Almost every horizontal surface in our workshop and office has a knife on it. As does every drawer and till. Shop knives are essential tools for opening boxes, cutting rope and 100 other workshop tasks. So we are always on the lookout for inexpensive, quality knives. This year I … | Continue reading
There are lots of ways to scribe cabinets to a wall or to scribe the legs of a chair to their final length. My favorite scribing tool – hands down – is the Tooley Park Fat Boy Scriber. Made by Philip Sewell, a cabinetmaker in the U.K., this clever tool is well-made and extremely … | Continue reading
You might have noticed that we’ve been having problems getting three new products up in the store and running smoothly. Well they are now up and available for immediate shipment. We released them simultaneously so you can save on shipping if you planned on buying more than one. H … | Continue reading
Editor’s note: We are launching these two books and hat on the same day in response to requests from readers. By buying both books at the same time (plus maybe a hat, too), we all save on shipping and packing expenses. I hesitated when writing the word “groundbreaking” in the hea … | Continue reading
The two most comfortable chairs I make are my lowback and this Gibson armchair, which is a design that originated in Ireland. In 2019 I went to Ireland and studied many historical examples of this chair and now make a version that is similar to the Irish Gibson, though it is defi … | Continue reading
I don’t like the look or feel of plastic. So whenever I can find a tool that uses natural materials, I’ll opt for that. I have to clean my fingernails every day to remove sharpening grit, paint, oil and other gunk. Most brushes for fingernails are plastic and ugly. So I was thril … | Continue reading
I’m not a sporty lad. So I was clueless about hockey tape until Rob Cosman wrapped some around my fretsaw’s handle many years ago. The high-friction tape is a lot like gaffer’s tape. Heck – it might be a different version of gaffer’s tape. It sticks to stuff quite well. And it of … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Design Book: Expanded Edition,” by Christopher Schwarz. It’s an exploration of furniture forms that have persisted outside of the high styles that dominate every museum exhibit, scholarly text and woodworking magazine of the last 2 … | Continue reading
If you or a woodworking friend are wondering what the heck a stick chair is, we’ve made a page that is a quick but complete introduction to the form. It also explains how all our stick chair products relate to the form. So you can better decide if you should go Old School (“Welsh … | Continue reading
I started this “gift guide” years ago after watching a woodworking TV personality’s “gift guide” for one of his sponsors. Clearly, he’d been given a list of worthless garbage products that were severely overstocked. I thought: What if some poor spouse actually took this clown’s … | Continue reading
Often we start working on a new book – among the first steps are to acquire any good (and sometimes bad) research that’s already been done on the subject – at least for topics that haven’t been written about ad nauseam (see workbenches…or Shaker furniture; we’d need far more shel … | Continue reading
For most of my career, I have helped other woodworkers “get published.” That task could be as simple as spell checking their excellent work. Or as involved as being a ghost writer – taking an oral history of their work and transforming it into an article or entire book. After 25 … | Continue reading
Wally hopes you can join us on Saturday, Nov. 26, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. for our holiday open house (at which you might consider giving him a cat treat or 10). We’ll have available our full line of Lost Art Press books, Crucible Tools and apparel, including new baseball caps – khaki … | Continue reading
Because of the extreme financial pressures of the pandemic unprecedented demand from readers, we have decided to offer naming rights to several of the valuable components of our business. With one small payment, you can put your product or service front and center with dozens and … | Continue reading
You don’t see many “unboxing” videos of our books and tools on the internet. And that is 100 percent by design. We put a lot of thought into our packaging. But our goal is to get the product to you using the minimum amount of packaging. And with most – if not all – of... | Continue reading
