Furniture You Can Build
Improve Your Skills While Enjoying Your Time In The Shop. Written Especially for Those Who Can't Devote All Hours of the Day to Woodworking

Geared for real people - those who want to improve hand-tool and machine skills, but not willing to embark on a seven-year apprenticeship - this book is designed to help you enjoy your time in the shop.

As you work through these pages, you'll learn how to work with and build on the skills and tools you already have. And when the sawdust settles, you should also have a few attractive pieces to add to your home or give to friends. My sincerest hope is that someone may look at one of your projects and say, "Wow, you made this yourself?"

Having written and edited hundred of pages of workshop and home improvement material, I've been fortunate to have met and worked with real woodworkers: people who could dovetail a drawer (by hand) in five minutes, plane wispy shavings off the gnarliest wood one guy could even identify wood by taste. If these folks were to cut themselves (mind you, it would never happen in the shop), you'd discover that sap, not blood, flows through their veins. Ill be the first to admit that I'm not one of them . . . yet.

If they're what you'd consider woodworkers, then I'm just a guy who enjoys making things from wood. My shop is far from dreamy; you cant tell by the photos, but I'm sharing space with a car, lawnmower, and miscellaneous garden equipment. My home is becoming filled with some nice pieces, but I'm certainly not at the point where I'm ready to quit my day job. Woodworking is a passion, not the passion, of my life. And for now, I'm happy to keep it that way.

With that difference in mind, I've geared this book for real people: readers who enjoy making sawdust, but still want (or need) time to mow the lawn, go to their kids soccer game, or paint the house. To them, the dream shop is still a dream. Woodworking involves a combination of compromises: lusting for the best tools but not wanting a second mortgage; trying to design a comfortable shop but needing to work around a car or washer and dryer; wanting to improve hand-tool and machine skills, but not willing to embark on a seven-year apprenticeship.

This book is designed to help you enjoy your time in the shop. As you work through these pages, you'll learn how to work with and build on the skills and tools you already have. And when the sawdust settles, you should also have a few attractive pieces to add to your home or give to friends. My sincerest hope is that someone may look at one of your projects and say, "Wow, you made this yourself?"

My mentors might flip through these pages, but I must point out that this book isnt for them; rather, its for the other 99 percent of the woodworking world. If this book gives you the confidence to teach another up-and-coming sawdust maker, then at that point well both be real woodworkers.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Desk Organizer
Buying Materials
Building the Case
Building the Drawer
Finishing

Blanket Box
Buying Materials
Building the Blanket Box
Assembling the Case
Making the Lid and Adding the Hinges
Make the Drawer
Finishing the Box

Arts and Crafts Storage Bench
Buying Materials
Building the Bench
Making the Legs
Building the Sides
Assembling the Box
Making the Lid
Finishing

Serving Table
Buying Materials
Gluing up the Top
Building the Legs
Building the Feet
Building the Stretcher and Top Supports
Assembling the Base
Building the Bottom Tray
Finishing
Final Assembly

Sofa Table
Buying Materials
Building the Sofa Table
Making the Plywood Panels
Grooving the Legs and Rails
Assembling the Panels
Making and Installing the Shelf
Building the Top
Finishing Touches

Bookcase
Buying Materials
Building the Bookcase
Making the Plywood Panels
Grooving the Legs and Rails
Assembling the Panels
Building Sturdy Shelves
Building the Top
Finishing Touches

Simple Bed
Buying Materials
Starting and Finishing the Rails
Making the Legs
Making the Headboard and Footboard
Making the Bed

Desk
Buying Materials
Making the Top
Building the Base
Making and Fitting the Drawer
Applying a Two-Part Finish
Final Assembly
 

Soft-cover, 8-1/2 x 10-7/8 in., 176 pages, with photos and drawings
Published 2006

ISBN: 978-1-56158-796-4