Decent book on furniture?

[fobos8]

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

 

[MikeG.]

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?

 

[OPJ]

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!! :?

 

[Racers]

Hi, Andrew

Make a softwood mockup first, thats what I did have a look here,
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... mas+chairs

I will be making another 2 chairs before this Xmas so I can do a better WIP showing the jigs for cutting the tennons etc.
14 peices in each chair so thats 56 peices in total!

Pete

 

[jedmc571]

This was suggested by Brad Naylor, I bought it on Amazon, it covers pretty much all the basics, it really is a good book, not the cheapest, but great content.

Cheers

Jed

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Illust ... 457&sr=8-1

 

[woodbloke]

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

 

[DangerousDave]

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... :?

 

[DangerousDave]

...Like Olly said...

...and Rob as well. Must learn to read posts properly

 

[fobos8]

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