Following some questions from a couple of readers, Andy Glenn, author of “Backwoods Chairmakers: In Search of the Appalachian Ladderback Chairmaker,” writes: The post-and-rung chairs found in the final chapters of “Backwoods Chairmakers“ were printed without dimensions. This was … | Continue reading
This is a an excerpt from Megan Fitzpatrick’s new book “Dutch Tool Chests.” I have been looking forward to its release for some time now and have finally had a chance to read through it. It is incredibly beautiful, which may not always be an applicable word for an instructional b … | Continue reading
“American Peasant” is back in stock with a new diestamp on the cover. When I designed the cover for the book, I developed six different images, all of which I liked. So we decided to use a different diestamp for each printing. We sold out the first printing last month, which feat … | Continue reading
If you have a woodworking question, post it in the comments below. Chris and I are holding Open Wire today between now and 5 p.m. Eastern and will do out best to answer everyone (in between finishing a chair and a tool chest – guess who’s doing which…). – Fitz | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Woodworking in Estonia.” The author, Ants Viires, devoted his life to recording the hand-tool folkways of his country without a shred of romanticism. Viires combined personal interviews and direct observation of work habits with archaeological evi … | Continue reading
After more than a year of struggling to get our inventory under control, we did a little rearranging of things in our warehouse and figured out that we have enough open floor space to build our storefront, editorial offices and a new tool assembly area. We were shocked that our p … | Continue reading
I love books, photos and drawings, but if you want to quickly learn a lot about making and designing chairs, there is one path: Study the suckers in person every chance you get. Up close and slowly. Last week, Welsh chairmaker Chris Williams arranged for me and some friends to st … | Continue reading
This one has been a long time in coming. On May 31, 2020, I announced here that I was writing a book on Dutch tool chests. Today, November, 8, 2024, “Dutch Tool Chests” is finally in our warehouse and available for order. (Surprise! – the cover is blue.) Inside the book, you’ll f … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Nancy R. Hiller’s “Kitchen Think: A guide to design and construction, from refurbishing to renovation.” For two decades, Nancy made a living by turning limitations into creative, lively and livable kitchens for her clients. This, her final how-to b … | Continue reading
The editorial staff is currently on the road to Wales, which is why we haven’t been posting much on the blog this week. Despite our remoteness (physically) we’ve been working on Lost Art Press stuff the whole time. Here are some updates on new things and reprints. “Dutch Tool Che … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt from “The Stick Chair Book” by Christopher Schwarz. Cutting down the legs of a chair so they rest flat on the floor is another one of the “great mysteries” faced by most beginning chairmakers. If you’ve never done it, it seems impossible. But if you’ve … | Continue reading
by Brian Crawley John Porritt recently gave a stick chair talk in Austerlitz, New York (click here to read about it). With so many of his chairs gathered in one place, I was able to take some quick photos of John’s different approaches to armbows. The joints are all based on thos … | Continue reading
The following is an excerpt from Chris’ newest book, “American Peasant.” The book is an introduction to a style of peasant furniture and decoration that is almost unheard of in the Americas. Built primarily with tongues, grooves and pegs, the furniture is frequently engraved with … | Continue reading
The above question is one we answer every day. And no matter how many times we repeat our answer (many times it’s even woven into our announcement of a new title), people still ask. So here’s the answer: We don’t know. Our individual retailers get to decide which Lost Art Press b … | Continue reading
by Brian Crawley On a bracing day this past Sunday – cold enough to move the event from a large unheated barn in Austerlitz, New York, to a little body-heated church – John Porritt gave a talk on his masterful stick chairs. He brought two Welsh antiques he’d found in nearby Hudso … | Continue reading
If you have a woodworking question, today is your lucky day. Chris and I are holding Open Wire between now and 5 p.m. Eastern. How do you ask a question? Leave your question in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to answer it. The next Open Wire is on Nov. 16. – Fitz | Continue reading
