by Bill Hylton

Review by November 2004

This month's review is about a book that has been out of circulation for awhile. My thanks to Bill Hobson, for locating the stray item and bringing it to my attention. Since no one has seen it recently, I thought this created a good opportunity for me to review it and relay my findings to you.

With "Illustrated Cabinet Making" what you read is what you get. The book is a very practical, no-nonsense approach to building all sorts of cabinetry. Its illustrations are all gray, black, and white, but I don't think it detracts from what the author wants to convey. Instead, I think it lends itself to understanding much of the joinery involved due to the "crispness" of the illustrations. It is separated into four sections; Fundamentals, Joints, Subassemblies, and Furniture.

Fundamentals presents anatomy in terms of furniture styles with a chronology that begins with the Pilgrims, reaches midpoint around the Federal period and ends with a page on Victorian and Arts and Crafts/Mission styles. Once past the styles, you read about the nature of wood as a medium; how it moves and continues to do so long after a piece is constructed. But, you already knew about that, didn't you?!

Joints provides the basics of how two or more pieces of wood are combined using time-honored methods of durable connections. Categories within this section include edge, case, frame and rail joinery. The author begins with information about various types of mechanical fasteners, such as dowels, biscuits, screws, and splines. After these, it's on to more sophisticated methods of joinery such as tongue and groove, rabbet, shiplap, spline, and the ubiquitous finger, box, and dovetail joints. There is much more than a mere mention though; many examples are provided that illustrates some elegant techniques for several of these. Also included are some not-so-common techniques; ever make a knuckle-joint completely out of two mating sides? How about pinning a joint with square pegs? It's all covered in here!

Subassemblies builds on the previous section, applying what the reader now knows to construct segments a piece of furniture. It's at this stage that the uninitiated can see how various parts really come together. Categories are based on furniture parts that tend to be complex or difficult to construct. Those commonly described are tabletops, doors, drawers, casework, and applied moldings. Some of these are quite extensive. For example, the author defines many forms of turned legs, and even provides references for things like the nomenclature of the Cabriole Leg.

The final section takes up largest part of the book (about 3/4's of it) by providing a cornucopia of furniture projects to consider. This last section consists of categories such as tables, beds, desks, chests, and cabinets. Just about anything you might want to try is in here. Though all pieces are just briefly described, each contains a small inset with references to a complete set of plans in some other publication. Both periodicals (Woodsmith, Fine Woodworking, Woodworker's Journal, etc.) and texts (Cabinetry, The New Yankee Workshop, Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking, etc.) get the nod. We have many of these books and magazines in our library too!

I also noticed that illustrations change within this section. Up to this point, drawings are rendered in solid gray. Once pictures of furniture are drawn, they get a more refined look by adding grain to virtually all "visible" wood in a piece. I think the author's intention is to suggest how wood is cut to fit a certain part appropriately; e.g., alternating grain for a table-top, quartered "sticks" for rail and stile frames, attractive grain patterns in a raised panel, etc. It's pretty effective. Also listed throughout are "Design Variation" information boxes, which offer additional information regarding evolution of a piece; i.e., how period styles or new techniques influenced the way a piece evolved over time.

I think the book's greatest asset lies in it's depth of coverage. I can't think of a single piece of furniture I'd like to build that the author left out. There are all sorts of examples, from very simply to extremely complex. Many types of cabinets are covered as well. It's not a complete "how-to" book; you won't find detailed instructions on how to create a piece of furniture (but remember, it does refer you elsewhere). There are some assumptions made; basically that the reader has some experience with woodworking and/or furniture-making and understands the precautions and pitfalls that accompany projects like these. But, I think just about everyone in the Guild falls into that category, so it should be no big deal. Anyone just beginning should probably consider a small piece to try with some instructional information to supplement this book.

To sum up, I think this book is a decent part of our library collection. I think anyone mildly to seriously interested in furniture building will find some aspect of it helpful. I recommend giving it the "...'ole once-over..." to see for yourself. This item is currently available for checkout in the Guild library.