Furniture Books

This is an excelent, simple book on making windsor chairs. The format of the book is one of pictures with two or three lines of text describing the pictured operation. A good step by step reference for when you're building a chair.

I was very pleased to see the detailed steps of windsor chairmaking explained and displayed in the photos. It's not rocket science but I would never have known how to begin this project without this book. Because of the clear instruction given in this fine book I'm going to attempt my first chair.

I have built two chairs under the guidance of Mike Dunbar. Mike also trained Jim. The procedures are very similar, so this book gives you insight into what Mike is teaching. There are some differences, but I don't think they will matter to you if you can translate the information in this book into a chair. I have shared a couple of images above to show you that it can be done. That chair started as a pile of rough lumber. Now it is one of my favorite chairs.

I have never made a chair, but have performed all the fundamentals for this project, but with this book I now have the confidence and a plan.
This book is very well formatted and the pictures are perfect for the process descriptions.
If you want history of these chairs, this is the wrong book for you. If you want t obuild one of these chairs...you've come to the right place.

Certainly not a "first book", but certainly a solid book for someone still on the learning curve

Richard covers all the basics, a lot of great "do's" and "don'ts" and wonderful options.

If you want to bet a good grounding in "boxes" this is the book for you

Note: Turned "boxes" are round or oval (with special chucks), not square

170 pages. Black and White photos with Color photo gallery (20 pages). Excellent book on how to make boxes and many example forms. Step by step instructions with photos on making end-grain boxes, what to consider in designs, and many variations on the basic box (needle cases, earring cases, saturn boxes, mushroom boxes, screw-on lids). Many boxes shown throughout the text and a chapter on forms. The Gallery is a little far out, but interesting. The video is also great.

After reading Turning Wood and "Turning" (Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Turning by Richard Raffan), I was ready for some new information. While Turning Boxes" didn't give me any new ideas on how to use the lathe or turning tools specifically, it was packed with many, many photos of boxes Mr. Raffan has turned. This alone will provide me with ideas on what type of profiles to turn and should keep me busy for hours.

The book covered how to turn threaded boxes and hit heavily on how to correctly fit a lid. Mr. Raffan also covered hollowing on end grain which is particularly tricky. A section on finishing gave me some ideas to ponder and the one on off-set turning creates some very unique boxes. There is another section that describes chatter work. And you thought that the tool chatter wouldn't be useful!

If you are looking for a book to learn the basics of turning, I would not recommend this one but "Turning Wood" by Mr. Raffan instead. Buy this one after you get a feel for the lathe and are looking for ideas to inspire your work such as making needles or drill cases.

Richard Raffan is a master turner and a better instructor than some others who have produced woodturning videos. The DVD format is great. Raffan very clearly shows how to use a skew chisel and other tools to turn wonderful little boxes. I highly recommend this video to all novice to intermediate woodturners.

This is my favorite of the series in overall content. There are no trips to the forest or barn raisings here, just projects that can be built in any workshop. Unlike the others, this is not really a sit down and read through it book. Instead it's a true how-to book.

Any of Roy's books are awesome for woodworkers who know how to read. Oh sure, you love Norm and his $8000 drum sander, but if you truly want to learn how to work with wood with nothing more than the bare essentials, then pick up this book as well as all the other books Roy has written. Otherwise, just buy all the garbage books about "How to Master a Biscuit Joiner" or "Setting up a Leigh Dovetail Jig". Just make sure you add a box of 80 grit sandpaper for your random orbital sander to your order.

When you read Underhill you begin to understand the tradition of woodworking--the heritage of anyone whose ancestors had to hew out a shelter and live off the land (in other words, every one of us). The former master housewright for Colonial Williamsburg includes projects with instructions specific enough to get you started but vague enough to challenge you to inject individuality into your work. As a still-green intermediate woodworker and a history student, I loved it.

This is a great book with many project ideas. It is not a book of measured drawings. If you've viewed "The Woodwright's Shop," you wouldn't expect to see them anyway. Each project highlights different techniques with hand tools. I've personally recreated the bellows from this book with much success (If I do say so myself!)

I still re-read the section on hand-cutting dovetails each time I attempt them.

All-in-all, it's a great book that demonstrates woodworking techniques while forcing you to improvise your projects around the basic themes presented in its pages.

If you want to start a workshop without doing much original planning, then this is very good. If however, you are wanting to truly study your needs and borrow from a variety of professionals then I recommend "The Workbench Book by Scott Landis and The Workbench by Lon Schleining.

Engler's book has some good ideas and some practical applications. If I had built my shop based just on this book and then read those other two, I would have been very disappointed.

This book was the third book I bought when I started planning my workshop. As I flipped through the book at the local book store I saw that is was full of usefull information on how to build benches and storage for my workshop. So once I got it home and read it cover to cover, I was convinced I had spent my money wisely. I've already used the plans to build a cabinet makers work bench, and the adjustable stool in the very back of the book. The book shows the general plans, and u can alter them to fit your individual needs. It is straighforward, and very usefull. What else could you ask for?

