No comments about Encyclopaedia of Furniture Materials, Trades and Techniques.

2 comments about Jim Tolpin's Guide to Becoming a Professional Cabi (Popular Woodworking).

1. many people who love to work wood decide to do it for a living, and this book covers the basics. as far as this type of cabinetmaking book goes, it is pretty good. for most of us, the cabinets are not the issue. the problem is that suddenly we have to know taxes, paperwork, marketing, some law, personnel management, etc.
   
   where all these books fall short is in the stuff we don't want to do: set up a business plan in depth. why are you different from the guy down the street who is making boxes too? why are you better, where is your weakness? any book can tell you how to make a face frame cabinet or euro cabinet, but what about the other aspects you will have to know?
   
   again, it is a book of value, and better than the others of this genre i have read, but check it out and go from there.



2. The book is about managing a cabinet making and installation job. It contains solid shop and job site tips from a salient and obviously experienced author. It does contain some construction guides but they are very basic and not the focus of the book. Jim did author another book regarding cabinet construction which I do have and highly recommend.
   
   In closing, I used the advise of the text to fit a sample cabinet set up for a corner of my hobby shop. Tops and bottoms for about 8 feet of total counter length. Used story sticks and Jim's layout advise. The stick is a great method for translating positions from the wall to the ply sheets. The ceilings and floors of the shop are uneven there and it allowed me to test Jim's cabinet fitting advise during the install. Some of the generic forms in the book were also very helpful. everything is square plumb and tight and nice to the eye.
   
   Those were my first cabinets made ( attempting a glue-up counter now also ). The wife likes them, so maybe I accomplished something. Need more pine and poplar to practice. I have no expectations that I will be competing with any of the home improvement stores or established cabinet shops. My brother and I on occasion will renovate and resell homes therefore remodeling a kitchen for cost is a priceless skill and will help our margins. Thanks Jim.

No comments about Ingenious Shop AIDS And Jigs: Professional Shortcut for the Home Workshop.

No comments about Pvc Furniture (Weekend Workshop Collection).

No comments about Fine Woodworking Design: Original Furniture from the World's Finest Craftsmen (Fine Woodworking Design).

No comments about Airbrushing Techniques for Waterfowl Carving.

No comments about Easy ways to expert woodworking.

No comments about Router Techinques: An In Depth Guide to Using Your Router (Weekend Woodworker).

No comments about The Technique of Furniture Making.

4 comments about Arts & Crafts Furniture: Projects You Can Build for the Home (Woodworker's Library (Fresno, Calif.).).

1. This is a nice presentation of fifteen projects in the Arts & Crafts style. Designed from pictures in old catalogs, the problems in construction are solved by Blair Howard as he guides you through each project. The first chapters deal with the designers, their furniture, construction techniques, finish techniques, and materials. The remaining chapters are devoted to the actual pieces. Accomplished woodworkers might find the detailed instructions excessive, but beginners will appreciate the explanations. An excellent beginner's book for Arts & Crafts reproduction at home, with a few designs not seen elsewhere.



2. I enjoyed Blair Howard's writing style and as a beginning woodworker, appreaciated his completeness and that he went over the techniques he used for every single project, rather than leaving it up to the reader to decide which techniques to use. The book focuses a lot on mortise+tenon joinery, which I appreciate, and does go over the various ways of creating mortises and tenons with machines, though it does not do any more than mention how one would go about making mortises and tenons with hand tools. The projects are rather unique and I am interested in making virtually every one. I appreciated the variety of designers, instead of only presenting Stickley pieces.



3. This book has some good ideas and nice pictures but the plans are not as detailed as I thought they would be. If you are just looking to add to your book collection this would be an interesting filler.



4. As other reviewers have noted, a good book of A&C furniture plans. For example, it has a plan for a Stickley bench, that I haven't found elsewhere. But, some of the finer details needed more explanation. For example, on the Stickley bench, there is a drawing of what the through tendon should look like, but it needed a close-up picture instead.
   
   There is just a mention in the book of using house hold ammonia to fume in color, I'm going to try that on some scrap and see how it works out.
   
   A minor nit - the author's wood choices are just plain bad. If you are going to make items like this, go spend a few more bucks and buy quarter sawn white oak. Better yet, make the entire piece from wood of one tree.
   
   A good book, good plans with almost enough details. Worth your time to take a look.