Over the last year, Christopher Schwarz and I have been making our way through the last of the bog oak boule we split between us. To date, it’s been used for tables, sculpture and a bunch of chairs. As I wrap up my final two chairs from this ancient and preserved tree, Chris has … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Jögge Sundqvist’s “Slöjd in Wood.” The first project (excerpted here) is a butter knife that will begin to unlock the world of slöjd for you. You will then learn to make bowls, a sheath for your knife, spoons, a place to hang your clothes, cutting … | Continue reading
Megan and I are both traveling out of town to teach this weekend, so there’s no one available to monitor and answer the comments. We asked Wally, and he just yawned. We will be back next weekend – we promise – to answer your woodworking questions. — Christopher Schwarz | Continue reading
We have just received stock of our newest bandana design; this one is navy blue and features a line drawing of the Anthe building (aka the new Lost Art Press shipping location and headquarters), plus a bunch of woodworking machine cutterheads (made by Anthe for more than a centur … | Continue reading
During the summer my steam box took its last hot breath. The interior bits had rotted away, as had the door and its hinges. I pitched the thing, planning to build a replacement. Then I thought: Am I really happy with the Earlex wallpaper steamer that powers it? It’s fine for smal … | 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
Today, Chris and I are taking turns behind the wheel and at the keyboard (one person per job at a time, of course); we’re headed to Wisconsin to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday. You can help us while away the travel hours with your Open Wire questions. As always, simply post y … | Continue reading
Last Friday (Sept. 29, 2023), we exported the “printer pdf” of Derek Jones’ new book, “Cricket Tables,” and sent it off for proofs. We reviewed page proofs on Monday, I uploaded a few corrections, approved said corrections, then it was off to the presses! Below is a short excerpt … | Continue reading
Peter Galbert and Peter Follansbee – two of our favorite authors – have both started substacks recently, and they have both become part of my daily reading routine. (What’s a substack? It’s a blog that has different subscription levels. You can read some articles for free. Other … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “With All the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture,” by André-Jacob Roubo, translated by Donald C. Williams, Michele Pietryka-Pagán & Philippe Lafargue. Representing a decade of work by an international team, this book is the first English transl … | Continue reading
On Sept. 29, 2023 (last Friday, for those of you reading in real time), the last Lost Art Press order shipped out of the Indiana warehouse. Today, a semi brought the first load of our books and tools from that third-party warehouse to our new warehouse in Covington, the Anthe Bui … | Continue reading
We’re delighted to have Matt Bickford, author of “Mouldings in Practice” (and he’s working on a book on making moulding planes!) on Open Wire today to answer your woodworking questions. (And he knows a lot more about making high-style furniture than do Chris or I – so now’s your … | Continue reading
Almost every week, someone on the LAP Open Wire asks what book they should read to learn about the different furniture styles. To be honest, I haven’t had a good answer because most of the guides to furniture styles are terrible and not worth buying for $1. So I took some time to … | Continue reading
This Saturday’s Open Wire will be hosted by Matt Bickford, owner/planemaker at M.S. Bickford, which offers reproductions of 18th-century-style British moulding planes. Matt is the author of “Mouldings in Practice,” and he worked with Lie-Nielsen Toolworks to release a DVD with th … | Continue reading
Recently we started making our own animal-based glue called “Piggly No Wiggly.” It’s made from three ingredients: food-grade gelatin, uniodized table salt and tap water. The glue is great for furniture. It has an open time of about 18-20 minutes (depending on the temperature and … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Workbench,” by Christopher Schwarz. The book is – on the one hand – a detailed plan for a simple workbench that can be built using construction lumber and basic woodworking tools. But it’s also the story of Christopher Schwarz’s 20 … | Continue reading
This stick chair features some of my favorite details on older chairs: low side stretchers (with no medial stretcher), plus faceted short sticks and a newly designed skinny armbow. I’m selling it via a random drawing. Details on the drawing are below. Here are some notes on the c … | Continue reading