I’m teaching four stick chair classes in Germany and Australia in 2025. Yes, it’s an American teaching a Welsh/Scottish/Irish form in places that are truly exotic for this humble chair form. Here are details and links. First stop, Germany. Comb-back Stick Chair With a Steambent A … | Continue reading
Yale Environment 360, an online magazine published at the Yale School of Environment, recently published a story titled “How Traffickers Got Away with the Biggest Rosewood Heist in History” by Zach St. George. This story tells how 30,000 rosewood logs were illegally harvested in … | Continue reading
As I got ready to teach my Dutch tool chest class last weekend, I realized I was incredibly rusty as far as succinct instruction for this project. I checked my calendar, and I’m pretty sure the last time I taught this class in our shop was the weekend of May 6, 2022 – and the... | Continue reading
Good news: We now have 500 pristine-perfect GoDrillas in our warehouse, and we’re shipping them out as fast as you can order them. Today ends our six-month saga with manufacturing difficulties with this tool. If you care about sob stories involving aluminum extrusions and custom … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Dr. Jeffery Hill’s “Workshop Wound Care.” The book delves right to the heart of what you need to know when faced with common workshop injuries, from lacerations, to puncture wounds to material in the eye. Dr. Hill is an emergency room physician and … | Continue reading
We have a large batch of our new Exeter furniture-maker’s hammers for sale in our store now. These hammers are perfectly sized for people who build casework and chairs. They are the ideal weight for driving in 4d and 6d nails, smacking wedges in place and adjusting bench planes. … | Continue reading
Our latest book, “Principles of Design” by William H. Varnum, offers a systematic method to design furniture, plus a series of rules that guide you in the process. Perhaps even more importantly, “Principles of Design” shows you how to interpret other people’s design. Or how to fi … | Continue reading
Every chair class Chris teaches seems to develop its own gravitational pull. It’s inevitable – if you orbit within 50 feet of a class taught by Chris Schwarz you will get sucked in. Now getting sucked into a class can mean many different things: Perhaps it means assisting student … | Continue reading
Note: If you’re planning on coming to town next month for our Chair Show and Open Day, here are some restaurants to try. There’s a reason Cincinnati is one of the fattest cities in the USA. Megan and I often joke that next year we’re going to flip the script on our classes at the … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Derek Jones’ new 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 making them fol … | Continue reading
You can now order the carefully chosen wooden parts needed for the Hobbit-y Chair from The Stick Chair Journal No. 2. The kits are $295 and are in red elm, my favorite chairmaking wood. You can order a kit here from Alexander Brothers in Virginia. Shea Alexander and his employees … | Continue reading
There are just a couple of weeks to go before the 2024 London International Woodworking Festival (LIWF), so Chris I are are busy working on our presentations for the LIWF Bazaar on Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2. (Now just where on my computer did I stash those pictures of f … | Continue reading
I’ve never shown my work in a gallery. I’ve been asked a few times, but my problem is this: I don’t want to give up 50 percent of the sales price to the gallery. I’d rather skip the glory of cheese and boxed wine in plastic cups and sell my work direct. But gallery shows... | Continue reading
We’ve added a new class: Build an 18th-century Southern Table with Jerome Bias – it’s Feb. 17-21, 2025, in our Covington, Kentucky, shop. You can read more about it (and register now) at our ticketing site – but if you’re interested, don’t dally. Space is limited! – Fitz | Continue reading
This is an excerpt from “Euclid’s Door” by Geo. R Walker and Jim Toplin. The book teaches how to make the tools from “By Hand and Eye.” At this point in chapter 7, a meter square that has a 15-degree tip is being constructed. This fragile corner of the tool has to be taken into.. … | Continue reading
I cut dovetails pretty much the exact same way I did 20 years ago. Same layout, same sawing, same chiseling, same fitting. But when it comes to my chairmaking, things seem to change every day. I’ve been building stick chairs since 2003 (and frame chairs since 1997). So it’s not l … | Continue reading
