This week we launched two new substacks that you might want to check out.
Never Sponsored
For the last 28 years I have been neck-deep in the world of woodworking tools. First as a user and reviewer of tools for Popular Woodworking Magazine. Then as a designer, maker and user of them for Crucible.
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
But most of all I have been an observer. I’ve watched toolmaking rise and fall and rise again during my lifetime. And I want to make sure that you – the person who buys and uses tools – has a good set of tools with only a few regrettable purchases.
“Never Sponsored” is an extension of my 2011 book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” In that book I urge woodworkers to own but a basic set of tools, but to buy the best.
But what are the best tools? And which are the worst?
“Never Sponsored” is the answer to those questions. Every Wednesday, Megan Fitzpatrick (also a long-time tool user) and I will post a review of a tool (or class of tools) on the substack. Lots of people do something similar. Here is how we are different.
We have never taken money from tool manufacturers. We don’t do affiliate programs or sponsorships or anything where tool money flows to the people who write about tools. And we never will.
So we can afford to tell you the truth (as we see it). Yes, we have biases and opinions. But they are earned with our own money, and they are earned in a working shop.
You can read our first post here. “Never Sponsored” will be free for the first two months. Then it will have a paywall. Most posts will be behind the paywall, but there will always be some free entries. So it’s worth getting a free subscription. “Never Sponsored” is $5 a month or $50 a year.
The Anarchist’s Apprentice
Earlier this year we hired Kale Vogt as an assistant editor at Lost Art Press. Kale spends half their time at our warehouse fulfilling your orders and the other half at our workshop on Willard Street, learning to become a furniture maker.
“The Anarchist’s Apprentice” is a weekly journal of our progress.
Every Thursday we post a journal entry written by Kale, Megan or me about the process. We’ve been journaling about Kale’s training since the first day it started. We don’t exactly know where it is headed. Kale is remarkably talented with an eye for detail. Megan and I have lots to teach. It sounds a bit like a reality television show, and it really is that (but without the hair-pulling).
If you have ever wondered what a modern apprenticeship might be like, this is a peek at the process. So far it has been both messy and joyful. Kale is a wonderful addition to our staff. I hope we don’t ruin things.
Like “Never Sponsored,” this substack will be free for two months. After that it will feature both free posts and paid posts for subscribers. Our first post is here.
The American Peasant
And don’t forget my substack, “The American Peasant.” During the last 18 months I have posted 244 entries that have pushed at the limits of language and thought in woodworking journalism. I’ve also posted nearly all of my next book, “The American Peasant,” there for you to read in its almost-finished form.
Please note that my substack is PG-13. If you are easily offended, may I suggest this instead?
Finally
Please don’t think that we are abandoning this blog here at Lost Art Press. We’re not. Instead, we’re growing. For most of LAP’s 17-year history, we’ve had zero employees. Now there are six of us. We all have things to say and different points of view. These new substacks allow us to share what we know (and what we don’t). This blog is still the foundation and is how we communicate to our customers and friends around the world.
Boomshanka to you all.
— Christopher Schwarz
Source: lostartpress.com
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.