Roubo on Furniture

[Petey83]

Been contemplating the Roubo on Furniture book since I first saw it for pre order on classic hand tools but having only just started to focus on hand tool work and having not read any of Roubo's work before I was wondering what people may expect from this book and if it truly is worthwhile to hand tool beginners? Has anyone ever read an original French text?

https://www.classichandtools.com/acatal ... Press.html (top of the page)

 

[Jacob]

Looks very interesting and very expensive - go for it!
I would have thought not ideal first choice for a hand tools beginner - there are masses of more modern books probably more useful at a fraction of the price. Peter Sellers is good.

 

[Petey83]

Looks very interesting and very expensive - go for it!
I would have thought not ideal first choice for a hand tools beginner - there are masses of more modern books probably more useful at a fraction of the price. Peter Sellers is good.

it is massively expensive! I already have "The Anarchists tool chest" and the excellent "The Essential Woodworker" by Robert Wearing so am versed in technique, just not very practiced.

The book only peaked my interest as Roubo seems to be the gold standard of woodworking - his bench design seems to be the most popular one in America (based on reading American forums etc). Its just I do not know much about Roubo (shamefully??)

 

[AndyT]

I will probably buy it some time. I already have the earlier one on Marquetry, with no intention to make 18th century style marquetry. However, I enjoyed reading it, as a long, detailed answer to the question "how did they make things like thst?"

The book production is excellent. Better value without the dollar exchange rate but we can't have everything.

If you want really comprehensive writing aimed at a practical beginner, I think their reprint of Charles Hayward would be a better option, assuming you don't already have the originals like I do.

 

[bugbear]

Looks very interesting and very expensive - go for it!
I would have thought not ideal first choice for a hand tools beginner - there are masses of more modern books probably more useful at a fraction of the price. Peter Sellers is good.

it is massively expensive! I already have "The Anarchists tool chest" and the excellent "The Essential Woodworker" by Robert Wearing so am versed in technique, just not very practiced.

The book only peaked my interest as Roubo seems to be the gold standard of woodworking - his bench design seems to be the most popular one in America (based on reading American forums etc). Its just I do not know much about Roubo (shamefully??)

Roubo is the bench most often talked about on American forums. I strongly doubt is the most popular design by actual workbenches.

BugBear

 

[Petey83]

I will probably buy it some time. I already have the earlier one on Marquetry, with no intention to make 18th century style marquetry. However, I enjoyed reading it, as a long, detailed answer to the question "how did they make things like thst?"

The book production is excellent. Better value without the dollar exchange rate but we can't have everything.

If you want really comprehensive writing aimed at a practical beginner, I think their reprint of Charles Hayward would be a better option, assuming you don't already have the originals like I do.

I have looked at the Hayward series but it seems they do not have all of them in stock now but if they are worth it I may try hunting them down on the internet.

I forgot to mention I also have Ernest Joyce - The encyclopedia of furniture making - good book but it is a mixture of machinery and traditional and does feel a tad dated now IMO.

 

[Jacob]

books are very good value. This one pricey but you'd keep it for life. Compare a years magazine subs for a crap mag which you'd dump as soon as you'd flipped through it!

 

[D_W]

Looks very interesting and very expensive - go for it!
I would have thought not ideal first choice for a hand tools beginner - there are masses of more modern books probably more useful at a fraction of the price. Peter Sellers is good.

it is massively expensive! I already have "The Anarchists tool chest" and the excellent "The Essential Woodworker" by Robert Wearing so am versed in technique, just not very practiced.

The book only peaked my interest as Roubo seems to be the gold standard of woodworking - his bench design seems to be the most popular one in America (based on reading American forums etc). Its just I do not know much about Roubo (shamefully??)

Roubo is the bench most often talked about on American forums. I strongly doubt is the most popular design by actual workbenches.

BugBear

Eurostyle with a tail vise was probably a lot more common here until the tidal wave of amateur oriented books recently.

There were a lot of more plain benches here in pa when people were using tomake a living.

 

[shed9]

books are very good value. This one pricey but you'd keep it for life. Compare a years magazine subs for a rubbish mag which you'd dump as soon as you'd flipped through it!