Just a reminder that registration is now open on our ticketing site for classes at the Lost Art Press storefront for the first half of 2024. (We’ll post classes for the second half of 2024 in February). – Fitz p.s. If you have questions about the classes, please read our FAQs. If … | Continue reading
I don’t like making up names for furniture components. Not because I want to be pedantic. But because I want to avoid confusion. If something has a name (fiddleback maple) I would rather use that name than make one up (maple on a lot of acid). One name that has escaped me for yea … | Continue reading
As Nancy Hiller famously said, “It’s all problems.” We will move the remainder of our inventory into the Anthe building during the first week in October. The three semis have been scheduled. We have a plan. But until that moment the first truck arrives on Oct. 2, we have to move … | Continue reading
We just finished up the chair class with students selected by Chairmakers Toolbox, and we are both inspired and exhausted. Building eight stick chairs in five days with limited tools is no joke. But working with a group of chair-crazy enthusiastic young woodworkers gives me hope … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “The Essential Woodworker,” by Robert Wearing. In our opinion, “The Essential Woodworker” is one of the best books on hand-tool usage written in the post-Charles Hayward era. Wearing was classically trained in England as a woodworker and embraced b … | Continue reading
Earlier this week, I put up a chair for sale that I was proud of. Not my thing, pride. But the chair represents a small milestone in my work. I didn’t expect many people to bid on the green Irish chair I’d built. It’s a painted chair. It’s not a comb-back chair. And it’s painted. … | Continue reading
Next Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, at 10 a.m. Eastern, bench spaces go on sale for January-June 2024 Covington Mechanicals classes at the Lost Art Press storefront. (And we’re excited to announce that both Roy Underhill and Matt Cianci we be once again make the trek to Kentucky to teac … | Continue reading
George Walker made the lovely set of walnut try squares shown above, following the step-by-step instructions in Chapter 4 of “Euclid’s Door.” (I don’t know if he had to refer back to his own writing or not…I know I sometimes do!) If you’re interested in adding them to your tool k … | Continue reading
We often get asked where one can buy apron hooks (both for our Workshop Waist Apron and other aprons), and we typically answer “French eBay” (which is where Chris got his). But artist/toolmaker/woodworker/metalsmith Eleanor Ingrid Rose has a new handful for sale on this side of t … | Continue reading
Recently I finished up this green Irish armchair, and I’ve concluded it’s my best work yet. More than any other chair I’ve made, this chair gets closest to the intuitive style of chairmaking that I admire in Wales, Ireland and Scotland. How did this happen? It was 20 years of pra … | Continue reading
This weekend is the calm period before our class with The Chairmakers Toolbox next week. The wood in the above photo? Y’all paid for that with your contributions. The money you donated will also feed them all week. And there was extra cash ($2,700) left over, which was donated di … | Continue reading
We have three new items in stock here in Covington that are ready to ship. First up is a brass Warrington-pattern hammer. This tool was at the request of readers and the machinists at Machine Time (which makes our hammer heads). The brass is hard enough for the light duty of a sm … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from Christian Becksvoort’s “Shaker Inspiration.” Opinionated? Yes. Informative? Absolutely. Interesting and inspiring? You bet. Not too many woodworkers can claim five decades of business success, but Becksvoort is among them. In “Shaker Inspiration,” … | Continue reading
The picture above of three young friends was taken in 2006 at Lie-Nielsen’s 25th anniversary celebration in Warren, Maine. I was in awe of meeting Thomas Lie-Nielsen, and listened to everything he said about business and life. Also at the event was Christian Becksvoort who was a … | Continue reading
This is a love story about Tim and Betsan Bowen, authors of “The Welsh Stick Chair: A Visual Record” and owners of Tim Bowen Antiques. Their courtship is, in part, how their business and marriage, both of 20 years, came to be (and also, their book!). But it’s also a story of the … | Continue reading
