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Books for furniture makers


ElgaKoster

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I think most furniture makers have a collection of books for inspiration and techniques and these three are top on my list for techniques, when I started making miniature furniture I knew next to nothing about joinery techniques.

Let's start with a book written for miniature furniture makers, I only know of two that show how to do joinery in miniature and this one is my favorite of the two because of the amount of projects in the book. This is a good book for beginners who wants to learn joinery techniques, I still refer to it from time to time, it doesn't cover every technique but is a good starting point.

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I really like this book of Norman Vandal's, I built two of the Queen Anne chair that is on the front cover, the chairs was my second miniature build where I used joinery and I don't think I could have done it without this book. His plans are excellent, showing lots of detail and he gives in depth written instructions too, I find many writers assume the woodworker knows the techniques and just glances over them. I highly recommend this book for anyone who want to start downscaling full size furniture and each piece in this book is beautiful too, so far I have build three pieces out of this book.

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And lastly this one that gives in depth information on the history, techniques and structure of furniture made in the eighteenth century, he also has a chapter on working out dimensions when you only have a photo to work from, a chapter on how they finished the furniture which I found very interesting and lastly some drawings showing the joinery of some of the most beautiful furniture examples of the time.

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Please join in and tell us about some of your favorite books, I don't think we can ever have too many books on this subject.

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Elga,

The last two books on your post are so often used for my reference they never leave my shop. Here are two more of my favoritesimagejpg2_zpsa61b7f40.jpgimagejpg1_zps3bfe5a92.jpg

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I have the first of these two, will have to keep a look out for the second one, love all their books and their website.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would also recommend, The Fine Points of Furniture, by Albert Sack, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director for Chippendale Fans, and

The Victorian Cabinet-Maker's Assistant by Blackie & Sons, there is a great discussion about identifying wood species in this book.  It seems to me, with enough books, that I found every piece of furniture in a museum,  that I have wanted to reproduce in measured drawings, already published, without those nice museum folks escorting me out when I start measuring with paces.  I would really like to work my way through Harry Smith's book, choosing 12 projects and making it a project a month list for the year I retire, that is going to be one very fun year!

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  • 1 month later...

One more suggestion - over 600 pages packed with information and gorgeous pictures, including unusual construction details, dimensions, and provenance for each piece of furniture. (about 180 pieces of furniture)

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A wonderful book Missy, do you remember Renee brought a copy for me to the hotel in New York last year? It is so heavy nobody wanted to ship it to South Africa, thank goodness for friends all over the globe that are willing to help out! I have a book waiting in The Netherlands for me :-)

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I remember she brought you a book, but didn't remember which one.  Yup, it's huge!  I just ordered a couple that were suggested above.  Thankful that I live in the US when it comes to getting books.

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Elizabeth, my Period Furniture Details book came today, and I can see it's going to be a great book.  Thanks for suggesting it!

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  • 6 months later...

I actually purchased two of these books  (Period Furniture Details & The art of Making furniture in Miniature) upon the recommendations of some of you, both are wonderful. I also have quite an extensive collection of such books, many of them of measured drawings of full size furniture. I also have many issues of The Scale Cabinet Maker. I also checked the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material, very interesting and could be helpful.

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  • 4 months later...

Can anyone recommend a book or similar resource for historically accurate mattress construction?  I'm particularly interested in Indo-Dutch furniture.

 

Thanks.  

   Chris

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Can anyone recommend a book or similar resource for historically accurate mattress construction?  I'm particularly interested in Indo-Dutch furniture.

 

Thanks.  

   Chris

Household inventory descriptions are sometimes your best bet for learning about such items. Here is one of that era that gives a written description of several types of mattresses. But note that cotton stuffed mattresses with tufted covers were just coming into fashion during that time and there were cotton plantations in the Indo-Dutch colonies.

http://www.gunstonhall.org/mansion/room_use_study/textiles.html

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  • 2 years later...

Making Miniature Furniture: The Essential Guide to Producing Exquisite Furniture in 1/12th Scale

by John Davenport

This book is almost all technique (collecting lumber, making hinges, joinery, jigs, finishing a piece, etc...) with very few patterns for furniture but I feel it's a "must have" book for the scale furniture library.

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I'm glad that you bring this back to front of my brain.... I will get the book from the library and read with new eyes...   

ok I'm off... to try and do some very precise measuring, marking and turning.  

 

 

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