I was looking through some old correspondence between Alexander and me; from 1991. In it, we mention that such-and-such would be good for “the book.” Slowly we were assembling what we thought we knew about joinery techniques, all with the plan to publish it as “Make a Stool from a Tree” – drawing on the title of Alexander’s 1978 chair book.
Things happened. 1994 I got a job, both a blessing & a curse. then later I got married. A blessing. Then later still, twins. double blessing.
And the book got shelved a number of times. It was always on-going, but might sit for a year or two sometimes.
And I am glad it did. things happen for a reason, and last spring, I was in Saratoga Springs, NY where Chris Schwarz & I were roped into judging of a bunch of woodworking entries in the big show there…it went on for hours, & they didn’t feed us.
Turned out to be a good thing. Off we went to some great pizza joint, where Chris was to meet Matt Bickford to pitch Lost Art Press to him for a book…while we waited, Chris pitched to me too. So all those years, turns out we were waiting for the right publisher to come along.
The book is ready for ordering now, follow this link to Lost Art Press. Free shipping on orders between now & Feb. 27 http://www.lostartpress.com/Make_a_Joint_Stool_from_a_Tree_p/bk-majsfat.htm
I’ll have more to say about it, & so will Chris on the LAP blog.

January 25, 2012 at 8:28 am
Woot! I’ve been waiting for years for this to come out! I’m excited
January 25, 2012 at 8:47 am
Will the books be autographed? I know I’d appreciate it very much…
January 25, 2012 at 9:08 am
For 33 cents a page, shouldn’t we get autographs? :-)
January 25, 2012 at 11:11 am
Yes, very, very excited. I just ordered mine and I’ve already been to the mailbox twice checking for the delivery.
January 25, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Aw, geez. There goes next month’s book budget!
January 25, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Great news Peter!
I’ve already ordered a couple…..guess I’ll have to plan a road trip to MA and MD to beg a couple autographs! Do you suppose Jennie would welcome a friendly knock on the door? ;-)
January 25, 2012 at 6:26 pm
lol….
I’m going by Roy’s school when Peter is there…to get my autograph… :)
Peter…
Is there anyway you can pack Jennie when you go there…so i can get both at one spot… he he he
January 25, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Congradulations on the book Peter. I am looking forward to it.
January 25, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Peter, I ordered mine today…What to do while I wait? This weekend: Big red Oak to split in Sharon. Want in?
Congrats,
Nick
January 26, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Congrats Peter and Jennie and much success to you both with the book. No doubt this will become a classic. Looking forward to receiving mine soon.
January 27, 2012 at 12:48 am
I’ve pre-ordered the book, very excited to see this finally in print.
Now that you’ve got that monkey off your back, might I humbly suggest you troll through the wealth of blog posts you have already done, and do a book on making the Joined Chests as well?
January 27, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Absolutely second that request! That would be great! Then maybe a video series to accompany the books!