The following is excerpted from Derek Jones’s forthcoming book, “Cricket Tables.” Simplicity, necessity and ingenuity are the three key principles for making cricket tables. This traditional three-legged table exists in a variety of forms and woods – no two are the same. So makin … | Continue reading
Katherine just posted a big load of Soft Wax 2.0 today in her etsy store. And Bean is clearly happy about it? It’s hot, but Katherine knows how to ship the wax in the summer. The lids have an internal seal, and she cinches them down extra tight during the warm months. Then she wr … | Continue reading
Along with hopefully enough copies of all our books and most of our tools (everything we have in stock), we’ll be bringing a bunch of Lost Art Press Woobies to Handworks 2023, and will include them with every purchase until we run out. I am not counting them…but I think we have a … | Continue reading
This is the first stick chair that I’ve built entirely with red elm. It’s a bit extraordinary that this chair exists because the species (Ulmus rubra) is rarely found in commercial lumberyards around here. Plus, finding enough straight and clear sections of red elm to make the st … | Continue reading
We are here today and happy to answer your questions about woodworking, cats, our books, Shakespeare, linseed oil paint, the Anthe building restoration, or Jayhawks songs. This week’s open wire is hosted by Chris and me. Here’s how it works: Type your question in the comment fiel … | Continue reading
We have a handful of copies of the discontinued first edition of “The Stick Chair Book” for sale at about 50 percent off – $24. Here’s the link if you would like one. | Continue reading
Sadly, it’s another day, and we still have exactly zero weird Yelp reviews for our classes. I mentioned this today to the students in my chair class as we were working on our combs, and we started brainstorming what some negative Yelp reviews of my chair class might sound like. H … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from the third edition of “Make a Chair from a Tree” – a book Jennie Alexander somewhat reluctantly agreed to in 2014. In 1978, her seminal book on green woodworking launched the careers of thousands of woodworkers and helped ignite a green woodworking … | Continue reading
When you rehabilitate an old building, your plans have to change (almost daily) to keep things moving forward and to code. The “code” part of the project is what has been driving us for the last few weeks. We want the building to look like it did when we bought it and was empty. … | Continue reading
I buy and process at least 900 board feet of red oak each year for chairmaking and chair classes. When chosen and cut with care, red oak can look much better than the ugly 1980s kitchen cabinets it is associated with. But before you embrace this inexpensive and plentiful wood, he … | Continue reading
Sorry we took last weekend off. It was unavoidable. We are here today and happy to answer your questions about woodworking, our books or Wilco songs. This week’s open wire is hosted by me and Megan. Here’s how it works: Type your question in the comment field. Brevity is apprecia … | Continue reading
I grew up around handmade ladderback chairs that were made in the Arkansas Ozarks, but I didn’t think much about them until working as Owen Rein’s editor. Owen lives in Stone County, Arkansas, about three hours from where I grew up. He was the first person to open my eyes to the … | Continue reading
First, apologies for a second sales post in one day. Tune in tomorrow for more words about woodworking. Second, we now have our new Warrington Pattern Hammer in stock (as well as 1:4 Dovetail Templates and Pinch Rods). This small hammer (the head is about 4 ounces) is ideal for s … | Continue reading
We have received our yearly shipment of moleskin vests from Sew Valley, and we have put them up for sale here in our online store. Because of dramatic price increases in materials and labor, this is likely our last batch of these vests. We’ve had to raise the price a little on th … | Continue reading
When saw sharpener Tom Law died, there were a lot of people who thought: Now what? Who will sharpen our saws and teach others? Fortunately, there was a new generation of saw makers and sharpeners who have put in the hours to get to the point where sharpening saws is as easy as ty … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Christian Becksvoort’s “With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood.” The three woods I chose (from the 30 he covers) are my favorites from which to build tool chests, because they are lightweight and relatively inexpensive (and becau … | Continue reading
