recommendations for furniture making basics book/websites?

[gavinr]

maybe a bit of a how long is a piece of string type question in some ways, but i'm after some basic furniture making techniques, primarily for working with sheet materials, and wondered if anyone could recommend any books that i could go looking for on ebay etc that would point me in the right direction. for instance are there any definitive texts that are a must read?

i'm not looking to make anything elaborate, its more mid century style tables, cabinets etc, so i'm looking for info on the various methods of joining pieces, veneering (wood and formica), attaching legs etc.

books items incorporating bent ply pieces would be a bonus as i already do that albeit for surfboards and skateboards. in short what i'm looking for is a basic overview of the basic techniques involved.

any advice greatly appreciated, i've even looked into short courses at colleges which would be ideal to get me going but sadly all the affordable ones are the other side of the country to me.

 

[PAC1]

The Technique of Furniture Making by Ernest Joyce and Alan Peters. It was last updated in the 1980's so the pictures and machines are out of date. But for basic technique and how to do woodworking it is excellent.
Where about in the UK are you?

 

[memzey]

The Technique of Furniture Making by Ernest Joyce and Alan Peters. It was last updated in the 1980's so the pictures and machines are out of date. But for basic technique and how to do woodworking it is excellent.
Where about in the UK are you?

+1 for this book (apart from the outdated bit IMHO-not that much has changed really). It's a big old book but a great read. One to keep as a reference book going forward even after you have read it a few times.

 

[Bm101]

woodwork-book-for-beginners-hand-tools-only-t68101.html
Good thread here Gavin. Also worth keeping an eye on the Sale Section once you know what you want.
Dammit. I've just been on Amazon and bought the Joyce book and the Krenov one. *sighs
Got a new job so I'm treating myself to a couple of woodworking books. What have I become?!? :shock:
I blame you lot.
All. Of. You.

 

[davin]

Tage Frid books are very good.
He was a Danish born furniture maker, his style was quite contemporary and his books cover laminating and curved work.

 

[Jacob]

Alf Martensson was the ply furniture man. His books are still around. He's retired and living in France, we discovered recently.
Paul Sellers - practical and comprehensive but at a fairly basic level. Excellent on tools/techniques, not too good on design.
Arrived this morning: "Mid Century Modern Furniture" Michael Crow. looks good - has interesting intro to modern designers, Klint, Wegner, Knoll etc. and practical projects for the design-aspirational beginner.
Joyce is good. Not sure what Alan Peter's contribution was.
Ignore Krenov and the dead-end cultish world of amateur woodworking.

Basically you need to buy a lot of books and find your own preferred way!

PS Thos Moser books are good and have measured drawings.

PPS have a look at Brian's site https://www.facebook.com/groups/Woodwor ... s/?fref=ts

 

[AJB Temple]

Joyce is the bible. I still use mine.

 

[WellsWood]

I know it's a highly unfashionable concept these internet driven days, but whenever these "which book do I need" threads come up my first thought is always "where's your nearest library?". It's surprising how much you can pick up as a beginner from a peaceful hour or 2 perusing what's on the shelves - and will cost you nothing.

 

[ED65]

If the vintage or mid-century styling doesn't put you off there were a good few books and manuals on using plywood put out in the 50s and 60s and many have been digitised so you can download PDF or Kindle versions.

Some were sponsored or directly authored by plywood manufacturers, to publicise the material and explain the ways it could be used, joined and finished. They're not bad but they tend to be more bite-size, the most comprehensive one is I think "Plywood Working for Everybody" by John Gerald Shea which is over 200 pages.

 

[ED65]

I know it's a highly unfashionable concept these internet driven days, but whenever these "which book do I need" threads come up my first thought is always "where's your nearest library?". It's surprising how much you can pick up as a beginner from a peaceful hour or 2 perusing what's on the shelves - and will cost you nothing.

+1

I've been slowly working my way through my county's entire collection of woodworking titles over the past year or two, using the inter-library loan system. I was chuffed no end to discover just recently that one local city branch has a copy of Wearing's "The Essential Woodworker", which I'd been dying to have a look at for ages since reading about it.

 

[Beau]

Another thumbs up for Joyce here

 

[gavinr]

Thanks, some good stuff I had not heard of.

Jacob, I would be interested to hear what you think of the mid century making book as I've been looking at that too.

The library comment is interesting. It was actually my first place to look using the counties online search but the thing is when you consider that my local library is a 10mile round trip drive, parking is £1.20 (cost x2 as the book has to be returned) and to get books in (local branch has no furniture making) it's £3.90, then a copy of Joyce from eBay as bought last night for £2.74 including postage, is a much more sensible option. A shame as I believe libraries should be supported, but sadly, and let's face it government and councils are to blame through lack of investment, they are not the resources they once were.... At least not in Cornwall.

 

[Jacob]

...
Jacob, I would be interested to hear what you think of the mid century making book as I've been looking at that too......

I've only had a quick gander.
Good intro to the design history.
OK but not inspired on tools and techniques - a bit DIY he's obviously not a pro maker.
The designs are his own versions of various classy originals and he gives dimensions and exploded drawings of his own proposed construction details. These look OK but simplified and DIY ish. What they also omit of course is the fine detail of Scandi - curves needing spokeshave, sander, rasp, hand finishing.

A DIY intro to mid century modern, worth having in your collection - strictly as an intro, nothing definitive here!

 

[Trigs]

I was looking on eBay last night, heaps of books on there

 

[sundaytrucker]

I have found Practical Design Solutions and Strategies (Essentials Of Woodworking) to be a good resource for a beginner like myself.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1561583448?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

 

[Wizard9999]

The library comment is interesting. It was actually my first place to look using the counties online search but the thing is when you consider that my local library is a 10mile round trip drive, parking is £1.20 (cost x2 as the book has to be returned) and to get books in (local branch has no furniture making) it's £3.90, then a copy of Joyce from eBay as bought last night for £2.74 including postage, is a much more sensible option. A shame as I believe libraries should be supported, but sadly, and let's face it government and councils are to blame through lack of investment, they are not the resources they once were.... At least not in Cornwall.

You did well on the eBay purchase, having seen the number of positive comments I had a look for Joyce and cheapest copy I could see was c.£25. Whereas our library is two miles away, with free parking and an inter-library loan is 50p, think I'll give that a go, especially as it is under threatand people are being told to 'use it, or lose it'.

Terry.

 

[Racers]

Have a look at https://www.youtube.com/user/doucetteandwolfe for some serious hand tool work.

Pete