Hi, Im Derek, and Im a Chris Schwarz Fanboy. Ive been a fanboy since around mid 2009 when I started exploring both hand tool woodworking and the online woodworking community. I discovered his blog and that was the end of woodworking as I knew it up to that point. I am not looking to recover, infact I refuse to consider this a problem.
I have built many things he suggested, not just because he said I should, though I always try to be open to the suggestions of those I want to learn from, but mostly because those things have all inspired me. From the simple elegance of the anarchist A-frame layout square to the solid, logical reality of the Anarchists Tool Chest. My main workbench is a hybrid of the Nicholson bench from his first workbench book and the 175 Dollar workbench (adjusted for inflation) he wrote about in the pages of Popular Woodworking. My joinery bench was inspired when he wrote about Tim Williams joinery bench on his blog, and my favorite shop accessory, the Moxon Twin Screw Vise, was also introduced to me by him.If theres something I have a passion for as much as making sawdust its books, as a result I have built up a good collection of woodworking books and of course Ive bought several of Chriss books, and works hes helped get rediscovered / republished. In his role as a publisher I am blown away by the people hes convinced to bring their own works into print with him. Peter Follansbee, Matt Bickford, George Walker, Jim Toplin and who knows who else will be next. Im excited to find out and as long as quality material keeps flowing, Ill keep buying.
Why am I writing all this? I think its in some way an acknowledgement of where Ive come from and where Im headed on my journey. Its a recognition of someone who has inspired me like only one other woodworker has. Norm Abrams got me to start woodworking, Chris was a big part of inspiring a radical change in the ways I think and feel about this avocation.
But I am for sure writing this as a way of expressing my gratitude. Hold on to this thought while I explain.
2012 has been a rough year on my family. From car issues, to health and surgery issues and all the financial weight that comes with those things. To recently being told that the management of our apartment building has decided to terminate our lease at the end of its year, (to be the end of September) with no reasoning or explanation. We are trying to find an appropriate new home to raise our three girls in, hopefully without making them change schools again, and having less than stellar luck. I know there are people out there who face bigger challenges than we are, we havent faced a natural disaster burning our home to the ground or washing it into the sea, we havent faced the death of a loved one or the hardship of a spouse serving in a war half a world away.
Perspective is the one sure gift that comes from working a day job as a surgical technologist in a busy hospital. No matter how bad things get for me, for us, I know that person on the OR bed, even if they are there voluntarily, is having a worse day, and I need to focus on them. But then there is the evening. The house is quiet, the kids are sleeping, and Im laying awake, my eyes focused on the ceiling but looking into oblivion and I can feel the weight and stress leak through the walls Ive built to hold it away all day long. It pushes on my shoulders like I should be Atlas, and my mind races nullifying any chance to sleep, and I feel like Im on the edge of going crazy.
My salvation is on my bedside table. Its my goldenrod bound copy of The Anarchists Tool Chest from the first print run. Its the version before Chris had a chance to perfect it with an index and repaired typos, and I love that about it. Its spent a lot of time on my workbench, in my shop, and in my hands as I dissected its secrets to build my own version of the tool chest. Ive written notes in some of the margins, corrected typos and mistakes he admitted to once it was published, and left a few grimy thumb prints on the pages. In my opinion all marks of a treasured tome.But lately, as I battle the stress demons that haunt me at night, its been my salvation. I turn on my reading lamp and open the pages at random. Some nights I get to read the familiar sections on tool choices, (last night I worked my way through the rules for workbenches) Some nights I get to read through an area detailing the chest construction, and some nights I pull open the book all the way into the back and read through what Ive started calling the philosophy and call to war section. After a random period of time has passed the familiar words start to blur and I start to yawn. Ive managed to pack away the stress and my mind is now filled with sugar plum sawdust fairies and Stanley No. 5 candy canes and I drift off to sleep planing the next time I set foot in my shop instead of planning the untimely deaths of the lowly bean counters of the world.
Because Im me, Ive tried to decipher why the book has become so important to me, especially lately. On one hand I think its because its familiar and I know it well. My mind doesnt have to work to process it after Im reading a passage for the umpteenth time, it can just relax and take it in. I have Matthew Bickfords new molding plane book and I found I just had to put it down for now. Its well written and the information is incredible, but I just dont have the neural capacity to assimilate the information right now. I might as well be reading the instructions to set the time on my alarm clock. I will have to circle around back to it, especially after I get my hands on a few hollows and rounds.
The biggest reason I believe Im finding comfort in the book is the theme. There is a flavor of independence and self reliance that hints on every word Chris typed. But its not just independence for yourself, its utilizing your independence to help support and promote the independence of others. Its in the introduction, its in every passage about choosing a tool to last a lifetime, its in the theory of the chest build, and its in the construction details. Those things, those ideals of self reliance and independence are so very important to me, especially at this moment in time when they feel so very out of reach. The Anarchists Tool Chest makes me want to take this moment when Im on the brink of giving in and instead create a mile marker for turning this ship around and righting the course.
And even if you take away the esoteric, the words still remind me that tomorrow, despite everything else, I can still step into the shop and make some plane shavings, and thats something bean counters cant take away from me.
Quite a while ago I managed to catch a comment by Chris on this blog. In a fit a goofiness I slapped a Lost Art Press temporary tattoo on my forehead and posted some pictures of it. Since then I dont know if he ever passes by here on his way around the internet so I dont know if hell ever get my message gratitude. Hell, at this exact moment Im not sure if Ill have the cojones to hit the publish button on this post because its a bit below the skin. I hope someday, maybe a few years from now, Ill have the chance to take a class with Chris and meet him face to face so I can thank him in person for writing a book Ive found so helpful for so many different reasons.Again, just in case, Thank you Sir!
Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf
P.S. in case you have found yourself trapped in an abandoned mine shaft or trauma induced coma for the last few years and you dont know Chris, his words, and most of his work can be found over at Lost Art Press. If you dont own The Anarchist Tool Chest, what the hell are you waiting for, get over there and buy it. Ive never made that strong of a recommendation of anything in my life before, but I guess I am now.
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