{"product_id":"from-truth-to-tools","title":"From Truths to Tools","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eby Jim Tolpin and George Walker\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eillustrated by Andrea Love\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou can download an excerpt from this book \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/t2t_sample2_.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/09\/t2t_sample2.pdf\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cem\u003eLearn more about artisan geometry and the other books in this series \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/pages\/what-is-artisan-geometry\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGood books give you a glimpse of small truths – about workbenches, joinery or sharpening, for example. Great books, on the other hand, stitch together seemingly disparate ideas to present a new way of looking at the whole world, from your marking awl, to your hand or to the line of the horizon.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“From Truths to Tools” is a hand-illustrated work that masquerades as a children’s book. There are funny drawings. There aren’t a lot of words. You can read the entire 208-page book in one sitting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBut “From Truths to Tools” somehow explains the craft, the entire physical world, our language and geometry in a way that makes you feel like the authors have revealed a huge secret to you. One that has been sitting in front of you your entire life.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe book begins with an explanation of a circle and a single point, and it then shows how those simple ideas can be used to create an entire set of layout tools – a try square, a straightedge, dividers etc. that allow you to build furniture. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOnce you understand the language behind your tools, very complicated things become easy to understand. Compound joinery. Fitting odd miters. Making curves that taper. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnd once you get those ideas in your head, it’s a short hop to grasp how those same ideas can be applied to building anything of any shape imaginable – skyscrapers, boats, bridges. When you can calculate if a tree will hit you when you fell it in the forest, you’ll be able to calculate the circumference of the earth.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“From Truths to Tools” is the third book from the geometry-loving team of Jim Tolpin and George Walker. Their first book, “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/collections\/books\/products\/by-hand-eye-1\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBy Hand \u0026amp; Eye,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e” makes the case that simple whole-number ratios are the underpinning to the built world and our furniture. Their second book, “\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/collections\/books\/products\/by-hound-eye\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBy Hound \u0026amp; Eye,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e” gives you the exercises that open your eyes to the way geometry and ratios govern our world. And the third, “From Truths to Tools,” shows how geometry creates our tools and, once understood, leads to a deeper grasp of the things we build, the world around us and even our language. They \u003c\/span\u003ealso are the authors of “\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/products\/good-eye\"\u003eGood Eye\u003c\/a\u003e” and “\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/products\/euclids-door\"\u003eEuclid’s Door\u003c\/a\u003e”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIntroduction 1\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe Awl 8\u003cbr\u003eDividers 13\u003cbr\u003eRulers 16\u003cbr\u003eStory Sticks 21\u003cbr\u003eCompass 27\u003cbr\u003eSpiling Batten 34\u003cbr\u003eBending Battens 47\u003cbr\u003eMarking Implements 49\u003cbr\u003ePlane Generators 58\u003cbr\u003eGauges 69\u003cbr\u003eSquares 95\u003cbr\u003e'Smart' Square 108\u003cbr\u003ePlumb Line 117\u003cbr\u003eLibella 122\u003cbr\u003eCenter Finder 128\u003cbr\u003eSector 136\u003cbr\u003eProportional Dividers 141\u003cbr\u003eScale of Chords 145\u003cbr\u003eProtractor 149\u003cbr\u003eLarge-Scale Layout Tools 155\u003cbr\u003eThe Triplet 157\u003cbr\u003eCarpenter's Ten-Foot Pole 160\u003cbr\u003eThirteen-Knot Cord 164\u003cbr\u003eCord of Polygones 168\u003cbr\u003eGroma and Merchet 172\u003cbr\u003eCords of Magnitude and Angle 175\u003cbr\u003eChorobate 179\u003cbr\u003eCross Staff 182\u003cbr\u003eLogger's Felling Gauge 186\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAppendix 191\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue 193\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Authors\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0306\/3197\/files\/bio-portrait-2_1_large.jpg?v=1493642339\" alt=\"\" width=\"284\" height=\"379\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGeorge Walker\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eRaised in northeast Ohio, George Walker spent the first 20 years of his woodworking in design purgatory. Then after stumbling onto the design language of the artisans, he can’t shut up about it. After four books (and working on a fifth with Jim Tolpin), and scores of magazine articles, he’s just getting started. No matter how ordinary the circumstances, George is regularly struck by the majesty and wonder of life – the way millions of colorful warblers gather at Magee Marsh before their migration across Lake Erie; the way a medieval drawing found in an old monastery can inform his work through the understanding of geometry; or the way he can now build a beautiful piece of furniture, without plans or a tape measure, using instead a stick, a piece of string and dividers. Visit George and Jim’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.byhandandeye.com\/\"\u003eBy Hand \u0026amp; Eye\u003c\/a\u003e’s online atelier (design studio) to help you unlock your potential as a builder or maker by honing your design skills.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRead more about George in our full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/2017\/05\/01\/meet-the-author-george-walker\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eprofile\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0306\/3197\/files\/jim-tolpin-for-website_large.png?v=1493642445\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"197\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJim Tolpin\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eJim Tolpin, who grew up on the East Coast and now resides in Port Townsend, Washington, has been making a living at woodworking since 1970, mostly in the finish carpentry and custom cabinetmaking trades. In the last 15 years he's been writing books on woodworking and design and, after helping found \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ptwoodschool.org\/\"\u003ePort Townsend School of Woodworking\u003c\/a\u003e, teaching the trade. Jim is, above all else, a teacher, and the best kind, because he never believes he knows it all and never stops learning. He also believes in passing it on, while you still can. “There are a lot of people out there who want to know this stuff and that includes me,” he says. “I personally love being in the position of not knowing but maybe going to find out.” Visit Jim and George’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.byhandandeye.com\/\"\u003eBy Hand \u0026amp; Eye\u003c\/a\u003e’s online atelier (design studio) to help you unlock your potential as a builder or maker by honing your design skills.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRead more about Jim in our full \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/2017\/03\/18\/meet-the-author-jim-tolpin\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eprofile\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lost Art Press","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":51964627219,"sku":"BK-TRUTH","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"PDF Only","offer_id":104827748371,"sku":"BK-TRUTH-PDF","price":15.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Truth to Tools Book + PDF","offer_id":104827781139,"sku":"BK-TRUTH \u0026 PDF","price":44.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0306\/3197\/files\/truth.to.tools.jpg?v=1751312891","url":"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/products\/from-truth-to-tools","provider":"Lost Art Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}