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2025 Anarchist’s Gift Guide: Day 11

Posted on by fitz

Hey everybody, it’s that time of year again – it’s the Anarchist’s Gift Guide. We’ve been doing this for more than a decade now, people seem to like it, so I guess we’ll keep it up. Why? Unlike some other gift guides, ours isn’t sponsored. (In fact, if somebody asked us to write about their tool for the gift guide, our standard retort would be: “Why don’t you poop up your own butt?”) This is stuff we use and love. We have 11 offerings this year, and will publish one a day until we’re done. – Chris & Fitz

Dubuque Clamps

These lightweight aluminum, Iowa-made bar clamps are the cat’s pajamas for a lot of my work. No, they can’t exert the bone-crushing pressure of our handful of old iron Hargraves, and the clamping pad isn’t as deep as the K-bodies. But if my joints are well fit, I don’t need a lot of pressure. And because I’m almost always clamping dovetails, I’m right up at the edges, and I don’t need a deep throat.

I like that I can easily pick up my projects when they’re in clamps to stack them to dry, thereby clearing off some of my bench. These 24″-long ones weigh less than half as much as the Bessey K-body of the same length (2 lbs. vs. 5 lbs. 6 ou.). And they’re a lot easier for students to use. The ratcheting pad on one end is easy to slide into place, then it’s simply a matter of turning the screw on the other end to tighten things down. No pushing a handle toward a bar to get it to catch, as with the K-bodies.

I also like the price of these, compared to the K-bodies. The 24″ clamps ones start at around $40; the longest (48″) are only a few dollars more. They’re available from multiple sellers. – Fitz

New Book in the Queue: ‘Marquetry for Everyone’

Posted on by fitz
Albert Kleine

I am pleased to announce that we’ve just signed a contract with Albert Kleine; he’s hard at work on a book that, in effect, democratizes marquetry, making it accessible to everyone. I don’t know when it will be available, but after spending a weekend with Albert, I feel certain he’s not one to dally – so likely less (and possibly far less) than the typical two-year cycle between contract and finished book. (But no promises!)

I’ll let Albert tell you about the project himself, interspersed with a few pictures of his work. The passages below are excerpted from his book overview. And you can see more from Albert in the meantime on his Instagram feed.

– Fitz

Marquetry is incredibly accessible and can be practiced by anybody, anywhere, at pretty
much any time. This book is a thorough beginner’s guide, covering things I’ve discovered in
my own journey, along with a few projects to introduce skills and get the creative juices
flowing.

Marquetry as an art is a lot like French cooking in Ratatouille. And while I don’t think
there are any real Anton Egos in the world of marquetry actively trying to
discourage folks from trying it out (I also don’t think the stakes are as high as, uh,
death) the craft can be less than accommodating and welcoming all on its own.

  • The work appears to be extremely delicate, so it gives off an air of requiring a
    high amount of skill. When people see my work, they always assume that I must
    have some innate ability that they cannot possibly obtain. I assure you I do not.
  • Like fine French cuisine, marquetry is typically only found in high price places
    (on higher end furniture pieces), and thus most people only encounter it briefly
    and are left with the impression that it is rare and luxurious.
  • It requires tools that are unfamiliar to most woodworkers – let alone people –
    which adds to the mystique of the marquetatarian.
  • The practice is filled with jargon, and if people who practice the craft aren’t
    interested in being accommodating and welcoming, that jargon can scare folks
    away.
  • If marquetry is the French cuisine of this story, then I am the Chef Gusteau telling you
    to stop listening to the Anton Egos of the world, whether external or (much more
    likely!) internal, pick up a fret saw, and get to work.

Despite all the barriers listed above, over the course of this book, I will convince you
that marquetry is indeed for everyone.

  • The skill can be acquired fairly quickly. Whenever I teach, people with zero
    experience are cutting and fitting pieces by the end of day one. Because every
    single cut is pretty much the same, once you have that down, then you know
    pretty much all the technique that you’ll need to know. And because every cut is
    the same, if you give yourself a large project, by the end you’ll inevitably be a
    master at cutting.
  • Tools are extremely low cost and very easy to obtain, even if they are weird. An
    entire kit can be purchased for less than $50, and that will keep you going for the
    rest of your life.
  • Materials are incredibly low cost — even large and intricate projects have low
    material costs. I’ve had commissions of many thousands of dollars that have
    essentially negligible material costs — all the value is in the labor.
  • You can do it anywhere! There is no power, and the noise level is actually quite low
    unlike other hand tool endeavors (chopping dovetails).
  • Being able to do it anywhere also means that you can do it any time. This is
    important in the modern world where people juggle family and work
    life with their hobbies. Marquetry is so self contained, quiet, and low mess that
    I can easily pick up a project for a few minutes here and there when I can.
  • You’ll quickly realize that the jargon is just a weak facade, and once it starts to
    crumble away you’ll see just how simple all of this is.

