A couple weeks ago, one of our warehouse’s dehumidifiers lost power and dripped water onto a pallet of “Ingenious Mechanicks” books. We dried them out, but a couple hundred of them suffered some water spotting on the back covers and have pages that are a little wavy from the mois … | Continue reading
We are not fancy here. So when Megan threatened to wear a skirt, I knew this was a serious event. Rob Spiece, director of woodcraft at Berea Student Craft, had scored invitations for all of us to see the opening of a new exhibit at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati: The Crafted World … | Continue reading
Editor’s note: Our Mind Upon Mind series is a nod to a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column (also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years”), in which Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often room for improvement … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Woodworker’s Pocket Book,” edited by Charles Hayward. The division of the periods from 1500 to 1800 into the ages of the Carpenter, Cabinet Maker, and Designer is convenient because these terms suggest the type of furniture being produced. In the … | Continue reading
A quick reminder that the introductory special of $100 plus free shipping on the four-volume collection of “The Woodworker: The Charles Hayward Years,” ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, June 4. On June 5, the price for the set will be $39 more. Here’s the link to the page. The books ar … | Continue reading
Editor’s note: Our Mind Upon Mind series is a nod to a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column (also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years”), in which Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often room for improvement … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt from “The Stick Chair Journal 2.” “The Stick Chair Journal” is also still available. While supplies last, you can purchase a bundle of issues Nos. 1 & 2 at a reduced price. Your dining chairs can be more comfortable without being redesigned. The proble … | Continue reading
This Irish armchair is one of the most comfortable chairs I make, and I built this particular example in elm and sycamore for an upcoming revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book.” This chair is an original design of mine, but it borrows heavily from the Irish chairs I studied in … | Continue reading
After learning the epoxy has enough gap-filling properties to make a great edge joint with “factory” edges, we decided to see if Elmer’s Glue Max could also do the trick. James Wright of Wood by Wright has been testing glues for years and has some nice things to say about the Elm … | Continue reading
In late February when we got our new Hayward four-volume collection in stock, we offered a $100 special on the set with free domestic shipping through April 30. But we ran out of books two weeks before the end of the special offer date. Now, we have a new print run in stock of al … | Continue reading
We have just launched a free 12-part video series that accompanies the new book “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t” and walks you through the chairmaking project. Filmed by Bridgid Gruber (of Dinkle’s Woodshop) and apprentice Kale Vogt, the video walks you through every single stage of … | Continue reading
In the next few days, we’ll release the free video series on “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t,” which will help make chairmaking accessible for more people. The chair (and stool) in the book are built using only home center materials and tools. After finishing up the book and videos, … | Continue reading
Editor’s note: In our new Mind Upon Mind series, we ask readers of our books, blog and Substacks what else they’ve thought of, tried out and improved on? You can read more about the series here. Today we’re featuring an idea from Sam Robinson. In our books and blog posts, we don’ … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Mary May’s “Carving the Acanthus Leaf.” Learning to carve the acanthus leaf is – for carvers – like a pianist learning a Chopin étude, a young oil painter studying the genius of Rembrandt or an aspiring furniture maker learning to cut dovetails by … | Continue reading
With more than 16,000 new books headed our way during the next month, we are making space at our Covington warehouse to keep us from storing books in our cars and under our beds. So for the next 30 days we are offering “James Krenov: Leave Fingerprints” by Brendan Gaffney at a si … | Continue reading
I just finished up a stick chair inspired by old Welsh ones I study. This chair’s stretchers are particularly low and oval in cross section. The armbow is rounded throughout (using spokeshaves) and features elliptical coves on the ends of its shoe. Plus the stick arrangement is q … | Continue reading
Most of the readers on this blog know John Brown as a chairmaker and writer. But as I have gotten to know his family and friends, I’ve learned he was much more. I knew JB was a boatbuilder, and his cuttyhunks still fetch good money. He was also a jet pilot, a fine art painter... | Continue reading
Editor’s note: Last month we launched our Mind Upon Mind series, a nod to a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column (also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years”), in which Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often … | Continue reading
Signed by the author, Christopher Schwarz. The first 500 customers get a free merit badge. The latest book from Lost Art Press shows you how to build a comfortable and sturdy chair using only materials and tools from the home center. No jigs. No specialty tools. Literally anyone … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley,” by Donald C. Williams, with photographs by Narayan Nayar. In a space of just 10” x 39” x 19-1/2”, H.O. Studley managed to arrange – with perfection – more than 250 of his tools into a … | Continue reading
Shane Oriona Wiechnik, a furniture restorer and conservator based in Sydney, Australia, along with Liz Duck-Chong, a carpenter, freelance filmmaker and teacher, recently launched a new YouTube channel called Finished., an educational series on wood finishes. Shane has spent the l … | Continue reading
Last week, we sent the revised edition of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” to the printer. It will be released in late June. The book has been updated throughout, including the section on building the chest. The new chest holds more tools and takes about half the time to build (sacri … | Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Philippe Lafargue, along with Michele Pietryka-Pagán and Don Williams, are the folks we have to thank for “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry,” which we first published in 2013, and “With All Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture,” which we first … | Continue reading
One of the gratifying things about teaching others to build stick chairs are the woodworkers who embrace the craft and grow to work at the same level (or even higher) than the teacher. One of those woodworkers is Claire Butler, who lives outside Seattle, Wash. Claire has assisted … | Continue reading
