Thanks to a generous British reader, we have a new book in the works here at Lost Art Press that fills an important gap in hand-tool knowledge.
The story of this new book starts only about six weeks ago when John Hoffman and I went to England to research campaign furniture and to attend the European Woodworking Show at Cressing Temple.
Woodworker Richard Arnold pulled us aside at Cressing Temple and showed us two booklets from the turn of the last century. Titled “Doormaking for Carpenters & Joiners” and “Window-making for Carpenters & Joiners,” these two little booklets represent exactly the sort of thing we seek out at Lost Art Press.
These books were written by an experienced practitioner who wanted to preserve in print the hand-tool methods used for making doors and windows. Unlike many books out there on doors and windows, these little gems are aimed at the novice. They begin with the very basic stuff that you almost never see written down. Both books cover layout in an exhaustive manner (using ticking sticks I might add). And both books begin with very simple projects and progress step by step to more complex doors and windows.
I read both booklets in a day. They are outstanding, and we want to share them with you.
The bad news is that these booklets are rare. There is even a low-quality reprint of both booklets from the 1970s that is also rare. Booklets do not survive as well as books.
The good news is that Richard has loaned us two pristine originals that we are sending to a professional scanning service. We are going to combine the two booklets into one durable, hardcover book so that this sort of knowledge isn’t lost. This book deserves to be in print.
If you have ever been interested in how to make quality doors and windows in an efficient manner, I know you’ll like this book quite a bit.
I don’t have information on pricing or the release date yet. My best guess: Less than $20 and in March.
Thanks again to Richard. Readers like him make our job easier.
— Christopher Schwarz