This is one of the three books I bought when I first started planning my workshop. Beacuse my workshop is in an old one car garage, I needed some ideas for storage of tools, and a good sturdy workbench. Engler really put some time into choosing what items to put into this book. I've already built a cabinet makers workbench, and the adjustable stool in the back of the book, and I'm very happy with the way both of them turned out.

Take into consideration that I'm a novice woodworker, and it didn't take me very long at all to build these two things. This book is well oraganized and well presented. The plans are simple to follow and the materials are pretty easy to find in local hardware and woodshop stores. Overall this book is a great investment for the amount of knowledge you get in return.

When I started getting together my tools, and supplies for my workshop, I wasn't sure what to mount this to or where to put that. So I went looking around to the usual places....book stores and hobby shops and of course Amazon.com. And I found this book here....looked through the description, and ordered it right away. Nick Engler lays it out in a very straight forward and forthright manner. Detailed plans, and just general ideas for tool storage, work benches, and planning ideas for every shop. This book is the is a must read, for anyone who is starting their own workshop, or just looking for new ideas.

As a member of a Dollhouse and Miniatures Club, this book on the advertising of early dollhouses, I find this book a MUST BUY for all collectors and other people seeking info on dollhouses and the styles that were out there for the public to buy. Again, as a collector, it is essential to have a book like this to use as a "guide", especially when so many houses and furniture of these periods are unknown and this also gives a glimpse into how these products were advertised to entise the public, especially children to buy these products. This book is yet another fantastic book by Dian Zillner to further eductate us in the past and present Dollhouse and Furniture collectables.

I purchased this book for my Mom for Christmas and she was in heaven!

I didn't want to wait the 2-3 weeks to receive this, so I purchased it from one of the secondary sellers listed in the Amazon ad page and got a wonderful NEW book for under $20.00! Paging thru this fun nostalgic book is just like Christmas morning for any baby boomer who was a little girl waiting for Santa in the 1940's thru 1960's.....also has some 1970's dollhouses and furniture. What a wonderful find! You will love it!

Fun stories about the old days of wood working/finishing in Europe. It is more fun to read than one might imagine. Note the price for a new copy is near two hundred dollars ! I am glad I bought this book and can reread it over and over. Contains some practical how to info also. This is world class wood finishing by one of the all time masters for some of the most demanding customers on the planet.

If the reader is interested in high end wood working they will enjoy and treasure this book !

It is rare that a book is both informative and entertaining, but this book fully fits that description. Frank grew up in post WWI europe and tells stories that also instruct. Frank is a master at coloring and finishing wood, whose life spanned 94 years. His advice is timeless, and the book, published in 1981, covers most finishing materials available today, as well as, finishing materials and methods that seem bygone now. Any woodworker will find this an incredible story.

This has been the most enjoyable woodworking book I have ever read. Mr. Frank's story makes fascinating reading, his knowledge of wood finishing is still amazing after eighteen years of "progress" since the publication of this book.

I don't know why Taunton has allowed it to fall out of print, but they need to bring it back.

American Fancy: Exuberance In The Arts 1790-1840 is a stunning coffee table book focusing upon all forms of physical art - from paintings to furnishings to clocks, glass panels, coffeepots, and much more that could be found American households circa the early 1800's. The full color photographs display a truly remarkable assortment of classic antiques, and the text brings the reader on an in-depth tour of not only the works themselves, but the lives and sweeping historical changes surrounding the men and and women who cherished them. American Fancy is a veritable treasury of vintage creations, many of which were pragmatic as surely as they were beautiful.

Disclaimer: I was a lender to the exhibition and objects from my collection are illustrated in this extraordinary book, more than a catalogue of the exhibition. I heard the author, Sumpter Priddy, lecture on his concept of Fancy well over ten years ago and it resonated within me for years afterward. To finally have the expression of that concept so brilliantly realized must be both thrilling and empty-feeling for him. But those who have the book are the beneficiaries of his insight. The book is beautifully illustrated with top-level color photography by Gavin Ashworth of objects from museums and private collections that flesh out Priddy's vision of what constituted Fancy in the 1790-1840 period. The text is accessible and comprehensive while well-presented graphically. My only quibble is that the book's cover doesn't begin to suggest the riches within. In all, an exceptional effort at an extremely attractive price, thanks to the Chipstone Foundation's involvement.

From the two color book ribbons sewn into the binding to the heavy duty paper and bright, clear illustrations, this book is almost certainly the best produced new book I have ever seen. I resisted buying it for some months because of the price, but I was wrong to delay. The Chipstone Foundation and the Milwaukee Art Museum, and especially the designer, Wynne Patterson, are to be highly commended for producing a book of the highest quality. That is no small achievement in these pinch-penny days.

