ALWD 055: Chris Schwarz & The Power of Craftsmanship

ABOUT OUR GUEST Christopher Schwarz is a long-time woodworker and writer who has spent the last 20 years encouraging woodworkers to embrace more handwork in their shops. He built his first workbench when he was 11 and was introduced to handwork when his family built its first house on an Arkansas farm without electricity. After formal training as a journalist at Northwestern University, Chris worked as a newspaperman by day and studied woodworking at night at the University of Kentucky. In 1996, he was hired as managing editor of Popular Woodworking, where he helped resuscitate the magazine and introduced more handwork into its pages. He eventually became editor and began writing books and teaching woodworking classes. In 2007 he founded Lost Art Press LLC, a publishing company devoted to one thing: reviving handwork. By 2011, Lost Art Press had grown so much that Chris stepped down as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine (he's now a contributing editor) to focus on his company full time and build furniture commissions. He's the author of several woodworking books, including "The Anarchist's Tool Chest," "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use," and "Campaign Furniture." He has also has produced more than a dozen DVDs on handwork with Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and F+W Media Inc. He lives in Fort Mitchell, Ky., with his wife and two daughters. CONNECT LostArtPress.com ABOUT THE EPISODE He was a household name in the house I grew up with, and I'm super stoked I got to chat with him & share that with you. We talk about the nature of craftsmanship, the role of design in his life, preserving the genius of history's builders, and a lot more. There's a lot in this one, so let's get to it...