I'd agree with this, the woodworking magazines are mostly adverts and reprints from sister publications these days. Not sure how they stay in business. A good book will pay for itself over time and obviously not as disposable as a rack of magazines.


Have to say though, I preferred Peter Sellers' films over his woodworking skills.

 

[G S Haydon]

I tend to have more time to read than actually do recreational woodworking. I've been clearing out some of the books I've read on the "For Sale" area of the forum but have also kept quite a few, that even after reading, still provide a valuable resource.

I would recommend the Roubo book if you are really interested in 18th Century woodworking from the French perspective. I think what sets Roubo's work apart is the way in which he documented the work so comprehensively that was done at that time. It's also interesting because the 18th century is broadly the zenith of hand tool work.

The french style bench design shown in Roubo is good and you'd not go far wrong in making one. However there are other designs that also work just as well. If you have the time to practice then the Wearing book should be all you need. But if you like reading I'm sure Roubo will be great, they've worked very hard on it.

I have the campaign furniture from LAP and think it's a great offering. The ATC however I sold, I think it's a marmite book.

 

[skipdiver]

Didn't know Peter Sellers was into hand woodwork. Must have helped him relax between takes. :wink:

 

[Petey83]

I tend to have more time to read than actually do recreational woodworking. I've been clearing out some of the books I've read on the "For Sale" area of the forum but have also kept quite a few, that even after reading, still provide a valuable resource.

I would recommend the Roubo book if you are really interested in 18th Century woodworking from the French perspective. I think what sets Roubo's work apart is the way in which he documented the work so comprehensively that was done at that time. It's also interesting because the 18th century is broadly the zenith of hand tool work.

The french style bench design shown in Roubo is good and you'd not go far wrong in making one. However there are other designs that also work just as well. If you have the time to practice then the Wearing book should be all you need. But if you like reading I'm sure Roubo will be great, they've worked very hard on it.

I have the campaign furniture from LAP and think it's a great offering. The ATC however I sold, I think it's a marmite book.

I do enjoy reading and have a couple of train journeys each day that allow some time to read.

I would not say i have a specific interest in the design of 18th century furniture but i do have an interest in the construction techniques used.

Despite being a child of the computer age and having learnt so much from the internet (You tube - best thing ever!), I still enjoy a good book and all the LAP are superbly made and reminde me of the books in my grandparents house as opposed to the glossy modern books we have today.
Given the Hayward books are already out of stock and will need some hunting down I may treat myself to the Robou book while its more readily available and hunt down the Hayward books later this year.

 

[bugbear]

...and hunt down the Hayward books later this year.

Perhaps AndyT can advise on which Hayward books to get. Hayward is (truly)
great, but his various books don't 'alf lift from each other.

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

I forgot to mention I also have Ernest Joyce - The encyclopedia of furniture making - good book but it is a mixture of machinery and traditional and does feel a tad dated now IMO.

The odd thing is that machine tool information dates much faster than hand tool information. Hooper and Wells seems a lot
less dated than Joyce.

post1011500.html?hilit=hooper#p1011500

(to OP: actually that thread may have some useful information for you)

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

...and hunt down the Hayward books later this year.

Perhaps AndyT can advise on which Hayward books to get. Hayward is (truly)
great, but his various books don't 'alf lift from each other.

BugBear

I'm away from the books just now and on a slow connection but I think there are some old threads covering that question.

It's definitely true to say that there is a lot of overlap between the various Beginner/Junior/Complete titles he wrote. The publicity material for the LAP book, which is of course derived from the Woodworker magazine rather than the books, admits this and tries to make a virtue of it. In practice, I think any of the intro books would do, so go for whatever you can find used in good nick. The only one which commands a higher price is the one on joints, but the basic halving, m+t and dovetail are in the other books anyway.

