Decent book on furniture?

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fobos8

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Hi all

I'm fairly new to furniture making and was just wondering if there is a good book that covers the basics very well.

I've got a dining table and chairs to make and I'm keen to do as much background reading before I make a balls up of it all!

Something with lots of pictures and a easy to understand writing style would be great.

Best regards, Andrew
 
Best of luck with your search Andrew.......I can't help you with book suggestions. However, I can say..........."I wouldn't start from here"!!

After 30 years of making furniture I would still take a deep breath before attempting a set of dining room chairs. Attempting those in some decent timber would be my way of saying to myself that I was getting pretty confident in my skills. I wouldn't have any qualms about the table, but to make 6 or 8 chairs all the same........or at least, all in a set......well, I'm still trying to pluck up the courage.

Mike

PS How about a drawing?
 
The Technique of Furniture Making is widely regarded as an excellent resource for furniture making techniques and construction.

Do you already have a design in mind for the table? If not, this book could be worth a look - note that you can Look Inside! for free! :wink:

As Mike says, normally, you'd work your way up through a series of tables, boxes and other 'four-sided-frames' before going anywhere near a set of chairs... One chair is challenging enough!! :?
 
I'd hesitate before I launched into making chairs, unless they're fairly straight forward, with no compound angles. I made a set of eight oval spider backed Hepplewhite carvers some years ago now and they were difficult to say the least :roll: :wink:
If you want a book on techniques then Joyce's tome comes highly recommended - Rob
 
Hi Andrew,
Like Olly said, Joyce is the one to get (often refered to as 'The Bible'). The only thing is the text constantly refers to pictures and diagrams that are on a different page, so you have to keep turning back a page or two to see what the text is refering too... or is it just me finds this annoying... :?
 
many thanks guys

gonna get the joyce book.

I don't have a design for the table yet. Gonna look round some posh furniture shops at weekend for some "inspiration".

I realise that the chairs will be a challenge. If I do them I will come up with a fairly straightforward design.

Thanks for the help and tips, Andrew
 
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