Long lost is the fine art of hand-binding books in leather and half-leather, but this book comes as close to the sensual delights of a handmade book of the 18th century as any I have ever seen.

Some of this praise must, of course, be reserved for the author. Some of the sensual delights of this book arise from the integration of black and white advertisements from historical sources, color pictures of painted furniture, close-up images of painted surfaces and ancillary images such as pictures of mocha ware, doll houses, quilts and folk portraits. The conscious effort to vary our range of focus adds a whole new dimension to the experience of reading the book.

I think that Priddy has an esoteric argument to make in his text, and I'm not sure he entirely makes his case. Sometimes, the words fight against the images, but the book is so beguilingly beautiful that the reader is ultimately won over by the sheer fancy imbedded in the effort.

Most of the time, we buy a book for its subject matter and treatment. Here there we have an additional reason. American Fancy is simply one of the finest books made in modern times. It is pure a delight.

I really enjoyed this on several levels. It's a beautifully produced book, with gorgeous illustrations and photographs, and it provides a very good introduction to the Arts and Crafts movement. The book includes information about its origins and leading exponents, and sections on archutecture, furniture, design, and crafts, all copiously illustrated. There is also a list of sources in the back. This book is excellent for browsers, for those wanting a good introduction to the Arts and Crafts movement, or for those who just like beautiful art books.

If you've purchased several books about decorating with Arts and Crafts style and wish to get a more in-depth knowledge of the movement, it's proponents and influences, then this is the book for you. From William Morris to Gustav Stickley, Jane Addams to Frank Lloyd Wright, the author covers the who's who of the movemement, large and small. The book is full of excellent photographs and covers a broad spectrum of the styles popular in Europe and America and how it's design philosophy was incorporated into everything from jewelry to homes. When one thinks of the Arts and Crafts style, Stickley's Craftsman style usually is one of the first things that comes to mind. The "Arts and Crafts Companion" quickly proves that there is much more to the style including Nouveau, Minimalist and Japanese influences. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a great reference book as well as to learn much more about the Arts and Crafts movement.

This book is informative, well indexed and offers great quality with regard to print, photographic images and text for the price. Very readable.

Excellent pictures, beautiful book and fun to see all the different sizes, areas, and ideas about those homes that were around me in my childhood in Pacific Palisades/Brentwood. Loved the book - it was very well presented! I certainly didn't appreciate how inovative Cliff May's architecture was.

I bought this as a gift for my son and daughter-in-law as they live in a Cliff May that they need to update. They need to make changes to the kitchen but want to maintain the integrity of the design. They have both told me that this is a wonderful book and it has given them many good ideas. So, based on their recommendations, I would have to rate this highly. I am looking forward to a visit with them so I can actually see the book in person!!

I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to all Cliff May owners and prospective owners. Gregory does a wonderful job of balancing academic research and analysis with colorful anecdotes about the man behind the homes. The photography is top-notch, especially the archived images brought to life from the past.

This book, and a traveling exhibit due at Yale this fall and The Smithsonian in early next year, captures the feelings and human aspect of what happens when a family owned furniture factory is closed due to a hostile takeover. The pictures and accompaning text document from an historical and extremely personal perspective the lives of workers in a small town in North Carolina, dependant on each other and the factory, and the devastation that occurs when big city, outside forces make an impersonal decision regarding people 1000 miles away.

a reasonably balanced view of a factory closing that doesn't make the owner out to be a devil (although some former workers clearly feel that way). Shows the human side of what happens when decisions are made based on the aseptic "bottom line". If anything, the book is not hard enough on the original family, the 1st generation that admirably built the company and the second generation that let it deteriorate (the book details how the 2 family members at the top didn't even talk to one another and used separate entrances to the building! Is it any wonder the financials deteriorated and they had to sell?)

The only thing missing is an interview with the capitalist that closed the plant. If they tried and he refused the book ought to say so, otherwise it seems that at least a few pages could have been devoted to his side of the story.

All in all, though, a great book to read, as a counterbalance for all of us that invest thru our 401Ks and retirement accounts expecting great returns and divorced from how those returns are obtained (and at what cost to some people).

This book does an excellent job of demonstrating the effects of a factory closing in a small southern town. As a former resident of the town (childhood home) and a former worker in the machine room and rubbing room of White's Furniture Factory, I was amazed at the depth of analysis and truthfulness in this book. This book demonstrated how the closing of a factory not only affects the workers, but prior workers, and the entire population of the town. I was surprised to see the pictures that were included that told a story all to themselves. This book is highly recommended for college professors wishing to pursue the effects of a factory closing and other downsizing efforts on a small town's population. A great story line supplemented by outstanding pictures as the authors take the reader through the last years of a 100+ year factory that the entire town centered their lives around. Highly recommended for those interested in the effects of a closing on the local population.