Classic designs, beautiful crafting, and fine details: traditional furniture making has them all. A fifth-generation cabinetmaker and restorer shows how today''s woodworkers can create timeless pieces while exploiting modern techniques and equipment, as well as those used since the 18th century. This proven blend of past and present approaches to producing period furniture, including constructing dovetailed drawers and hand veneering, reaches its apex in five highly detailed projects, each exhaustively illustrated with plans, explanatory drawings, and color photographs. Fashion an oak mule chest with broken-arch paneled doors, using a biscuit joiner; a tapered-leg dressing table; a sofa table, which demands calculating rule and finger joints; an extending table with telescopic runners and a platform stretcher; and a breakfast bookcase.

Rev. ed. of: The new fine points of furniture.1993.

Back by popular demand, these classic woodworking titles from Fine Woodworking magazine are filled with first-rate information that is as timeless now as it was when first published. To many craftsmen and collectors, the 18th century was the golden age of American furniture design. In this collection of 37 articles from Fine Woodworking magazine, expert woodworkers explore the designs and techniques involved in making the furniture of this era. They share precise plans for favorite old desks, secretaries, and blockfronts, with technical explanations of how to reproduce such fine details as ball-and-claw feet and tapered reeds. There are also practical design discussions for those who wish to capture the flavor of that time in original designs of their own. Since it began publication in 1975, Fine Woodworking has written about practically every aspect of the craft. The "Fine Woodworking on..." series organizes many of the articles from the magazine into individual volumes by subject. Each book in this series offers and in-depth look at a particular aspect of woodworking, from the perspective of skilled professional and dedicated amateur woodworkers.

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Bowett charts the species, sources, and history of the woods used in British furniture making from medieval times to the twentieth century. The main dictionary section of the book has 460 entries that cover 477 species of hardwoods and softwoods and detail the history of each wood, describe its uses, and provide cross references to other woods. Extensively illustrated with examples of historic furniture, this book also includes an introductory survey of the historic timber trade and several appendices, including over 160 illustrated wood samples from the Economic Botany collection at Kew Gardens. The layout and accompanying photographs make this a valuable and accessible read that will interest furniture and antique enthusiasts, collectors, restorers, curators, and botanists, among others.