The great people at Alexander Brothers have put together a new kit of materials that help you make a Roman workbench, the earliest design of bench that we know of.
The Roman bench isn’t just an historical footnote. It’s a dang-good bench that we use all the time in our shop. The bench is portable, easy to build and has a small footprint. It’s a favorite among apartment woodworkers because it can serve as a coffee table when not being used to make furniture.
Also, woodworkers with physical disabilities love the bench because you sit down to work on it.
How does the bench work? Glad you asked. I wrote a book about this bench and how to use it called “Ingenious Mechanicks.” It’s a free pdf download from our store. (Or you can buy a copy of the book – we don’t mind.) We also have a long-form video for sale on building this bench and its workholding here.
The kits are reasonably priced and come in both ash ($311) and maple ($331). The wood we purchase from Alexander Brothers is always top shelf. Buy with confidence.
Also, while you are there, get one of their coffee mugs. These are handmade and beautiful, with nice thin walls (a mark of skill in ceramics and turning). I bought one before Christmas and love it.
With our final class at the Willard Street workshop behind us, I’ve rearranged the bench room, the Mechanical Library and the machine room for four woodworkers, instead of a classroom.
First and biggest change: We scotched four workbenches. We sold three and will move the fourth to Megan’s workshop. That change gave us space for an 18” x 30” x 60” assembly table that I built last week. I’ve always loved low assembly benches, but I’ve never had room for one – until now.
I’ve arranged the four remaining benches so they stand alone. You can walk all around them. They are all parallel to one another, just like in the workshop shown in Plate 11 of “l’Art du menuisier.” And they’re arranged by seniority – on purpose. Apprentice Katherine is up front by the window, then Journeyer Kale, Editor Megan and me at the back.
The idea is that the more experienced people will always be able to see what the less-experienced people are up to. And be able to jump in (or shout a warning) if something goes amiss.
The back of the bench room now has the junior editors’ editorial workstations – I built their height-adjustable table using a 1960s-era drafting table and a massive tongue-and-groove white pine top. There’s lots of space to spread out to write, edit and design.
In the Mechanical Library, more changes are afoot. Megan is staying in her same cubicle but will need a new desk (the desk Megan has been working on for the last 10 years is Lucy’s). The rest of the library is being returned to its original configuration: loveseat plus a tool chest acting as a desk, with everything facing my stereo. This is how I like to write and listen to records.
In the machine room, my Delta 14” band saw is going to Megan’s shop. It is being replaced by the JET 14” industrial band saw that used to be in the bench room. With no classes in the bench room, we need only one band saw up there. And the General 490 is staying up front.
I have additional small changes planned, and I’m sure we’ll move things around again. But I think the new bench arrangement works already. Photography is easier without benches being butted up against each other. And it’s nice to be able to get to all sides of your work. Plus, all the benches have the same arrangement of natural light: Loads of light from the front of the bench with a little side light from the south-facing windows.
Mostly, however, it’s quieter and we all have a little more room to move.
— Christopher Schwarz
Editor’s note: Our ATCs facing off across the room reminds me of the dueling banjo scene from Deliverance.” I do not, in this scenario, know which of us is Lonnie …
If you need something delivered by Christmas, please order by 5 p.m. Monday (Dec. 15).
We are pushing things a little. The USPS needs to receive packages by Dec. 17 for Christmas delivery. So we’ll all be filling boxes for the next few days to make sure everything gets into the hands of USPS by Dec. 17.
If you need some ideas for last-minute gifts, here’s a short list.
Fish Stick Glue: Honestly, once you try this glue, I think you’ll convert to protein-based glues. It has an open time of two *blinking* hours. Complex assemblies are much less stressful with this glue. And it’s reversible if things go wrong.
Big Protractor: We just launched our Big Protractors in a new material: wood. These oversized protractors make angles easy to read and easy to mark. And the size of the protractor adds to its accuracy.
Crucible Brass Center Square: It’s expensive, but it is a gorgeous piece of work with hand-finished details. I use this square every day – not just for marking centers on legs and sticks, but for drawing radial lines from curved edges. And square lines, too. This tool has just the right balance, weight and feel. It’s one of my favorites.
Also, if you missed our earlier blog entry, we will be completely closed from Dec. 25 through Jan. 1. Everyone will be off work: fulfillment, customer service, retail sales – even me (JK, I’ll be working).
Also, Sunday is the last day to order for Christmas delivery.
We just released our Big Protractors in 1/8” Baltic birch and lowered the price to $45. They’re still made in the USA – they’re just less expensive and made of wood instead of plastic.
For years we used Trolase, a quality plastic product, for our Big Protractos and Bevel Monkeys. Trolase is good stuff, but we are eliminating as much plastic as possible from our products. And in this case, we were able to lower the price as well.
The Big Protractor is based on the oversized protractors that geometry teachers used to draw out things on the blackboard. I picked up one of these old tools years ago and was immediately struck by how useful it is for woodworking.
Because of its size, it is far more accurate than the tiny plastic protractors. With the little protractors, you can barely infer 1/2° when working. With the big protractors, it’s child’s play to infer down to 1/4° or less. And when it comes to designing chairs, a fraction of a degree makes a noticeable difference in a 20”-long chair leg or a 26”-long spindle.
If you are planning to visit our storefront this season, here are our holiday hours.
We’ll be open for our regular hours (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday) through Christmas Eve (Wednesday, December 24).
We will close all operations – the storefront, fulfillment and customer service – from Christmas Day through New Year’s Day (Jan. 1, 2026). We will resume regular operations on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. The storefront will open that day at 10 a.m.
So if you order an item on our website between Christmas and New Year, it will be fulfilled on or after Jan. 2, 2026.
This year has been a wild one for all of us at Lost Art Press, and we decided to give everyone a week off (with full pay), to recover and enjoy some slow time before 2026.