This is an excerpt from “Making and Mastering Wood Planes” by David Fink. Chapter 1 contains information on resawing the plane blank into the two cheeks and the midsection. It also shows how to determine which would become the front, back, top, and bottom of the blank, and how to … | Continue reading
Our new storefront is fully up and running these days – and one of the benefits of visiting us in Covington is the opportunity to shop our Seconds Shelf (which is the Boarded Bookcase from “The Anarchist‘s Design Book“). On it go all of the books and tools that aren’t quite perfe … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Nancy R. Hiller’s “Making Things Work: Tales from A Cabinetmaker’s Life.” Hiller’s funny and occasionally delightfully crass stories tell of her years as a professional cabinetmaker who relished both the highs and the lows of the job. “How much tim … | Continue reading
Comments are now closed. We’ll get to any unanswered questions…soonish! It’s time for our bi-montly Open Wire, where you can pose your woodworking questions in the comments section below and we’ll do our best to answer them. Comments will close at around 5 p.m. Note that there ma … | Continue reading
First the good news: Tariffs aren’t yet affecting Lost Art Press books. We print entirely in the United States. But some of the raw materials, including some of the papers we use, come from Canada. We follow the issue closely, and our books might not see any price increases. The … | Continue reading
We’re extending – by one day – the special introductory price for “With All the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture.” Through Monday, April 21, 2025, it is $100 with free domestic shipping. This new edition is a significant upgrade to the “trade” edition, which was in black-an … | Continue reading
This is an excerpt from “With all the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture.” It is a follow-up to the post from a couple weeks ago that described a “machine for making waves.” Below is a portion of an essay by Jonathan Thornton that was written after he made one of these machin … | Continue reading
Chris and I will be eagerly awaiting your woodworking questions this Saturday (April 19) from about 9 a.m.-5 p.m. On Saturday morning, an “Open Wire” post will go live. If you have a question, all you have to do is type it into the comments and we’ll – eventually – answer (we fit … | Continue reading
Both Chris and I have made and taught a lot of six-board chests over the years, and typically we lay out and cut a “boot-jack,” (inverted V”), simple arc or ogee on the ends. Those are easy to lay out and all three are relatively easy to cut…and and don’t hurt our brains or the.. … | Continue reading
In a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column, which is also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often room for improvement. (You can read the entire column here.) Recently, … | Continue reading
This comb-back stick chair is built entirely in American red elm, with the seat, arm and comb made from figured red elm, some of the most difficult wood I have ever saddled. The chair is raked back for lounging, reading or sitting by the fire. The chair’s features heavily shaped … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt from “With All the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture.” This book is the result of more than a decade of work by an international team that produced the first English translation of the 18th-century woodworking masterpiece: “l’art du Menuisier” by … | Continue reading
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 wrote two short illustrated booklets that explained how to build d … | Continue reading
When Nick, a woodworker and LAP reader, first let us know about Layout Computer, his free digital chair design tool, I thought, “Wow – that’s nifty and would be awfully useful…if only I made chairs.” Well, now I think it’s unbearably cool and altogether useful, because Nick has a … | Continue reading
We’ve just received 3,000 copies of our newest edition of “With All the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture” and are offering it for a special introductory price: $100 with free domestic shipping until April 20, 2025. This new edition is a significant upgrade “trade” edition, … | Continue reading
“Artisan Geometry” is the overarching term used to describe the design approach in the five Lost Art Press books by Jim Tolpin and George Walker. We often get asked to explain it, and to recommend one or more of their books with which to get started. We decided those questions wo … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt from “Calvin Cobb: Radio Woodworker! A Novel With Measured Drawings” by Roy Underhill. Across the studio, behind a grove of microphones on stands, the piano sat silent under a quilted cover like a sleeping racehorse. Calvin leaned forward in his chair … | Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Michele Pietryka-Pagán is the French-to-English translator on the three-person team dedicated to bringing André-Jacob Roubo’s work to life. We have Michele, along with Don Williams and Philippe LaFargue, to thank for “With All Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture … | Continue reading
I recently learned my finishing mentor – likely he was yours, too – and friend Bob Flexner died at home on December 29, 2024 (read his obituary here). Bob was perhaps best-known for the book “Understanding Wood Finishing,” recognized by many as the bible of all things finishing, … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt from “By Hound and Eye” by George Walker and Jim Tolpin; Illustrated by Andrea Love. It is a companion to the hardbound book “By Hand & Eye” by Walker and Tolpin. The two books are meant to complement one another. “By Hand & Eye” focuses more on the hi … | Continue reading
Beginning Monday, March 17, we’ll be testing the waters for walk-in storefront hours. The plan for now – always adjustable – is to be open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays…in large part because that’s about the longest stretch of being upright and active tha … | Continue reading
Planning to join us for the Anthe Open House this Sunday (March 9) from 2-5 p.m.? We hope so! It’s our public celebration of the new Lost Art Press editorial headquarters, storefront and warehouse – and it’s been a lot of work and a long time coming. We are glad to be done. (OK…d … | Continue reading
If you hate oversharing, close this page now and go on your merry way. Still here? OK – you’re about to read about what a wuss I am, because with just one weekend’s exception (and it was probably a mistake), my woodworking has been limited to reading, writing and editing about it … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt out of “From Truth to Tools” by Jim Tolpin and George Walker; Illustrated by Andrea Love. It features some of our tools that you may recognize (Crucible Sliding Bevel and Crucible Brass Bevel Monkey) and explains why we make them and find them so usefu … | Continue reading