This is an excerpt from “Shaker Inspiration: Five Decades of Fine Craftsmanship” by Christian Becksvoort. Craftsmanship is a tough concept to get your head around. Even the dictionary gives it short shrift. “Skill in a particular craft.” Pretty lame. This is a bit better: “The quality of design and work shown in something made by hand; artistry.” Much closer. I …
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Craftsmen from Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia. Photos by Doris Ulmann. About 10-12 years ago in a used book I came across a $5.00 copy of “Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands.” Opening the book brought back memories of taking a day off in mid-July, leaving the heat and humidity of Charlotte and heading up to Asheville, …
A Cornucopia of Craft: “Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands” – Read More »
We have ordered the second printing of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” to replenish our depleted supplies of this book. So if you are one of those people who really likes first editions of books, I recommend you act soon. You can buy it from us here and it will be signed by me. Or …
During his long career as a chairmaker, Chris Williams has heard stories of people filling up shipping containers of Welsh stick chairs and sending them to the United States. (You also hear stories – shudder – of people chopping them up and burning them for fuel.) Last week, I saw another piece of evidence that …
If you’ve ever met Mary May, author of “Carving the Acanthus Leaf,” then you probably know this already: Mary does not do anything halfway. Her book is an exhaustive look at carving this iconic motif with hundreds and hundreds of detailed drawings and photographs that illustrate the process. But if you still need some more …
Resin Carvings & Videos for ‘Carving the Acanthus Leaf’ – Read More »
On Feb. 1 we will discontinue all the “print on demand” products in our store. That includes all the T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats. You can see our current selection here. We are not (repeat, not) discontinuing our bandanas, chore coat, vest or pullover work shirt. So if you want one of these print-on-demand products, place …
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One of my recent comb-back classes. You’ll notice they have nearly cleaned their plates. This is important. Sometimes students ask what they can do to prepare for a class in handwork at our storefront. In the past, I’ve told students to sharpen their tools and try to read up on the project or the topic …
How to Train for a Handwork Class at Lost Art Press – Read More »
After requests from several readers, here is a short video showing how I teach beginning sawyers how to cut pins. Some things to understand before watching this video. 1. We gang-cut the tails first and then transferred the shape of the tails onto the pin boards. 2. The joint shown is a single tail and …