I do what I can to avoid the mushy-mushy concepts and questions that are posed by the thinkers in our craft. You know: art vs. craft, sawdust is therapy, what is the saw nib for? But I do have some answers to the practical questions that beginners ask during classes. Q: Why do yo … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from David Finck’s “Making & Mastering Wood Planes.” No matter what sort of handplane you use, this book is perhaps the best guide available to understanding, tuning and using these tools at a high level. Written by a graduate of the College of the Redw … | Continue reading
At midnight tonight the $50 introductory price for “Sharpen This (the Video)” will end. After midnight Eastern time, the video will be $75. This video series is a deep dive into practical (not theoretical) at-the-bench sharpening. What do you need to do to get your tools to leave … | Continue reading
The following is included in Volume 1 of “The Stick Chair Journal,” an annual publication to expand the universe of all things stick chair: More history. More plans. More techniques. Reviews of tools. And Big Thoughts. (Important note: We have printed 4,000 copies of the Journal. … | Continue reading
The lower left cubby in the Covington Mechanical Library is a bit of a hodgepodge that spans oceans and centuries. In it are two series of books, a British furniture tome, some American furniture collections – regional and not – a few Charleston furniture titles and a falling-apa … | Continue reading
This video answers three common questions from people reading “The Stick Chair Book” or watching the “Build a Stick Chair” video. Question 1: How do you set your tenon cutter to make a 2-1/4″-long tenon? Question 2: And why are all your tenons 2-1/4″ long? Question 3: Why do all … | Continue reading
When Derek Jones was planning for his summer trip to teach at Lost Art Press, he asked if we had a No. 6 he could borrow. A No. 6? Really? I thought it was a typo. I’ve been fully inculcated into using a No. 7 (or No. 8, if I must – and I’ve eaten... | Continue reading
Two quick notes. You have until midnight on Oct. 31 to purchase our new “Sharpen This (the Video)” for $50. After Oct. 31, the price of the video will be $75. Also, today we posted the first of 20 additional videos that are included with your purchase. The newest video shows two … | Continue reading
Here is a quick business-related post here that may help you in your woodworking (or nematode lingerie) business. In any transaction there are only three roles: the seller, the customer and the product. As one of the owners of Lost Art Press, I might occupy any of those roles at … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Honest Labour,” a collection of essays from The Woodworker magazine while the legendary Charles H. Hayward was editor (1936-1966). This book is the fifth and final volume in our series from The Woodworker. The excerpt below is from 1956, and remai … | Continue reading
Almost 30 years ago I was making furniture on the back porch that could best be described as in the style of “Dangerously Doweled” or simply “Prolapsed Flatpack.” Then I visited this place. At the time I was a junior editor at a magazine that covered politics and government, and … | Continue reading
The catalog for Day 2 of the Fred West Tool Collection Auction is available; bids are accepted for Day 2 items through 10 a.m. on Nov. 9. (You can read a bit about Fred in this post, for the Day 1 catalog.) — Fitz | Continue reading
I am so happy to announce our latest book “Henry Boyd’s Freedom Bed” by Whitney L.B. Miller. This illustrated children’s book is about the life of Henry Boyd, one of the unsung furniture geniuses of the 19th century. The book traces Boyd’s life from his birth on a Kentucky planta … | Continue reading
I admit, I’ve chosen an easy bay for this Covington Mechanical Library post (it’s been a frantic – and slightly under the weather – week). Today, it’s the Foxfire series, volumes 1-12 (which is an almost complete set – I believe there are two additional anniversary editions). For … | Continue reading
Katherine “the Wax Princess” Schwarz has a fresh batch of Soft Wax 2.0 now now available in her Etsy store. It’s my favorite finish for Shaker trays and tool chest tills, and Chris uses it on just about every not-painted chair. It looks great, smells great, is easy to apply, is n … | Continue reading
Sure, we all know to keep our handplanes sharp, clean and lubed. But when was the last time you did maintenance on the tool’s mouth and the edges of its sole? These areas are fragile and take a heap of abuse. Yet little is written about how to regularly maintain them. Let’s start … | Continue reading
Lately I’ve been thinking that the spirit of Joseph Moxon isn’t so happy with me. Maybe Old Joe – a printer by trade – isn’t happy about being known by moderns as a vise sold at Woodcraft. Or he isn’t happy about being called out for stealing images from André Félibien. In any ca … | Continue reading
