The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years Vol. I – Tools

Product Description

There is little doubt that Charles H. Hayward (1898-1998) was the most important workshop writer and editor of the 20th century. Unlike any person before (and perhaps after) him, Hayward was a trained cabinetmaker and extraordinary illustrator, not to mention an excellent designer, writer, editor and photographer.

Add to all that the fact that Hayward was, according to Robert Wearing, a “workaholic,” and you have a good picture as to why Lost Art Press spent almost eight years laboring to bring this book to life to honor his work.

As editor of The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967, Hayward oversaw the transformation of the craft from one that was almost entirely hand-tool based to a time where machines were common, inexpensive and had displaced the handplanes, chisels and backsaws of Hayward’s training and youth.

This massive project – offered in four volumes totaling 1,492 pages in all – seeks to reprint a small part of the information Hayward published in The Woodworker during his time as editor in chief. This is information that hasn’t been seen or read in decades. No matter where you are in the craft, from a complete novice to a professional, you will find information here you cannot get anywhere else.

During the last eight years, they have culled, organized, scanned, edited and re-edited these articles to create these fourvolumes. This is not simply a quick reprint of old magazines. Lost Art Press have reset all of the type, scanned and cleaned every image (there are more than 4,000 drawings and photos). The entire project took hundreds of hours and a dozen people all over the United States.

Volume I: Tools

This first volume covers sharpening, setting out tools, chisels, planes, saws, boring tools, carving tools, turning, veneering and inlay. It is 456 pages.

Like all Lost Art Press books, these 8.5”x 11”volumes are designed to last several lifetimes and survive rough use in the shop. The interior pages are printed in Michigan on #60 uncoated paper. The pages are folded into signatures. The signatures are gathered and then sewn together with thread (something rarely done in printing today). Then, the sewn signatures are glued and reinforced with fibre tape. The book block is then wrapped with thick U.S. made cardstock. In use, the book will open flat on your bench and remain intact for decades to come.

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