You probably know that I have another blog (but I promise I am not cheating on you). This one is called a “substack” and is titled “The American Peasant.” It’s about my efforts at writing my next book, but it is also a place where I shank the crap we are force fed. And I... | Continue reading
I’m afraid you’re on your own this weekend for woodworking questions. Chris has set aside his apron for a few days, and is busy for the next few days shooting pictures for Matt Cianci‘s forthcoming book on saw sharpening. And depending on when you read this, I’m either showing El … | Continue reading
We are awaiting a revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book,” which should arrive in early September. So we are closing out the remaining copies of the first edition of this book for $24 each (it was $51). The forthcoming revised edition is about 10 percent smaller. It has the exa … | Continue reading
We have a small batch of Warrington-pattern hammers in stock and ready to ship. The heads are made in Nicholasville, Kentucky by Craig Jackson’s crew at Machine Time. The oiled hickory handles are made in Tennessee. The hammers are hand assembled, wedged and glued. They are $97 e … | Continue reading
Spend a weekend in October cutting dovetails with me (Megan Fitzpatrick) in gorgeous central Kentucky at the Woodworking School at Pine Croft (with luck, the trees surrounding the school will be a riot of fall color by then!). It’s a two-day class – Oct. 14 & 15 – in making a cla … | Continue reading
We have a handful of “cosmetic seconds” available of our Type 2 Crucible Dividers. There are minor blemishes caused by the tumbling process, and perhaps a few small spots of rust. All are 100 percent functional and have been reinspected. We’ve stamped all of them with a No. 2, (i … | Continue reading
The following short excerpt is from Christopher Schwarz’s “Sharpen This” – a 120-page pocket book on how to get great edges, regardless of the sharpening system you choose. It is about what is important: Creating a sharp edge quickly with a minimum amount of equipment. Simple sid … | Continue reading
Katherine cranked up her soft wax machine this week and has put up a batch of it in her etsy store.Katherine is keeping up wax production, even with her job at Rookwood Pottery and the heat, which is sapping us all. She cooks it up using the raw ingredients of yellow beeswax, raw … | Continue reading
It’s time for our weekly Open Wire. And it’s also our open day here at the storefront in Covington. As a result, our answers might be a little delayed because we are answering other questions from people in the store. This week’s open wire is hosted by me, Megan and whoever else … | Continue reading
We have our first batch of Warrington hammers in stock here in Covington and ready to ship. The heads are made in Nicholasville, Kentucky. The oiled hickory handles are made in North Carolina. The hammers are hand-assembled – glued and wedged. They are $97 each. You can place you … | Continue reading
Just a reminder that we’ll be throwing the doors open (metaphorically – it’s too hot to actually do that) on Saturday, July 29, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. for our 2023 Summer Open House. We’ll be selling our complete line of products, signing books and – most of all – talking about wood … | Continue reading
At the request of readers, we have created a way for you to donate to help fund the two scholarship classes we are holding at Lost Art Press this fall. In September, we are holding our second Chairmakers Toolbox class with six students. All students are from populations that are … | Continue reading
We are thrilled to announce that we will offer a scholarship class this fall for six African-American woodworkers that will be taught by our long-time friend and hand-tool woodworker Jerome Bias. The class will run from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2023, at our storefront in Covington, Ky. … | Continue reading
The two paragraphs below are excerpted from Anna-Rhesa Versola’s article in Chatham Magazine on the closing of The Woodwright’s School and what’s next for Roy Underhill. Click here to read the article in its entirety. “Roy’s sense of wonder is part of his charm, delighting anyone … | Continue reading
The following is just a small taste from Jögge Sundqvist’s lastest book, “Karvsnitt: Carving, Pattern & Color in the Slöjd Tradition,” newly available in English. Cutting patterns and symbols in wood, and enhancing them with vibrant color, are folk traditions kept alive in the sl … | Continue reading
“Standard” lump hammers are now back in stock (that is, the ones without any engraving). With 2.2 pounds of hardened-steel heft in the head, the Crucible Lump Hammer is the perfect tool for knocking large and/or recalcitrant things together and apart, plus it does a fine job of b … | Continue reading
