I have two more classes this year that have open spots. One in Germany, and one in Indiana. I’m teaching people to build the Dutch Tool Chest in Munich July 14-16. You can register and read more about the class here. The class takes place next to Dictum’s lovely Munich showroom and is easy to get to via train. There’s lots of good food and touristy stuff in the area for your family to do while I yell “Schneller! Schneller!” as you dovetail. The other class is on how to build a peasant cupboard on July 27-28 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. You can read more about ..read more

FIG. 1. SCREWDRIVER TYPES A. is the large London pattern. B The cabinet type. C. Ratchet screwdriver. D. Electrician’s pattern. E. Plane iron screwdriver. The following is excerpted from Vol. II of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Techniques.” This book is chock-full of invaluable hand-tool technique instruction and tool knowledge…including finer points about screwdrivers. I didn’t know until I started working with nice hardware that the screwdriver mattered – it absolutely does. – Fitz There are many varieties of screwdrivers, some made for special jobs and others for general wo ..read more

Wally and I are busy today helping students turn the sticks shown above into sawbenches. But Chris is back this week, eagerly awaiting your Open Wire questions. So, please post your (succinct) woodworking questions in the comments below, and Chris will answer. You can also ask him about the massive wave of relief you might have felt emanating from Northern Kentucky and Central Indiana (where John lives) late yesterday. That was engendered by our finally having all the LAP/Crucible books, tools, clothing and sundries under one (now non-leaking) roof in our warehouse! – Fitz ..read more

Randy Ogle weaving in a seagrass seat on a walnut dining chair, from “Backwoods Chairmakers,” by Andy Glenn. Tickets are on sale now for the June 2 “Backwoods Chairmakers” Event in beautiful Berea, Ky. The all-day event (9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. EDT) will feature 13 Appalachian chairmakers from Andy Glenn book. We’ve asked each demonstrator to bring some of their chairs so you can see the work in person. All the chairs will be assembled in a gallery for you to enjoy. We’ll also have four other “stages” going all day for you to visit: • The Storytime Stage: Where chairmakers will share their tales of h ..read more

I have been invited back to Germany this summer to teach a four-day introduction to chairmaking course at Dictum’s classroom in Niederalteich, a gorgeous monastery in Bavaria. The class is in English (my German is terrible), and the location is a fantastic place to stay and learn. You can rent a room at the monastery. And we all eat meals together in the monastery’s gasthaus.  The class runs from July 9-12. Beginning chairmakers are most welcome. In the class we will each build a simple backstool and focus on the fundamentals – the angles, the joinery and training your hands to be a chai ..read more

A ladderback by Terry Ratliff, one of the speakers at the upcoming event. Andy Glenn’s new book “Backwoods Chairmakers” has been a runaway hit – we’ve about blown through the first press run after only 3-1/2 months. Recently, Andy had the great idea to gather the chairmakers from his book at Berea College so readers can meet these chairmakers, hear their stories, see their chairs and watch demonstrations of how they work. We think it’s a great idea, so we are working with Berea College Student Craft to hold the event on Sunday, June 2, at the college’s campus in Berea, Kentucky. Tickets will b ..read more

Fig. 1.32 It’s a subtle curve, but here you see how the “corners” are lifted up. This keeps the hatchet from digging in as you hew with it. The following is excerpted from Peter Follansbee’s “Joiner’s Work.” Forget what you think about 17th-century New England furniture. It’s neither dark nor boring. Instead, it’s a riot of geometric carvings and bright colors – all built upon simple constructions that use rabbets, nails and mortise-and-tenon joints. Peter Follansbee has spent his adult life researching this beguiling time period to understand the simple tools and straightforward processes use ..read more

Tim Bowen with two lovely stick chairs. House & Garden magazine in the U.K. has a nice feature on vernacular stick chairs and cricket tables in its current issue. You can read the article here. Tim Bowen of Tim Bowen Antiques is quoted throughout. Tim and Betsan Bowen authored “The Welsh Stick Chair,” a lovely book that we stock. (It is the only non-Lost Art Press title in our store.) We are awaiting stock on this book from its third printing. If you are interested in learning more about vernacular pieces, we have you covered. Check out: “The Stick Chair Book” by Christopher Schwarz (the p ..read more

The first edition. “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” the book that allowed me to quit my corporate job, is now available as a free pdf download, now and forever. To download it, you need only click on this link. You don’t have to register, give up your email or do any other smarmy marketing idiocy. We will continue to sell the printed version for people who like nice books that are designed and assembled to last lifetimes. And we are planning a revised edition of the title for the 15th anniversary of its publication. But the information itself? Free to everyone.  This is the sixth book of min ..read more

Roy Underhill (left) and Whitney Miller (right) both graced the Lost Art Press shop this week! Update: Comments are now closed. We’ve had a grand week of visitors and video shoots. Roy Underhill made a quick trip to town, then headed a little farther northwest to experience eclipse totality. And Whitney Miller, author of “Henry Boyd’s Freedom Bed,” spent the week recording a video on how to make a Swedish tool chest. Not only is she the video star, she’ll be doing the editing…so you know it will be more entertaining than most of our videos! (Look for it in our store later this year.) After a b ..read more