David
Charlesworth's Furniture-Making Techniques
The best from Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazine
Softcover
210 x 295mm
119pp
Published by Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, East Sussex UK
R.R.P.$39.90
ISBN 1-86108-125-1
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 87
Over the years, furniture maker and teacher David Charlesworth has contributed many articles to Furniture & Cabinetmaker Magazine. The best of these have been collected together in the book, David Charlesworth's Furniture Making Techniques.
The articles provide detailed information on subjects which are often glossed over in other publications, namely tool handling and basic joinery. In the author's opinion, too many books assume the woodworker has a grasp of these fundamentals.
The author starts by providing guidelines for efficient workshop layout, the design and construction of a workbench, the use and maintenance of marking knives and gauges, sharpening chisel and plane blades basics which are fundamental to success.
His passions include hand plane tuning, but the information provided does acknowledge the role of power tools and machinery in the workshop. One article details the adjustment of planer blades in order to obtain the finest cut possible from the machine. The subject itself perhaps betrays the author's obsession with extreme levels of precision, even from machines usually intended for less exacting tasks, yet the intended message remains valid - that the goal is attainable.
In the area of technique, the author covers methods for producing a reliable face and edge with a handplane after machining, and the fitting of tenons to a mortise. His tenons are cut with a bandsaw, and the final fitting of the shoulders is done with a router plane or router bit. Methods of cutting dovetails on the bandsaw are detailed, and some jigs for cutting very fancy twisted dovetails (a derivative of a Japanese form of joinery) are included. The secrets of making hidden mitre dovetails and cutting tapered dovetail housing joints with a router are revealed.
Accompanying all these practical considerations are some very worthwhile projects, including a Chinese-style meditation stool and a very challenging Japanese Inro box (once used for carrying a personal seal and sealing wax). Even basic tool making is introduced, in the form of an article on making a wooden spokeshave. Overall the book is focused on quality, be that quality tools or quality techniques. None of it is presented for the sole purpose of being precious, but rather in the pursuit of perfection and the development of skill.
Photos: Colour
Units of Measurement: Metric
Contents
Introduction
The
working shop
Developing a working shop fit for a cabinetmaker
Evolution
of a bench
Fine tuning a traditional workbench
Grasping
the fettle
The importance of marking-out knives and gauges
Spirit
of the Samurai
The charms of the Japanese chisel
Committing
Yarri-Kanna
Preparing a new striking chisel and other Japanese chisels
Fine
fettle
Spending time on your bench plane to achieve ultimate performance
Iron
resolve
An individual approach to sharpening bench plane irons
Scraping
in
Ways of dealing with difficult grain
How
to unwind
Producing a reliable face and edge
Plane
and simple
How to get the best out of your low-angle block plane
Perfection
at a price
Comparing the delights of hand-made Norris-type planes and
a more down-to-earth Lie-Nielsen
The
truth about tenons
A look at mortise and tenon joints
A
kinder cut
Advice on cutting through dovetails with a bandsaw
Twist
again
If life has become too straightforward, try a compound dovetail
joint
Uncovering
the secret
The dreaded secret mitred dovetail is easy (ish)!
Tricks
with tapers
Using a router to produce tapered dovetail housings
A
joy forever
On the rightness of design, dowelling and quality hardware
Seat
of contemplation
Making a meditation stool in yew
Making
inroads
The challenge of making a Japanese Inro box
Making
a wooden spokeshave
How to give a modern edge to a traditional tool
A
fine pair of spokeshaves
Completion of the two spokeshaves
Further
reading
Metric/imperial conversion chart
About the author
Index