[{"id":262360563775,"handle":"all-books-1","title":"All Books","updated_at":"2025-02-21T09:10:01-05:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2021-11-06T08:19:16-04:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"type","relation":"equals","condition":"Book"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":14049653,"handle":"books","title":"Books","updated_at":"2025-02-21T09:10:01-05:00","body_html":"All books from Lost Art Press are produced entirely in the United States. We use acid-free paper and tough bindings – our books's signatures are sewn and glued for durability whenever physically possible.","published_at":"2013-12-16T11:31:00-05:00","sort_order":"manual","template_suffix":null,"disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"type","relation":"equals","condition":"Book"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":165815124031,"handle":"books-by-christopher-schwarz","updated_at":"2025-02-20T23:25:34-05:00","published_at":"2020-07-21T13:41:03-04:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"Books by Christopher Schwarz","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eChristopher Schwarz is a furniture maker, writer and publisher who works from a storefront in Covington, Ky. He is, along with John Hoffman, one of the founders and the editor of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.com\/\"\u003eLost Art Press\u003c\/a\u003e, which publishes books on hand tool woodworking. And he is one of the founders of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/crucibletool.com\/\"\u003eCrucible Tool\u003c\/a\u003e. He is a former editor of \u003cem\u003ePopular Woodworking Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, and has been published in \u003cem\u003eFine Woodworking\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMortise \u0026amp; Tenon Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e and many other woodworking publications. He teaches hand-tool woodworking around the world. Christopher is the author of five Lost Art Press books and a contributor to two, \"The Joiner and Cabinet Maker\" and \"The Art of Joinery.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","image":{"created_at":"2020-07-21T13:41:02-04:00","alt":"Christopher Schwarz at Lost Art Press","width":1000,"height":667,"src":"\/\/lostartpress.com\/cdn\/shop\/collections\/CS-chair_IMG_7022.jpg?v=1595353527"}},{"id":267679236159,"handle":"engraving","updated_at":"2025-02-20T22:35:23-05:00","published_at":"2023-10-05T13:52:38-04:00","sort_order":"manual","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"Engraving","body_html":""},{"id":267678711871,"handle":"furniture-projects","updated_at":"2025-02-20T18:40:19-05:00","published_at":"2023-10-05T13:39:12-04:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"Furniture Projects","body_html":""},{"id":13382609,"handle":"frontpage","updated_at":"2025-02-21T08:50:27-05:00","published_at":"2013-11-26T15:57:00-05:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":null,"published_scope":"global","title":"New Products","body_html":""},{"id":278357868607,"handle":"quick-order","title":"Quick Order","updated_at":"2025-02-21T09:10:01-05:00","body_html":null,"published_at":"2025-01-31T11:59:27-05:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"quick","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"variant_price","relation":"greater_than","condition":"0"}],"published_scope":"web"}]
Note: This book is available as a free pdf download. Simply click here (you won't have to register or even give up your email). Just click and the book will begin to download. The book is copyrighted and is free for your personal use.
“American Peasant” is an introduction to a style of furniture and decoration that is almost unheard of in the Americas. Built primarily with tongues, grooves and pegs, the furniture is frequently engraved with geometric symbols that beautify the piece and protect its owner.
With this book, you will learn to build 10 simple pieces using common tools and whatever lumber is on hand. And you’ll learn to engrave the pieces using nothing more than a cheap craft knife and a vinyl flooring cutter. (We were so thrilled with this tool that we now make a commercial version of it.)
In addition to furniture making, “American Peasant” delves into other areas of the craft that will make you a more independent woodworker. Learn to make your own commercial-grade glue using only three ingredients (food-grade gelatin, salt and water), all of which you can find at the grocery store. The glue is strong, reversible and non-toxic (it’s edible, though we don’t recommend eating it).
You can make your own finish using beeswax, linseed oil and citrus solvent. This non-toxic finish is easy to apply and to repair. Plus, it looks better with age and use.
Finally, you’ll learn the language of the engravings, which come from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the U.K. These geometric engravings can protect a loved one from sickness, guard your valuables and grant good fortune to others (there are no negative engravings or spells in this book).
“American Peasant” might change the furniture you build. It might change how you build and finish it. And it might change your mind about the role of the handmade objects in your life.
About the Physical Book
“American Peasant” is 6” x 9” and is printed in Tennessee on #70 matte-coated paper on a Japanese-built sheet-fed printing press. (This is an offset printing press that’s the size of a house – not a digital copier.) The pages are folded into signatures, sewn, glued and reinforced with fiber-based tape to create a permanent binding. Our books regularly survive floods and attacks by dogs and toddlers.
The 312-page interior is then attached to heavy cotton-covered boards using a thick paper hinge. The cover and spine are adorned with a two-color foil die stamp. The image is physically stamped into the cloth and the board, giving the cover a texture you won’t get from modern digital books.
The book is designed to be used – hard – and survive more than a century of use.
Table of Contents
Foreword vii
1. Some Lovely Filth Down ’Ere 1 2. The Peasant’s Workshop 7 3. On Wood & Joinery 17 4. Tongue & Groove Planes 25 5. Trenails & Iron Nails 39 6. Grocery Store Glue 51 7. Finishes: How to Make & Apply Them 63 8. A Walk Around the Symbolic Block 75 9. Some Common Symbols & Spells in Europe 85 10. Sharpen & Use Engraving Tools 105 11. Good Work, at Speed 123 12. Pristolnic 127 13. Wall Rack 139 14. High Carpathian Wall Cabinet 149 15. Plate Rack163 16. Wall Cupboard173 17. Small Coffer187 18. Large Coffer197 19. Cupboard219 20. Peasant Chair237 21. The Urban Peasants257
Christopher Schwarz is a furniture maker, writer and teacher. He is one of the founders and publisher of Lost Art Press and one of the founders of Crucible Tool.
