You may have heard that Aspen Golann, founder of the Chairmaker’s Toolbox – which has selflessly been helping others to learn chairmaking – could now use a little help herself. She has suffered a bad leg break that will keep her out of the shop for about five months. If you can s … | Continue reading
Jack planes are the most-used tool in my hands. Hands down, hands forward and hands back. I’m on my third jack plane iron since 1996. I’ve never even come close to wearing out a plane iron for a smoothing or jointer plane. (I have eaten through some block plane blades, though I b … | Continue reading
by Mattias Hallin While talking chairs over a beer on an evening during the Chair Chat Class week, the conversation eventually turned upon the Swedish stick chair tradition in general, and Mats Palmquist’s 2018 book “Träsmak” in particular. As it happened, that book and a number … | Continue reading
Barely in time for Christmas, we have a batch of our Special Edition Engraved Lump Hammers in the store and ready to ship. This will likely be the last batch before the end of the year. The engraving was designed by Jenny Bower and translated into really fluid toolpaths by machin … | Continue reading
One of the most difficult things of late has been sourcing my beloved sugar pine for tool chest classes. It’s “imported” from the West Coast – and with lumber companies struggling to fill demand and the still-high cost of shipping, it has been impossible to get. I’ve heard time a … | Continue reading
Every year Lucy and I give what we can to a variety of charities. We are picky. Lucy has spent most of her career covering the societal safety net here in Cincinnati. She knows these charities inside and out. She has taught me to be careful as well. We do our research. And look a … | Continue reading
Nothing irritates me more than when I hire a tradesperson, and they spend most of the time criticizing the worker who was there before them. When Lucy and I bought our first house, it had been essentially condemned. All utilities had been shut off. The old coal furnace had been t … | Continue reading
It’s an unusual thing to be a woodworker. My daughter Katherine says her friends give her the strangest looks when she tells them I make furniture for a living. “It’s like I told them, ‘Yeah, my dad’s a court jester.’” Katherine said. Thankfully, I know that some of the 20-someth … | Continue reading
The following in excerpted from “Cut & Dried: A Woodworker’s Guide to Timber Technology,” by Richard Jones. The author has spent his entire life as a professional woodworker and has dedicated himself to researching the technical details of wood in great depth, this material being … | Continue reading
My new blog on Substack, “The American Peasant,” is free to everyone until Dec. 15. After that, some posts will be for subscribers (such as where I talk trash about Captain Kangaroo [JK]), and others will be free. Subscriptions are $5 a month. Or $60 a year. And you will be able … | Continue reading
Our warehouse people must have had some extra coffee today because they managed to get our first batch of Special Edition Engraved Lump Hammers into inventory and all linked up with our fancy computer system. You can buy them here for $165 (free shipping in the United States). Th … | Continue reading
Apologies for intruding on your Sunday with commerce a second time. My daughter Katherie posted a batch of Soft Wax 2.0 in her store and I completely forgot to put something up on the blog. It’s here, just in time for waxing something before the holidays. Notes on the finish: Th … | Continue reading
On Monday or Tuesday we will begin selling our Special Edition Lump Hammers that feature a machine engraving designed by artist Jenny Bower. We’re making 200 of these this year and hope to make another batch next fall. These lump hammers have the same characteristics as our regul … | Continue reading
One of the arguments used by pro-slavery groups was the idea if enslaved people were granted their freedom they would not be able to take care of themselves. Abolitionists like to point out exactly who was doing the work in the states where slavery thrived. A portion of the count … | Continue reading
During our open day on Saturday, carver David Bignell delivered this carving of a skep, our dividers and some bees. This will perch upon our company’s sign in the window of our Covington storefront (the sign was also carved by David). We have several of these emblems that we can … | Continue reading
During the last two decades I’ve entered the orbit of many chairmakers who make Jennie Chairs (from “Make a Chair From a Tree”) and Windsor/Forest chairs. Years ago, I was in a gaggle of them, and they started talking about how little their chairs weighed. I learned that Jennie C … | Continue reading
Registration opens tomorrow at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking (MASW) where I am teaching a weekend class in 2023 in making a staked stool. This is a rare instance of me leaving the nest to teach. But I’m doing it for three reasons. The class is Oct. 14-15, 2023. All the det … | Continue reading
Editor’s note: “Henry Boyd’s Freedom Bed” by Whitney LB Miller is the true story of an incredible 19th-century furniture maker who fought for his freedom, invented a renowned (and patented) bed and helped many enslaved people escape to freedom. For the last 25 years I have walked … | Continue reading
Just in time for the holidays, we have received our first shipment of our USA-made canvas tool rolls, which are available for immediate shipment. The tool rolls are made by the same factory that makes our workshop waist apron, so the build quality and stitching is immaculate. The … | Continue reading
James Krenov, the well-known furniture maker born in Russia, author of the hugely influential “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook,” for 21 years the lead instructor of what is now the Krenov School in Fort Bragg, Calif., and who died at 88 in 2009, was not always revered. When my late wif … | Continue reading
We’re so hard-core at Lost Art Press that our first question to accountant candidates was “are you a woodworker?” OK – not really. But it turns out our accountant really does spend a fair amount of time in the shop! That’s his work shown above, and he wrote the below. – Fitz The … | Continue reading
It’s been a busy couple of weeks…so yeah – I’m being a bit lazy with this week’s post. Today, we’ll take a look at a tiny collection of, well, a couple of tiny things and a few teaching aids. Starting from the front left, we have calipers inspired by those in the Studley’s tool c … | Continue reading