One of the most common questions I get is why I don’t use Forstner bits much in chairmaking. The bits are readily available, make flat-bottomed holes and cut cleanly. The answer is basically this: The Forstner’s lead point is too short*. That means if I want to drill anything oth … | Continue reading
The Florida School of Woodwork is holding a raffle and silent auction to raise money for woodworking scholarships. This week’s silent auction item is a Kentucky Stick Chair made earlier this year by Christopher Schwarz. Plus you can buy raffle tickets to be entered to win one of … | Continue reading
When you drill a hole with a 5/8” bit, then use a 5/8” tenon cutter to make the tenon, you should be golden…right? Nope – unless you get lucky. If you dare enter the fascinating world of boring you will quickly realize this truth: It is up to you to get your drill bits and... | Continue reading
Fred West was a modern-day Medici when it came to hand tools – a true patron of the fine arts, and a driving force behind the hand-tool renaissance of the last two decades. If you were into hand tools before 2014 and attended any woodworking shows, you likely knew Fred – or at le … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” by Anonymous, Christopher Schwarz and Joel Moskowitz, from the chapter on making the dovetailed schoolbox. In this chapter, as with the other projects in the book, Chris builds “alongside” young Thomas, the main charac … | Continue reading
People who make things are the best people I know. And that’s why I’m a fierce believer that the best way to help our craft is to unlock or open doors for anyone – anyone – who wants to step through. Recently a friend alerted me to a new Instagram account that highlights the wor … | Continue reading
Today Bob Mould is 62. That simple fact brings me great joy. As someone who has tried to remain creative into middle age, I am constantly worried that I will one day wake up and have nothing else to write. Nothing new to build. No areas of the craft or furniture left that I want. … | Continue reading
Back by request: Three sticker designs for your tool chest, nail cabinet or wall. These are available from my daughter Katherine’s etsy store. They are sold as a set, and yes, she ships internationally. Here are the stickers in this set. ‘Sharpen This’ Book StickerIf you have the … | Continue reading
“I do not get your weird chairs,” exclaim about a dozen messages or comments every year. I understand your bewilderment. I remember being a prospective student at Northwestern University in 1985 where I had been paired up with freshmen journalism students. We were supposed to sl … | Continue reading
During the last 25 years, all my sharpening processes have become simpler. And use much less gear. This has made me faster, and my edges are just as excellent. This evolution is most evident in the way I sharpen scrapers. I was taught the first step was to file the edge at a perf … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Mechanic’s Companion,” by Peter Nicholson. It is one of the foundational English-language texts in woodworking and the building trades. First published in 1812, “Mechanic’s Companion” is an invaluable and thorough treatment of techniques, with 40 … | Continue reading
As I decided which bay of the Covington Mechanical Library to post for today, I realized I’d have to first do some rearranging. Can you believe that the many Stickley books were simply mixed in to the rest of the Arts & Crafts tomes, instead of being grouped together? Likewise th … | Continue reading
We now have back in stock all sizes (S to XXXL) of the Lost Art Press “skep” T-shirt. And I don’t know the weather in your corner of the world, but here it’s hoodie season (which fills me with glee – I despise hot weather); we have our heavyweight “Nothing Without Labour” zip-up … | Continue reading
When I finally got the honor of being Frank Klausz’s editor, I was curious as to what sort of manuscript he would turn in. I was curious because I had read almost everything out there with Klausz’s byline on it. Some of his stories sounded just like he talks. With his Hungarian a … | Continue reading
Because of the positive reaction to our “Build a Stick Chair” video, we decided to produce a new video on sharpening woodworking tools that delves even further into the topic than our new book “Sharpen This.” “Sharpen This (the Video)” is a 2-1/2-hour long video companion to our … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” Vol. II – Techniques. This article was first published when “glue” was understood to be hot hide glue (or, as it’s called in The Woodworker, Scotch glue). Rub joints work with other glues, but in my e … | Continue reading