 

[DoctorWibble]

I suspect the reverence for Roubo stateside has as much to do with Christopher Schwartz (who quotes him like some ancient prophet) and Benchcrafted who used Roubo inspired bench plans to promote their vices. Schwarz goes to Roubo because he's the oldest in depth source and that gives his journalism a point of difference but that doesn't in itself mean Roubo represents any kind of "gold standard". Alternate views from the 18th century are hard to come by but no doubt if the internet was available then Roubo would've been comprehensively rubbished on a daily basis. Not because he is rubbish but because there would have been hundreds of ways of doing things then as there are now. I'd treat the modern reverence with a big pinch of salt. So I'd buy it if you're interested in historic woodwork but not if you're hoping to learn the best techniques.
Nothing wrong with the bench itself (other than it calls for the use of expensive and slippery hardwoods) but it seems most often made to decorate a dusty and soon forgotten corner of giant machine shops, cf the Wood Whisperer. Its perhaps become a right of passage as much as a tool for handwork.

 

[D_W]

It is entirely due to Schwarz, at least almost entirely. I know of two people who would talk about Roubo having read it long before it was reprinted - George Wilson and Warren Mickley.

I'm sure there are lots of others who read Roubo, too, but few of the people on the american forums would've heard of it without chris schwarz writing about it.

They're too busy on american forums talking about how inconsistent old tools are (which is just plain ******y).

 

[bugbear]

It is entirely due to Schwarz, at least almost entirely. I know of two people who would talk about Roubo having read it long before it was reprinted - George Wilson and Warren Mickley.

I'm sure there are lots of others who read Roubo, too, but few of the people on the american forums would've heard of it without chris schwarz writing about it.

They're too busy on american forums talking about how inconsistent old tools are (which is just plain ******y).

If you're talking about the 2008 reprint, I think it's far from Roubo "ground zero".

The most obvious evidence is the Workbench Book (Landis, 1987) which has a bench design from Roubo.

A quick search on OLDTOOLS shows people people referencing Roubo long before 2008, and not just on bench design.

BugBear

 

[D_W]

It is entirely due to Schwarz, at least almost entirely. I know of two people who would talk about Roubo having read it long before it was reprinted - George Wilson and Warren Mickley.

I'm sure there are lots of others who read Roubo, too, but few of the people on the american forums would've heard of it without chris schwarz writing about it.

They're too busy on american forums talking about how inconsistent old tools are (which is just plain ******y).

If you're talking about the 2008 reprint, I think it's far from Roubo "ground zero".

The most obvious evidence is the Workbench Book (Landis, 1987) which has a bench design from Roubo.

A quick search on OLDTOOLS shows people people referencing Roubo long before 2008, and not just on bench design.

BugBear

Could be, not many of them spoke up later then. Am I correct that the earlier texts were available only in French? I reference Warren because he speaks French. I don't think George does, but he worked in a museum setting where finding someone who does would not be an issue (and I know they are, or at least were pretty intense about historical context). George would've been studying it in the '70s, same for Warren - each for different reasons.

I brought up a search on old tools and see don mcconnell and others talking about roubo stuff, but quite a lot of the posts are after 2007 (when the workbench book was published - schwarzs, not the 1987 book by landis). Of course, a larger menu of roubo stuff has been printed since, but the incidence of heavy use for purchasers is probably about the same as Lie Nielsen planes.

This reminds me that I need to sell some books that I foolishly bought when I started and then never referenced - for instance when making planes or making a workbench.

(I had a discussion about this with George once, where we were talking about the difference between print/media and doing. George's assessment that a lot of the media, like Roy's show, are attractive to people because they can watch (read in the case of a book) and imagine that they could do something and then not do it. Because imagining something is more pleasant to most people than doing things. Not to say there aren't texts that are heavily applied in some instances, or that there aren't heavily used premium planes. The books and premium planes that I've bought used had injury from inactivity far more than injury from use, though.

Back to the original point, though, most of the roubo traffic on US forums is due to Chris Schwarz (and I'm not accusing him of having an original thought, he was probably just publishing stuff he read about on the oldtools list or badger pond).

 

[Corneel]

There was originally also a German version. You can find a (pretty bad) scan on google books. I have read parts of it, mostly about the tools. Interesting but not so easy to read for modern minds.

My interest was probably mostly spiked by Schwarz too. He certainly has generated a lot of interest in the history of woodworking.

I will buy a copy too, because this kind of stuff interests me.