The following is by Andy Brownell of Brownell Furniture. As a part-time furniture maker, I’ve been lucky enough to have two good things come my way by living in Cincinnati. I’m a 20-minute drive in one direction from Lost Art Press and in the other from M. Bohlke Corp., a Greater … | Continue reading
I’m back in Covington after a two-week trip to Scandinavia. So after a couple weeks of guest hosts at the Open Wire (thanks, Monroe and Joel), I’m here today to answer your questions about woodworking or stuff that is going on at Lost Art Press. Warning: My head is full of cheese … | Continue reading
About a month ago, I wrote about Martyn Owen, a filmmaker who was creating a mini-documentary about Nannau Hall, the Grade II* Georgian house that stands on the grounds where the Nannau Oak, featured in “Cadi & the Cursed Oak,” once stood. “Within the Walls: Nannau,” directed and … | Continue reading
The following is by Steve Latta. Steve makes contemporary and traditional furniture, and teaches woodworking at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and Millersville University in Lancaster County, Pa. He’s a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, and is working on a … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Joel Moskowitz’s history of trades and explication of trades in England at the time “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” was originally published (the full chapter is titled “England in 1839). The Lost Art Press edition of the book include not only the o … | Continue reading
I’m not sure what counts as an update in Christopher lexicon – but this is the fourth numbered update on what’s been happening at what will become the new Lost Art Press headquarters, so we’ll go with No. 4! (You can read an FAQ about plans for the new space in this June 28 post. … | Continue reading
Last week I got to examine two Scandinavian workbenches, presumably from the 1600s, that were on display at the Skokloster Castle museum outside Stockholm. Both benches had some interesting details that I had never seen before on workbenches. A Different Pinch Dog (& Bench Nipp … | Continue reading
We are delighted to have Joel Moskowitz, co-author of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” and owner of Tools for Working Wood in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the host of today’s Open Wire. Here’s how it works: Type your woodworking question in the comment field. Joel will answer it. It is tha … | Continue reading
We will open our doors to the public on Saturday, July 29, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 837 Willard St. in Covington, Ky. We’ll be selling our complete line of products, signing books and – most of all – talking about woodworking. I’ll display a bunch of the furniture I’m building f … | Continue reading
We are delighted to announce that the English translation of Jögge Sundqvist’s “Karvsnitt: Carving, Pattern & Color in the Slöjd Tradition” is now available in our store! Cutting patterns and symbols in wood, and enhancing them with vibrant color, are folk traditions kept alive i … | Continue reading
One of the tool chest forms that has been on my list to explore is the Swedish chest, which I’ve encountered a few times both in the United States and Europe. It’s similar to the Dutch tool chest, with its slanting front lid. But the Swedish one is in many ways simpler. The chest … | Continue reading
Joel Moskowitz, founder/owner of Tools for Working Wood and co-author of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” (With Christopher Schwarz and the anonymous 19th-century author) is hosting this Saturday’s Open Wire here on the Lost Art Press blog. If you read Joel’s blog, you know his int … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Design Book” – an exploration by Christopher Schwarz of furniture forms that have persisted outside of the high styles that dominate every museum exhibit, scholarly text and woodworking magazine of the last 200 years. There are his … | Continue reading
One of the other suggestions for a replacement for the beloved Hold Heet glue pot is to use a coffee mug warmer, such as this one. I chose this particular model because it has two heat settings that are ideal for heating glue (122°F and 140°F), plus it has a timer and an automati … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” a collection of the storied editor’s Chips From the Chisel, column, which ran in the front of every issue of The Woodworker for three decades. What our full powers are—we shall never know exactly this … | Continue reading
We are delighted to have Monroe Robinson, author of “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke,” as the host of today’s Open Wire. Monroe earned a degree in fisheries from Colorado State University before moving to Alaska. Turning down an offer with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, … | Continue reading