I’ve used linseed oil paint on casework for some time; this is my first chair using the stuff. This comb-back is painted with Holkham green from Allbäck. On top of the paint is a thin coat of beeswax and washed linseed oil. I am pleased by the result. The hand-brushed paint shows … | Continue reading
After Open Wire Live last week in Amana, Iowa, we are happy to be back to the electronic question-and-answer format. (Yes, we loved hugging you in Amana. No, you didn’t smell too awful. And it’s OK about the drool.) Also, people tended to duck every time I yelled “Open Wire!” whe … | Continue reading
Today we’ve released the revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book” on better paper and at a lower price than the original: $47. In addition, the pdf of the book is now a free download forever. No need to register or give up your email for any spammy marketing techniques. Just cli … | Continue reading
Last week, the county inspectors said we could start occupying the first floor and the basement of our new headquarters. And, after we add some more exit signs and emergency lighting, we will be allowed to occupy the second and third floors. On Monday, we will move our fulfillmen … | Continue reading
I am happy to announce that we have a new video with the Wood Whisperer Guild that will launch next Friday (Sept. 15). The video “American Welsh Stick Chair” can be purchased with a pre-release discount. The video is $79 until it is released next Friday. (After that date, the vid … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from “James Krenov: Leave Fingerprints,” by Brendan Bernhardt Gaffney. After years of research and more than 150 interviews, Gaffney produced the first and definitive biography of Krenov, featuring historical documents, press clippings and hundreds of h … | Continue reading
It is Labor Day in America! Back in 2019 I wrote two pieces for Labor Day describing how the mechanic societies organized to bring about more protections for themselves, their families and their actions to shorten the workday. Rest for the Weary is about craftsmen’s associations … | Continue reading
We are in the Amana Colonies in Iowa this weekend for the Handworks hand tool show. Friday was an insane day of reuniting with thousands of our closest friends. As a result, we are holding the Lost Art Press Open Wire in Amana – live and in person. Come to the Lost Art Press boot … | Continue reading
The craft groups and lumberyards in this second part of the Japanese woodworking festival cover a period of about 400 years. The occupations of craftspeople at work were painted on screens for castles and temples, carved on woodblocks that were bound into books, or sold as indivi … | Continue reading
We start our matsuri, or festival, with work commissioned by Philip Franz von Siebold, German physician and botantist. In 1823, under the auspices of the Dutch East Indies Company he was posted to Dejima, an artificial island and trading post off the coast of Nagasaki. For over 2 … | Continue reading
Years ago I attended the Southern Highlands Craft Show in Asheville, North Carolina, and bought a goose carved by an older woman. She had two geese, but I could only afford one. The goose was in the charging position: head down and neck extended. It was the start of my appreciati … | Continue reading
The following is excerpted from the fourth book in our series “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” which covers three different topics. 1) The Workshop, including the design and construction of workbenches, tool chests and wall cabinets. There’s also an entire section … | Continue reading
One of the big pluses of filling orders from Covington occurred today. Mark, one of our fulfillment employees, was at the Anthe building on an errand and saw a box that wasn’t in the right place. It was a sealed box of 20 engraved lump hammers. We’ve been out of these hammers for … | Continue reading
In 2018, I shared this trick that David Savage used to improve dovetail joints. He called it “Juicy Lucy,” and it involves flooding the exterior of a joint with extra hide glue to swell the fibers and improve the joint cosmetically. We continue to use his trick with dovetails wit … | Continue reading
We have been packing up materials for our trip to Iowa this week for Handworks, our favorite woodworking/sausage show in the world. Our booth will be in the same place as it has been during every Handworks. We plan to have almost all of our titles with us, all of our tools and so … | Continue reading
This has been a wild week, and we should be sitting by the pool with some margaritas. But instead, we are here for the Lost Art Press Open Wire. If you’ve got questions about woodworking, our books, tools or grub ephemera, we are your answer team. This week’s open wire is hosted … | Continue reading