2025 Anarchist’s Gift Guide: Day 2

Posted on by fitz

Hey everybody, it’s that time of year again – it’s the Anarchist’s Gift Guide. We’ve been doing this for more than a decade now, people seem to like it, so I guess we’ll keep it up. Why? Unlike some other gift guides, ours isn’t sponsored. (In fact, if somebody asked us to write about their tool for the gift guide, our standard retort would be: “Why don’t you poop up your own butt?”) This is stuff we use and love. We have 11 offerings this year, and will publish one a day until we’re done. – Chris & Fitz

Veritas PMV11 blade in a Lie-Nielsen Smooth Plane

Nothing is magic, but I’d call call the combination of a Veritas PMV-11 iron in my Lie-Nielsen No. 3 magic-adjacent. Why? Something about carbides/rocks…on which Chris will pontificate a bit below. Why it adds up, though, is that A2 can be a little toothy on the edge, and as a result leave a not-mirror shine behind when used in a smooth plane blade. The purpose of the smooth plane is to make it look pretty; the PMV-11 blade does a better job of making it so.

Plus it’s easy to sharpen, hone and polish (and arguably holds a sharp edge a bit longer, though to quote Shania Twain: that don’t impress me much, since I know how to sharpen). – Fitz

Chris’s take: Lie-Nielsen has refined its A2 blades so they are are excellent, as good as I’ve used. But the PMV-11 is just a little bit better in my opinion. After long experience with both, I find the PMV-11 sharpens faster. It feels like good old O1 on the stones. It takes a wicked sharp edge. And it lasts a lot longer than O1 (and noticeably longer than any A2). If you are happy with your A2 blade, don’t switch. But if you want something a little more, then the PMV-11 is the answer. I use my stock Lie-Nielsen chipbreaker with the PMV-11 blade without any problems, FYI. – CS

2025 Anarchist’s Gift Guide: Day 1

Posted on by fitz

Hey everybody, it’s that time of year again – it’s the Anarchist’s Gift Guide. We’ve been doing this for more than a decade now, people seem to like it, so I guess we’ll keep it up. Why? Unlike some other gift guides, ours isn’t sponsored. (In fact, if somebody asked us to write about their tool for the gift guide, our standard retort would be: “Why don’t you poop up your own butt?”) This is stuff we use and love. We have 11 offerings this year, and will publish one a day until we’re done. – Chris & Fitz

ToolCurve Dust Collection Adapters

When I first saw this adapter, I was skeptical. But Chris bought them for our sanders and I was sold. It made it so much easier to hook up the Festool dust extractors than our old wrestling/cursing/hose-clamp approach.

I like these so much that I bought one for my sander at home, too – a bargain at just $20. The only drawback? ToolCurve doesn’t make adapters for Festool tools – but I wish they did. The Festool hose and Festool dust ports take some wrestling to get them to mate up.

The manufacturer makes adapters for a wide variety of tool brands, not just Makita. One of our biggest gripes with the dust collection world is that there is almost no standardization. It’s kinda stupid that these tools have to exist, but at least they are being done right. – Fitz

Watch 4-H Kids Build the ‘Bulls%$t’ Chair

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Saint Maud’s – a community workshop in northern Wisconsin – just started a 38-week course for 4-H kids to build the armchair in “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t.” Check out the first video here.

They’ll be posting videos on Instagram of the kids as they build their chairs. We’re going to follow along. You can, too. Here’s their Instagram feed. And their Facebook page.

The public workshop resides in a decommissioned Catholic church (hence the “saint” part). And the “Maud?” That was the name of a beloved family dog. (It’s not a religious school. I don’t even know if there is a Saint Maud….)

It’s a great little organization. In addition to the public workshop, they operate a “Sloyd Bus” that travels to surrounding communities to spread the love of handwork to kids. Read more about the Sloyd Bus here.

The workshop was started by Karl and Charlie Zinsmaster in 2022. Charlie (the father) is a long-time community leader. Karl (the son) has a degree in furniture design and worked in New York City and Minnesota before returning home to start the workshop.

We’re all thrilled to see this. The book (which is free to download) is supposed to make chairmaking accessible to anyone with basic tools and home center materials. We can’t wait to see the chairs come together during the coming weeks.

— Christopher Schwarz