Christopher Schwarz | |
|---|---|
 Schwarz in 2004 | |
| Born | June 13, 1968 |
| Occupation(s) | Woodworker, author, publisher |
| Known for | Writing about woodworking, author, publisher. |
| Spouse | Lucy May |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | christophermschwarz.com |
Christopher Martin Schwarz (born June 13, 1968) is an American woodworker, author, and publisher. He established the Lost Art Press in 2007 in Covington, Kentucky. [1]
Christopher Schwarz was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Paul and Terry (West) Schwarz and raised on a homestead farm in Haskell, Arkansas. He earned a B.S. in journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a M.S. in journalism at Ohio State University in 1993. [2] [3]
Schwarz moved to Lexington, Kentucky to cover state government and began to study woodworking at night. [4] In 1996 he moved to Fort Mitchell, Kentucky and became managing editor of the journal, Popular Woodworking. He later became the editor and wrote several books under the Popular Woodworking imprint including Build a Sawbench: With Christopher Schwarz, Classic American Furniture, and Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use.
In 2007 Schwarz and John Hoffman established the Lost Art Press in Covington, Kentucky to publish books and videos for hand tool collectors and woodworkers. Volumes produced include The Stick Chair Book, The Anarchist's Design Book, and Ingenious Mechanicks: Early Workbenches & Workholding. He left Popular Woodworking in 2011 to focus on Lost Art Press and his own woodworking business full time. [4]
In an interview at FineWoodworking Schwarz was characterized as the most published woodworker of all time. [5] He lives in Covington, Kentucky with his wife WVXU's 'Cincinnati Edition' host Lucy May. [6] They have two daughters. [6]
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
Covington is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers, it lies south of Cincinnati, Ohio, across the Ohio and west of Newport, Kentucky, across the Licking. It had a population of 40,691 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Northern Kentucky and the fifth-most populous city in the state. A part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, it is one of Kenton County's two seats, along with Independence.
A smoothing plane or smooth plane is a type of bench plane used in woodworking. The smoothing plane is typically the last plane used on a wood surface, removing very fine shavings to leave a smooth finish. When used effectively it quickly produces a finish that equals or surpasses that made by sandpaper.
The jointer plane, also known as the try plane or trying plane, is a type of hand plane used in woodworking to straighten the edges of boards in the process known as jointing, and to flatten the faces of larger boards. Its long length is designed to 'ride over' the undulations of an uneven surface, skimming off the peaks, gradually creating a flatter surface. In thicknessing or preparing rough stock, the jointer plane is usually preceded by the fore plane or jack plane and followed by the smoothing plane.
A try square or try-square is a woodworking tool used for marking and checking 90° angles on pieces of wood. Though woodworkers use many different types of square, the try square is considered one of the essential tools for woodworking.
A jack plane is a general-purpose woodworking bench plane, used for dressing timber down to size in preparation for truing and/or edge jointing. It is usually the first plane used on rough stock, but for rougher work it can be preceded by the scrub plane. The versality of the jack plane has led to it being the most common bench plane in use. The name jack plane is sometimes used interchangeably with the longer fore plane.
Tage Frid was a Danish-born woodworker, educator and author who influenced the development of the studio furniture movement in the United States. His design work was often in the Danish-modern style, best known for his three legged stool and his publications.
A mitre box or miter box is a wood working appliance used to guide a hand saw for making precise cuts, usually 45° mitre cuts. Traditional mitre boxes are simple in construction and made of wood, while adjustable mitre boxes are made of metal and can be adjusted for cutting any angle from 45° to 90°.
André Jacob Roubo (1739–1791) was a French carpenter, cabinetmaker and author. Roubo was born and died in Paris, and was the son and grandson of master cabinetmakers. Roubo wrote several highly influential books on woodworking, an achievement which was especially notable given his relatively poor background and self-taught methods.
A holdfast or hold fast is a form of temporary clamp used to hold a workpiece firmly to the top or side of a wooden workbench or the top of an anvil.
Harlan Hubbard was an American artist and writer, known for his simple lifestyle.
A workbench is a specialized table used by woodworkers. Features include a flat, solid work surface and one or more means of holding the material being worked on.
James Simpson Jr (1928–1999) was the first African American to win a city commission election in the history of Covington, Kentucky. Simpson was one of nearly 30 people who filed to run for the City Commission in 1971. He finished third, winning one of four seats and making political history. Simpson served the full two-year term. He later finished an un-expired term on the commission in 1991. Simpson was active in many other civic groups. He served on the following boards: Kenton County Airport Board, People's Liberty Bank Board of Directors, Booth Hospital in Covington, St. Elizabeth Hospital in Covington and the Kenton County TB Sanatorium. Simpson was also one of the founders of the Northern Kentucky Community Center in the Eastside Neighborhood of Covington. James Edward Simpson Jr is father to State Representative Arnold Ray Simpson who serves the 65th district of Kentucky, the first African American to hold this seat at the Kentucky State Assembly.
Lost Art Press is a publisher of books and videos for woodworkers and hand tool collectors and is based in Covington, Kentucky. It was established in 2007 by Christopher Schwarz and John Hoffman.
Charles Harold Hayward was an English cabinet maker, editor of The Woodworker magazine, illustrator, and author of numerous books on woodworking. Hayward has been described as "the most important workshop writer and editor of the 20th century".
A burnisher is a hand tool used in woodworking for creating a burr on a card scraper.
The fore plane is a type of woodworking bench plane typically used for preparing and flattening rough workpieces before using other planes, such as the jointer plane and the smoothing plane. The name fore plane is sometimes used synonymously with the jack plane, but the fore plane is usually longer in length, making it more effective at levelling larger workpieces.
A square is a tool used for marking and referencing a 90° angle, though mitre squares are used for 45° angles. Squares see common use in woodworking, metalworking, construction and technical drawing. Some squares incorporate a scale for measuring distances or for calculating angles.
Kentucky Route 3716 (KY 3716) is a 4.277-mile-long (6.883 km) state secondary highway in central Kenton County. The highway extends from KY 1501 in Covington north to KY 16 in Taylor Mill. KY 3716 was established in 2015, extended west in 2018, and was extended again in December 2022 after the reroute of KY 1501.
William Grant High School was a public high school for African Americans in Covington, Kentucky. It also served African American students from surrounding areas who were not allowed to attend the whites-only schools in the county. The elementary and secondary schools that became known as Lincoln-Grant School were in a school built on 7th Street until they were relocated to a new building at 824 Greenup. The school closed after desegregation and its students transferred to Holmes High School, The elementary school continued on until 1976. The Northern Kentucky Community Center occupied the school after it clsoed. In 2017 it became the Lincoln Grant Scholar House housing single parents woth low incomes. Joseph M. Walton's The Life and Legacy of Lincoln School, Covington, Kentucky, 1866-1976 was published in 2010. He graduated from the school with honors in 1958. The school was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2013. It is in the Emery-Price Historic District.