2 comments about A Black & Decker Complete Guide to Basic Woodworking: Skills and Projects Every Woodworker Needs (Black & Decker Complete Guide).

1. Recently, I have developed an interest in working with wood. I have created a few things on my own, mostly wooden toys to distribute this last christmas. Woodworking is a hobby that can be quite overwhelming in both the lack of and the excess of information available. There are so many things to consider, such as tools, wood, stains, joinery, etc. This sometimes makes the beginning woodworker feel that his/her best bet would be to put the tools back in the box and have a rummage sale.
   
   I received this book as a Christmas present. I find the information contained within extremely helpful. It gives a breakdown on most tools available and their uses. It explains the proper techniques for working with woods, the stains available, the varying quality of the material, as well as how some woods will respond to tools and stains. I could not pick a better one volume resource.



2. I was looking for woodworking books in my local library, as I am new to the "Sport" (It's a sport hunting that elusive 'perfect' board in your local specialty lumberyard!) anyway, I checked out several books and returned them all immediatly except this one.
   
   It is very well written and has easy to understand advice that is current. Current as in pertinant to tools and techniques being used today, not in 1998, or even 2001
   
   It explains various terms you come across when reading tool litrature, for example 'snipe', and how to prevent it.
   
   There is a great deal more to say about this book, all positive, but then I would have rewritten it myself, so I'll stop here.
   
   Suffice to say, it's a really great book for novices, and probably a pretty good referance for veteran woodworkers.
   
   I don't usually read this type of book cover-to-cover, but I did this one. (Twice actually...then I had to return it, so then I bought one here!)
   
   This will be a good investment and one which you will use over and over.
   
   By the way, I don't see anywhere that Black & Decker has, or had anything to do with this book, which is, in my opinion, a good thing because a book like this should not be about advertising....but maybe I have a pre B&D copy?

No comments about Decorative Woodcarving: Accessories for the Home.

5 comments about The Book of Shaker Furniture.

1. A classic work on the Shaker community and furniture. Kassay's hand-drawn plans of specific furniture items reflect great detail while remaining relatively easy to follow. Logical organizaton of the content with excellent references. A "must have" for any serious woodworkers interested in or having respect for the Shaker lifestyle. Much deeper content than softcovers on the subject.



2. A great book to show customers. Includes a paragraph detailing each peice, a wonderful history of the shakers and their furniture, overall dimensions, and plans for a limited number of pieces. This book could use some color photos plans for each peice and more detail in the plans, but that was not necessarly the aim of the book, though it achieved what it meant to do well. When reading this book, one feels the struggle shaker cabinet makers were engaged in between simplicity and "the world".



3. I'm, as a woodworker, an advanced amateur (I'm a Civil Engineer). One of my last works was a case with 27 (yes twentyseven) drawers of 15 different sizes and a door. A few months ago, attracted by a photo in the cover, I bought a book in London (England) about all the aspect of the Shaker Community and with a great surprise, I found there something very similar to what I had drafted and done. I didn't even know the existence of a Shaker Community before. Do you believe in reincarnation??? So I become extremely interested and tried to learn more about all the aspect of the Shaker furniture. I think this book has solved many questions I had and put in my mind many ideas. The drawings, in particular, are extremely clear and accurate and made with a loving care. After having seen this book I' m working to a sewing desk and to a woodworking bench in Shaker style. Certainly I didn't regret the money! Antonello Ruscazio - Sardinia Island - Italy



4. The book presentation itself, is beautiful. Mr Kassay has over thirty years experience teaching industrial style, and it shows in his book. All of the photos are black and white, which at first, struck me as odd -- but Mr Kassay highly successfully uses this medium to help convey the grace, simplicity and sleekness of the Shaker's furniture. In his excellent descriptions, he provides the colors, type of current finish, and the original, if known.

   The measured drawings of the selected items are a work of art by themselves. They are beautiful line drawings with gray shading which gives a three dimensional presence. Mr Kassay carefully and completely exposes the hidden joinery that has often been omitted from the other classics of measured drawings of Shaker furniture. None of the other books that I have read, come close to providing as much detail of the actual craftsmanship of the joints.

   At first impression, my favorite is his drawing and explanation of the Harvard side table with the under slung drawer from the Fruitlands Museum. It's stability has always looked questionable to me, and he openly discusses it and I gained insight how to modify mine to be more sturdy, but still very recognizable as a reproduction of the original.

   Instead of showing photos of one or two examples of each type of item,for example, candle stands, he shows four or more. While he doesn't have measured drawing of each photo, he has at least one measured drawing of each type and provides dimensions on the other pieces. By providing many examples of items, he relates a broad sense of all of the Shaker's candle stands, rather than portraying, "this is the characteristics of this stand, look elsewhere for the big picture."

   He also includes a good history of the Shakers. While the information is fairly common among the books about the Shaker's and their furniture, it makes his book a complete reference for new comers and for people who have only room on their shelf and budget for one book.

   If the reader is interested in the beauty of the Shaker furniture, a beautifully done book, and extremely well done drawings, this is probably the book!




