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1 week ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
We interrupt your regular Sunday-morning shitpost with some actual woodworking instruction. When I wrote “American Peasant,” I was happy with my engraving skills – but not with the way I was teaching them. I’ve since taught a couple classes in engraving, which helped me become a better instructor with this tool.
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1 week ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
Publisher’s note: Welcome to Earlywood, a free weekly excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes, it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog post published in 2013. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. Enjoy!A “Robo” bench I built with the help of “Lee-Nelson” planes.
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2 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
Publisher’s note: Good morning! Once again, it’s time for Earlywood, a free weekly excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes, it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog post published in 2022. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. Enjoy!When I worked for a woodworking magazine, we had a formula for the sorts of projects we printed in its pages.
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3 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
I have learned to try not to be too clever – nor too ambitious. “Half of something is better than all of nothing.” How many of us have unfinished projects that seemed like a good idea at the time? Better to have made, finished and used a simple bookcase in relatively cheap pine, than to have a half completed, oak, breakfront set, taking up room in the workshop. Ambition can be a terrible force. Most worthwhile accomplishments are a “brick on brick” operation.
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3 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
Publisher’s note: Welcome to Earlywood, never a mistake, and a free weekly excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes, it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog post published in 2022. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. Enjoy!We all have a list such as this. Here’s mine.
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3 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
This post is for paid subscribers only. It’s a small “heads up” to thank you for subscribing. Two of the new details on the 2025 Anarchist’s Tool Chest that I love are the iron ball lock (shown above), and the handmade beckets (below). Ever since I saw a ball lock in a European museum, I wanted one for my chest. I recently commissioned Kevin Moreau to make one. It is simply beautiful and exceeded all my expectations, from the finish on the lock’s body to the hand-filing throughout.
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3 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
Several readers have asked for a printable poster of the endsheets from “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t.” I chatted with the artist Keith Mitchell about it last week, and he was happy to let us do this project. I’ve created a pdf poster that’s 16" x 20", a standard size. The image has a good margin around it, so it will fit in a 16" x 20" frame with a mat. You are welcome to download and print out as many of these as you like (your kids might like something to color).
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3 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
I wasn’t expecting to experience a spiritual conversion at my sister’s wedding, but these aren’t the kinds of things you put on your calendar. I remember being a bit panicked as it happened. My oldest daughter, Maddy, was 3 or 4 years old at the time and was the flower girl. She was doing the job with the kind of random gusto that threatens to sidetrack many wedding processions. But we got through that part.
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4 weeks ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
Publisher’s note: Good morning and welcome to Earlywood, a free weekly excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes, it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog post published in 2022. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. Enjoy!My Grandma West spent a large part of her life observing my grandfather, Joe, and my uncle, Tom, at work – either on a house or in the shop.
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1 month ago | 
christopherschwarz.substack.com | Christopher Schwarz
Today we released “Build a Chair from Bulls%$t,” one of our pocket-sized books that tries to make chairmaking more accessible. The book is $21. But if that’s too rich, you can download a pdf for free here. The full-size patterns can be downloaded here. This book is a personal accomplishment because it is the first of my books with no photographs. It’s just words from me and drawings from Keith Mitchell.