Writing “Workshop Wound Care,” a field manual that’s part of Lost Art Press’s pocket-book series, combined two things Dr. Jeffery Hill enjoys and loves: medicine and woodworking. Hill, an emergency room physician and active woodworker, organized this 184-page book so you can reso … | Continue reading
I try to keep my tool kit as small as possible. So if I don’t use a tool for a few years, I try to get it into someone else’s hands so they can use it. Sometimes that means selling it or giving it away. Back in 2010 I sold off a bunch of tools... | Continue reading
I’ve been writing a woodworking blog almost every day since two-thousand-and-good-god five (2005). I pretty much have the hang of it now. And I’m happy with its mix of content, the variety of authors and its “voice,” for lack of a better word. I have no desire to throw a monkey w … | Continue reading
I feel a little stupid posting this as I cannot believe I haven’t figured it out before. Likely it’s so obvious that no one thought to tell me. When using a flush-cutting saw (a saw with zero set), I always noticed that the first cut was relatively easy. Then each subsequent cut … | Continue reading
As Lost Art Press enters its 16th year of operations, I am amazed we are still here. We have made so many errors – some of them nearly fatal. Likely the reason we are still operating is that we are too dumb to quit. If I had to “make” every LAP book with a photocopier... | Continue reading
I am always looking for ways to make workholding simpler and less expensive. It feels like a duty after writing 36 books on workbenches. I love my Benchcrafted Hi Vise – we own five of them. But not every woodworker can afford the hardware. And you have to build the vise with woo … | Continue reading
To my friends, the American millionaires, to whom I have given the proceeds of many years of toil on a Nebraska farm, all of whom have leisure, and some of whom have brains enough to comprehend political and social science, this work is respectfully dedicated. — T.G. Tibbles, Ban … | Continue reading
Yes, another brush. This one wasn’t on my list initially. When Mattias Hallin visited our shop this year, he brought some lovely small gifts. One of them was this incredible brush from REMOS. The natural bristles are remarkably stiff and stout. Mattias explained that he uses this … | Continue reading
Our storefront in Covington, Ky., will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday (Nov. 26). We will have our complete line of books and tools there for you to inspect, plus a somewhat-special giveaway for the first 144 customers. (Uhhh, it’s a free jumbo eraser, … | Continue reading
One of the many fantastic tips I learned from “The Belligerent Finisher” was using common household materials to burnish wooden surfaces. Burnishing compacts the wood and can add a gorgeous texture. Author John Porritt has several simple tools he uses for this. The coolest one is … | Continue reading
This entry is the sister to yesterday’s entry on our fancy plant mister. We found these vintage glass apothecary bottles and immediately bought some for shop liquids. We keep our backup supply of 50/50 water/alcohol potion in it. The bottles are 7” tall and hold 250ml. The best p … | Continue reading
As a woodworker, sometimes I ask too much of the wood. Instead of just putting a cushion on a chair, I’ll do everything possible to force the wood to be as comfortable as possible. Naked. With no help from anything cloth, leather, foam, feathery or furry. So, I have spent years ( … | Continue reading
Again, you likely know that we don’t like plastic. You might not give a crap. So if you have no problem with all the plastic bottles and stuff in your life, skip this entry. It is not for you. One of our favorite shop liquids is a 50/50 mix of tap water and ethanol. Not... | Continue reading
The U.K.’s Classic Hand Tools (CHT) has organized an auction of David Charlesworth’s hand tools – 100 of the best tools he amassed and used in his storied and half-century woodworking and teaching career. The auction proceeds will benefit David’s wife, Pat. The tools – each profe … | Continue reading
A bench brush is essential gear for getting chips and shavings into the compost bin or garbage bag. But if you saddle chair seats or do a lot of traversing with a jack plane, you might have noticed that most bench brushes do a crap job in brushing off your work. I don’t know exa … | Continue reading
We had such fun in last year’s Chairmaker’s Toolbox class that we’re doing it again! Chris will be leading a group of six in a free stick chair class in the Lost Art Press shop Sept. 18-22, 2023. The scholarship covers both tuition and materials for the chair. The emphasis of thi … | Continue reading
We love Mirka stuff. I never thought I could love an abrasive, but the company’s Abranet abrasives have become the only ones I like to use. So when I wore out some old sanding sponges (no, I don’t just throw them away after each use), I decided to try Mirka’s. We use sanding spon … | Continue reading
Last weekend, Whitney LB Miller, author of “Henry Boyd’s Freedom Bed,” was invited to read her new book at a Saturday morning children’s event. We suggested she film it but – reporting star that she is (she’s currently on the air with Cincinnati’s WCPO television station) – Whitn … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Doormaking and Window-Making.” As the Industrial Revolution mechanized the jobs of the joiner – building doors and windows by hand – one anonymous joiner watched the traditional skills disappear and decided to do something about it. That joiner wr … | Continue reading
When I scratch myself while working, the worst part of the whole process is waiting for the blood to stop flowing so I can get back to work. We are serious about workshop wound care (see our latest title on the topic). And I’m always looking for anything to give me an edge when I … | Continue reading
We use a lot of mechanical pencils in our shop in a variety of lead sizes and hardnesses. We even bicker about it! (Megan loves .5mm lead. A lot.) One thing (I think) we agree on is that the Pentel GraphGear mechanical pencils are the most durable ones out there. They last at lea … | Continue reading
Along with blue tape and paper towels, so-called “super glues” are often cited as a way to treat relatively minor cuts in the workshop. But the cyanoacrylates that are meant to glue wood, porcelain and plastics (and hardhats to I-beams – if you’re old enough to remember that Kraz … | Continue reading
I use trammel points almost every day to scribe out large arcs. One of my biggest frustrations with trammels is that many hold standard wood-body pencils only. Because of this, my line is always thinner at the beginning of the mark and fatter at the end. The difference in line wi … | Continue reading