5. I found "The Book of Shaker Furniture" to be very enlightening. I had no idea that REAL Shaker furniture was so ugly. However, to give the author credit, if I wanted to reproduce a piece, I could do so from his drawings and pictures very easily. I also learned a great deal about the history and demise of the Shaker culture.

No comments about Furniture Making: A Foundation Course.

No comments about Decoys of the Mid-Atlantic Region.

No comments about Tables and Chairs (Best of Fine Woodworking).

No comments about Popular Mechanics Workshop: Lathe Fundamentals: The Complete Guide (Popular Mechanics Workshop).

5 comments about Classic English Design and Antiques: Period Styles and Furniture.

1. On Wednesday December 6, 2006 on her TV show, Martha Stewart featured a small number of coffee table books for the holiday season. One of her favorites was this book: Classic English Design and Antiques by Emily Eerdmans. She said - and I quote - "This is a fantastic, fantastic book."
   
   After reading it myself, I must agree Martha had it right. Visually stunning, thoroughly researched and beautifully written - an aesthetic, scholarly and literary tour de force. In short, as Martha said, a fantastic, fantastic book.
   
   Andrew J McKeon



2. In the United States we tend to think of antiques as something our grandmother had, or perhaps something that goes back as far as the Civil War. In English history, in English antiques, that isn't old at all. And the quintessential source for as new condition, museum quality English antique furniture in the United States for the past forty years has been Hyde Park Antiques in New York City.
   
   As Mr. Buatta says: 'The gallery is like a living museum, with the important difference being that you not only get to touch the objects, you have the unparalleled pleasure of being able to take them home with you.'
   
   This book is a beautifully photographed, exquisitely printed collection of some 150 items from the gallery. It is organized by date, beginning with William and Mary & Queen Anne style dating from their reign (1689-1714).
   
   These photographs are accompanied by drawings and photographs of rooms from English (and a few imitation) homes that illustrate how this furniture was combined with other items, perhaps English, Indian or oriental to create English rooms.



3. My hopes were dashed again when I received this book, but I guess its my fault this time. I assumed (from the beautiful cover) that I would be getting a book showcasing traditional interiors, but what I got instead was something that resembled a Sothebys auction catalogue -- that is, a book featuring tasteful English furniture & gewgaws from the inventory of Hyde Park Antiques. There were a few shots of interiors scattered here & there, but they weren't that interesting. (Where's the sagging couch with the half-finished needlepoint, hello?) I wish the people who write blurbs for these books would stop name-dropping my favourite designers (Bunny Williams, you are a goddess!) so I won't keep wasting my money on these expensive doorstoppers. [Maximum Toile weeps in disappointment.] Sniffles.



4. This Book was purchased as a Christmas Gift for a long-time antique collector and enthusiast. She was delighted with the quality of the photographs and information presented, and the beautiful binding and overall presentation.



5. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BOOK ON CLASSIC ENGLISH DESIGN AND A TRIBUTE TO THE HYDE PARK ANTIQUE BUSINESS...WELL WORTH HAVING IN A COLLECTORS LIBRARY....I LOVE LOOOKING AT THE PICTURES OVER AND OVER AGAIN.....

1 comments about Making Period Furniture (Fine Woodworking On).

1. I was a bit leery of this book because it's a collection of articles. My previous experience with collections of articles has not been good - usually they're just a bunch of unrelated stories with no real continuity or theme.

   I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Although this is a collection of articles that appeared in early issues of Fine Woodworking, they build on each other, with very few "junk" articles in the collection. The first article discusses the quality of period joinery and quotes a modern woodworker, Robert Emmertt, as having promised himself, "If I ever got to touch a piece of Goddard furniture, I'd never wash my hand. But now I have seen the back of a genuine Goodard piece and its drawers. And I wash my hands. My construction is better."

   What the article points out is that our woodworking ancestors built furniture for a living - not for art. A modern woodworker, even one with a limited shop, can build period furniture that's as good or better than even Townsend and Goodard. The follow-on articles include pointers to books with measure drawings of period furniture, instructions for building Queen Ann Cabriole legs and Chippendale "claw and ball" feet, and an interesting article on "hidden drawers". It also contains instruction for building a blockfront chest, including a scale drawing of two pieces of blockfront furniture (at 1/4 scale).

   There are a few "junk" articles, of course, (for example, "A Small Highboy") but there's not many in the collection. If you have an interest in period furniture, this is an excellent resource.

   If you're just getting started in woodworking, don't buy this book - you'll be lost. But if you're reasonably proficient, this is an excellent book, especially if you're looking to improve your ability to build period furniture. Highly recommended!

2 comments about Tool-Making Projects for Joinery and Woodworking: A Yankee Craftsman's Practical Methods.

1. I found this book extremely useful and full of great ideas. I would have preferred a book with step by step color pictures but the illustrations are adequate. You do have to actually read the book to get any value out of it since the illustrations are relatively sparse.



2. This has a lot of good, simple, and well explained for anyone wanting to learn some different techniques that goes along with woodworking.