made of two boards? Ah, OK, but you don’t have that kind of machine that you use to make the edges flat… Yes, a jointer.”

“Papa, when are you going to finish my bow?”

“Where are all your real tools?… You know the electric ones, um with tables or something?”

“You made that with that? I see those kinds of planes all the time at the flea markets. You don’t have a router?”

“Hey Coppette, I saw something like this in that book you translated. Take it. No, it’s your’s. I have a couple of them, and I never use them.”

I can’t imagine the comments I will get if I get pretty good working wood with my hands.

— Brian Anderson, the translator of “Grandpa’s Workshop.“

New: Leather-bound ‘Mouldings in Practice’

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We now have 30 copies of “Mouldings in Practice” available for sale in the Lost Art Press store. The books are hand-bound in brown calfskin by the artisans at Ohio Book Store in downtown Cincinnati. The cost is $185 postage-paid to anywhere in the United States.

As with all of our leather-bound books, these feature a rounded spine and hand-colored end sheets. The brown calfskin cover the boards has been gently aged, which gives the books a slightly broken-in look. The spine on this edition also has a classy detail debossed into the leather.

These books are available to ship immediately. Click here to go to our store.

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.

— Christopher Schwarz

Update on Leather-bound ‘Mouldings in Practice’

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The leather editions of “Mouldings in Practice” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford are finished and ready to be picked up from the bindery.

Unfortunately, I’m on a bus to Chicago today.

So here’s the update: The leather books will go on sale Monday about noon Eastern time. They will be $185 postage-paid to anywhere in the United States. We have 30 of them for sale, and it will be first-come, first serve in the Lost Art Press store.

I’ll make an announcement on the blog at noon on Monday with photos and links.

Thanks for your patience.

— Christopher Schwarz

Meet the Real Roubo – Plus his Modern Muse & the Book’s Designer

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Lost Art Press is hosting a special event during the Woodworking in America conference where you will be able to see (and touch) the original 18th-century volumes of A.J. Roubo’s “L’Art du Menuisier” and learn some of the publishing details of the forthcoming translation “To Make as Perfectly as Possible.”

The event will be at 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2, in Covington, Ky. There is no admission charge, but you must register to attend because space is limited. (UPDATE: Registration is closed as the event is full).

One registration per e-mail address, please.

You will be sent a confirmation e-mail, directions to the event and a registration number indicating that you are indeed registered. You will need to print out this e-mail and bring it with you to the event to get in. We’re not trying to be jerks – it’s just a small space and there are fire codes to obey.

We will have Don Williams there, the leader of the team of translators and craftsmen during the last four years. Don will be happy to discuss details of the first volume on finishing and marquetry, plus show off some of the tools he built (such as his polissoir and shoulder knife).

Plus we’ll have Wesley Tanner of Passim Editions there, who is designing the Roubo volumes. He’ll be sharing some of the cool details of the design (ask him about the font. Seriously). Also, he’ll have all of our high-resolution scans of all the plates on hand for you to view while projected on a high-resolution screen.

Also, we’ll be bringing the original editions of Roubo for you to see and (if you are brave and careful) examine yourself. We have complete copies of the first edition that’s bound in calfskin, plus the 1977 reprints.

We’ll also discuss the publishing of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible,” which is in full swing right now. There will be two versions of the book coming out soon – a premium edition and a trade edition. We’ll have many more details to share at the event.

It’s all going to be very casual.

The event is a short walk from the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, where WIA is being held. We hope to have a fine selection of bourbons and craft beers on draft (this should come as no surprise). It will be a cash bar.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Joint Stool, Ruhlmann Style

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For your viewing pleasure: Steve Schafer sent along this photo of a joint stool that he built after asking himself the following question: “What would Ruhlmann do had he lived during the American Federal Period?”

The stool is made from curly cherry, holly and Texas ebony. The checkerboard inlay design was inserted using a technique from Rutager West. Rutager’s method will be shown in an upcoming article in Popular Woodworking Magazine.

It will be interesting to see how the authors of “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” will react to this piece. Horror? Amusement? Something that involves a hatchet?

Steve asked me to point out one thing about the project:  “Boys and girls, this is NOT how you make a joint stool.”

I think it looks kinda cool.

— Christopher Schwarz