[{"id":167872757823,"handle":"the-anarchist-series-of-books","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","published_at":"2020-11-23T15:11:09-05:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"'The Anarchist' Series of Books","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\"The Anarchist\" series of books by Christopher Schwarz represent a 10-year effort to make woodworking more accessible, affordable and ethical – and less commercial. Each book addresses an important aspect of the craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"The Anarchist's Tool Chest\"\u003c\/strong\u003e shows you how you can build furniture with only a small kit of high-quality tools. The first half of the book explains in detail how to choose the right tools, regardless of brand name. You'll learn what makes a good hammer, a good block plane and a good awl – so you can make good decisions when buying new or antique tools. The second half of the book shows you how to build a traditional tool chest to hold these tools and explains: If a tool doesn't fit in the chest, you probably don't need it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"The Anarchist's Design Book: Expanded Edition\"\u003c\/strong\u003e shows you how to put those tools to work to build an entire house full of furniture with simple tools and methods. The Design Book explores \"staked\" and \"boarded\" forms of furniture – two efficient and nearly forgotten ways of making furniture that is sturdy, good-looking and easy to build. Additionally, the Design Book explores (and debunks) many of the myths we have about furniture and good craftsmanship. Wild ornament, flashy woods and complexity don't always make for good furniture. And the Design Book asks: Why would you want to imitate the taste of your boss's boss's boss?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"The Anarchist's Workbench\"\u003c\/strong\u003e explains how to build the last workbench you'll ever need using home center construction lumber and simple woodworking tools. This book, the final in the Anarchist Series, encourages you to make the simplest bench possible and then add complexity from there. The bench plans featured in the book are based on a 15th-century design that emerged from France and Low Countries. And it has yet to be eclipsed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese three books have been the most successful titles published by Lost Art Press. Their simple message \"build instead of buy\" has been embraced by woodworkers all over the world and nudged many amateurs to quit their corporate jobs and make a living with their hands. You might not go that far. But then, maybe you will. Here's how to find out.\u003c\/p\u003e","image":{"created_at":"2020-11-23T15:11:07-05:00","alt":null,"width":1500,"height":1125,"src":"\/\/lostartpress.com\/cdn\/shop\/collections\/anarchist-series-of-books-IMG_0179.jpg?v=1606162268"}},{"id":262360563775,"handle":"all-books-1","title":"All Books","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:14-05:00","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":168102756415,"handle":"all-books","title":"Best Sellers","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","body_html":"The 10 best-selling books since we started Lost Art Press in 2007.","published_at":"2020-12-01T10:05:23-05:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"type","relation":"equals","condition":"Book"},{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Bestseller"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":14049653,"handle":"books","title":"Books","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:14-05:00","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":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","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":267678711871,"handle":"furniture-projects","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","published_at":"2023-10-05T13:39:12-04:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"Furniture Projects","body_html":""},{"id":69078351935,"handle":"getting-started","title":"Getting Started","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2019-04-03T09:39:16-04:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Getting Started"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":265849733183,"handle":"handwork-essentials","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","published_at":"2022-11-05T11:46:10-04:00","sort_order":"manual","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"Handwork Essentials","body_html":""},{"id":267665145919,"handle":"tools-1","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","published_at":"2023-10-04T15:06:29-04:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"global","title":"Tools","body_html":""},{"id":69108957247,"handle":"workshop-books","title":"Workshop","updated_at":"2024-12-11T20:25:02-05:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2019-04-03T19:00:45-04:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Workshop Books"}],"published_scope":"global"}]
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. This is the 16th and final printing of the first edition of this book. More information on that topic is here on our blog.
By Christopher Schwarz
When I am too exhausted, ill or busy to work in my shop, I will shuffle down the stairs to my 15' x 25' workshop and simply stand there for a few minutes with my hands on my tools.
To be sure, I thought I was a touch nuts because of this personality quirk. But after reading the oral histories and diaries of craftsmen from the last 300 years, I found it's actually a common trait among artisans. I am drawn, married or perhaps addicted to the things that allow me to coax wood into new shapes. At the same time, my relationship with my tools is like a tumultuous combination of an Italian family drama, a bigamist's decision about who to sleep with and a careful gardener.
This book, “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” paints a world where woodworking tools are at the center of an ethical life filled with creating furniture that will last for generations. It makes the case that you can build almost anything with a kit of fewer than 50 high-quality tools, and it shows you how to select real working tools, regardless of their vintage or brand name.
Here's a short video about the 16thing printing of the book.
“The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” will guide you in building a proper chest for your toolkit that follows the ancient rules that have been forgotten or ignored.
And it will make the argument that building a chest and filling it with the right tools just might be the best thing you can do to save our craft.
Like all books from Lost Art Press, “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” is printed and bound in the United States on acid-free #60 paper. The 6” x 9” hardcover features pages that are sewn together for durability and the book's boards are covered in cotton cloth. This book is 494 pages and includes a full index. Sorry but signed books cannot be personalized.
Curious about what we mean by "anarchism?" Read this short FAQ.