Last week I walked into work to a brand-new Veritas spokeshave sitting on my bench. Chris had ordered several for students and kindly ordered an extra for me. (I’m spoiled, I know.) Grateful, I took a picture of my new tool and posted it to my social media account, not thinking m … | Continue reading
This summer, the U.S. Postal Service released 12 stamps featuring photographs by Michael Freeman from six different preserved Shaker communities, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the first Shakers arriving in America. Freeman, along with June Sprigg and David Larkin, publis … | Continue reading
This is an excerpt from “Shop Tails: The Animals Who Help Us Make Things Work” by Nancy R. Hiller. Nancy Hiller’s “Shop Tails,” a companion book of essays to “Making Things Work.” “Shop Tails” is different from “Making Things Work” in that it is structured around the animals that … | Continue reading
A friend recently took a furniture design course taught by a guy I’ll call Mr. Famous Furniture Maker. During the class there were lectures, field trips to find inspiration, drawing lessons, scale model-making and critiques. “Well,” I asked my friend, “how was the class?” “Great, … | Continue reading
By the end of this week (assuming no more disasters), we should have a clutch of our new Exeter-pattern Furniture-maker’s Hammers for sale, as well as – finally! – “Principles of Design” (we thought we’d have it in June, but we’ve been bedeviled by cover problems at the bindery). … | Continue reading
This comb-back stick chair is designed for dining and working at a desk, though its back is leaned back just a bit more to add some comfort. I’m offering it for sale for $1,500 via a random drawing. The price includes crating and shipping to your door anywhere in the lower 48 sta … | Continue reading
In an article in “The Conversation,” researchers Rob MacKenzie and Richard Norby, with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), shared findings from a recent study published in Nature Climate Change. Their question: How will trees respond to more CO2 in the future? Th … | Continue reading
I’m headed to Virginia this weekend for a few days at Colonial Williamsburg where I’ll be studying, measuring and taking careful notes on all the details of a late 18th/early 19th-century Virginia blanket chest in the CW collection – a chest I’ll be replicating for the 27th Annua … | Continue reading
After an absurd number of delays, The Stick Chair Journal No. 2 is now shipping. The new issue contains complete plans for a Hobbit-esque stick chair, plus lots of photos of original chairs (for inspiration), techniques to help you at the bench and a profile of Welsh chairmaker G … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke,” by Monroe Robinson. Millions of PBS viewers first met Dick Proenneke through the program “Alone in the Wilderness,” which documents Dick’s 30-year adventure in the Alaskan wilderness. On the shores of Twin … | Continue reading
Do you have a woodworking question in need of an answer? Then you’ve come to the right place! Just post your question in the comments section below, and Christopher Schwarz and I shall do our best to answer. As always, brevity is appreciated. We’ll be online on and off today unti … | Continue reading
I am delighted to announce that the book I started writing four years ago – “Dutch Tool Chests” – is finally in the hands of our printer. I also hope to have proofs to review by the weekend. Above is a mockup of the cover (surprise, it’s gray/blue). The real thing will look a lot … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown,” by Christopher Williams. It’s the first biography of one of the most influential chairmakers and writers of the 20th century: Welshman John Brown. ____________________________________________________ … | Continue reading
We have a handful of new classes – including one from Welshman Chris Williams – to announce for the first half of 2025, tickets for which will be on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 16, 2024, on our ticketing site. • Build a Welsh-style Comb-back Chair with Christopher Schwarz, J … | Continue reading
Join Joshua Klein, author of “Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847)” and editor of Mortise & Tenon Magazine, for a tour of the Jonathan Fisher House in Blue Hills, Maine. It’s part of an all-day livestream event on Saturday, Sept., 21, during … | Continue reading
Hey all, Kale here. The other day when Chris asked me to document our Piggly No Wiggly glue-making process, I may have taken the task a little too seriously. I have no regrets. After receiving interest from readers about how our Piggly No Wiggly glue is made, we decided to share … | Continue reading