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Founded | 2007 |
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Founders | Christopher Schwarz and John Hoffman |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | Covington, Kentucky, Kentucky |
Key people |
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Publication types | Magazines, Books |
Nonfiction topics | Woodworking, Hand tools |
Official website | lostartpress |
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. [1]
The company has published books by modern woodworkers such as Nancy Hiller and George R. Walker as well as republishing older manuscripts by woodworkers such as André Jacob Roubo. [2] [3] They also produce books about woodworkers such as Henry O. Studley and Charles H. Hayward. All of their fifty-eight titles are printed in the United States; they do not sell their titles through mass-market retailers or websites. [4]
The company publishes works that help the modern woodworker learn traditional hand-tool skills, attempting to restore the balance between hand and machine work by unearthing the so-called "lost arts" of hand skills and explaining how they can be integrated with the machinery in the modern shop to help produce furniture that is crisp, well-proportioned, stout and quickly made. Make Magazine has said they tap into the "growing unplugged workshop momentum." [5]
"The Anarchist's Tool Chest," written by Christopher Schwarz, describes a world where woodworking tools are at the center of an ethical life filled with creating furniture that will last for generations. Schwarz posits that people can build almost anything with a kit of fewer than 50 good tools; the book shows the reader how to select real working tools, and provides instruction for building a proper chest for a toolkit, following the ancient rules that have been forgotten or ignored. The "anarchism" mentioned in the title is individualist anarchism, specifically "aesthetic anarchism". [6]
Lost Art Press won Covington's Authenti-CITY award in 2022, being called "a mecca that puts Covington on the map for the hand-tool woodworking crowd." [7] The deluxe editions of their two books on Roubo were each named one of the "50 Books of the Year" by the Design Observer, in association with the AIGA and Designers & Books in 2013 and 2017. [8]
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
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°.
James Krenov was a woodworker and studio furnituremaker.
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.
The Woodwright's Shop is an American traditional woodworking show hosted by master carpenter Roy Underhill and airing on television network PBS. It is one of the longest running how-to shows on PBS, with thirty-five 13-episode seasons produced. Since its debut in 1979, the show has aired over 400 episodes. The first two seasons were broadcast only on public TV in North Carolina; the season numbering was restarted when the show went national in 1981. It is filmed at the UNC-TV studios in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
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.
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.
Amish furniture is furniture manufactured by the Amish, primarily of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio. It is generally known as being made completely out of wood, usually without particle board or laminate. The styles most often used by the Amish woodworkers are generally more traditional in nature.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high pressure decorative laminate, commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
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.
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.
A miter square or mitre square is a hand tool used in woodworking and metalworking for marking and checking angles other than 90°. Most miter squares are for marking and checking 45° angles and its supplementary angle, 135°.
Aspen Golann is an American woodworker who produces furniture.
Christopher Martin Schwarz is an American woodworker, author, and publisher. He established the Lost Art Press in 2007 in Covington, Kentucky.