New Arts and Crafts Furniture Project Book

The staff at Popular Woodworking have done it again. They have delved into their vast pool of talent and treasure of articles from their magazine and have brought us a wonderful collection of Arts and Crafts furniture projects. The authors are all current or former editors and senior editors for Popular Woodworking Magazine. Robert W. Lang is not only a senior editor for Popular Woodworking, he also has published five books on arts and crafts furniture in his "Shop Drawings" series, which I have used extensively for building reproductions of some very nice Arts and Crafts pieces. The first two Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture: 27 Stickley Designs for Every Room in the Home , and More Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture: 30 Stickley Designs for Every Room in the Home, will give you a great variety of projects for every room in the home.

Christopher Schwarz is an editor of Popular Woodworking, and a contributing editor to The Fine Tool Journal, in addition to teaching traditional woodworking techniques he has recently published a fantastic book on workbenches, Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use, which has been discussed to some length at The WoodWhisperer blog and chat room.

Steve Shanesy was an editor for Popular Woodworking and is now publisher of the magazine. Jim Stack is a senior editor or Popular Woodworking and also the author of eight woodworking books. Jim Stuard is a former editor of Popular Woodworking, and Kara Uhl is a former managing editor of the magazine. David Thiel is the executive editor of Popular Woodworking Books and a former editor for Popular Woodworking.

With this much talent on board this project was sure to shine. The Book includes 26 projects, a chapter on the history of Arts and Crafts Furniture and a chapter on techniques of of construction and finishing. There is also a CD included that has a PDF file with 10 additional projects and 10 articles on techniques from the archives of the magazine. Long time readers of the magazine will notice that most of these projects have previously appeared there, however in the book you will find that more detail and more photos have been included along with all new drawings. One thing that did disappoint me is that the book appears to be an updated and expanded version of their book Authentic Arts and Crafts Furniture Projects from 2000.

Each project chapter begins with a description of the project's origins and history. Included is a very detailed text description of the process along with a cut list. Drawings for templates that you will need and a list of supplies along with sources are included. Very clear and instructional color photos along with nice shop drawings and exploded views complete the chapter with enough information for novices to make a very nice piece of furniture. One thing that this book includes that many do not is upholstery tips and techniques that allow you to move from a nice woodworking project, to a finished piece of fine furniture. The projects range from the simple, Limbert Waste Basket, to the impressive, Byrdcliffe Linen Press.

In my opinion this is the finest book of Arts and Crafts Furniture projects to date, and I should know, I have bought them all over the years of my obsession with the style. I hope that you take a look at this book and enjoy making the projects in your shop and that your family and friends get to appreciate your skills combined with some amazing reproductions of original masterpieces. If you would like to purchase a copy you can do so from the link below.

The Craftsman

For 15 years at the turn of the 20th Century Gustav Stickley published a monthly magazine titled "The Craftsman". In this publication he discussed the Arts and Crafts movement. He wrote about the philosophy of the movement, added furniture designs and later home designs.

In the forward to the first issue Stickley wrote:

The United Crafts will labor to produce in their workshops only those articles which shall justify their own creation; which shall serve some actual and important end in the household, either by adding to the ease and convenience of life; or yet by furthering the equally important object of providing agreeable, restful and invigorating effects of form and color, upon which the eye shall habitually fall,as the problems of daily existence present themselves for solution. Thus, it Is hoped to co-operate with those many and earnest minds who are seeking to create a national, or rather a universal art, adjusted to the needs of the century:that Is,an art developed by the people, for the people, as a reciprocal joy for the artist and the layman.

Another object which The United Crafts regard as desirable and possible of attainment is the union in one person of the designer and the workman. This principle, which was personally put in practice by Morris, extended throughout his workshops; the Master executing with his own hands what his brain had conceived, and the apprentice following the example set before him as far as his powers permitted.

Stickley covers everything from which woods are best for what applications, to coloring those woods, to embroidering the curtains for the living room. Anyone interested in the Arts and Crafts movement will find a wealth of information here in its original format, but with the coming of the digital age, you can search the text, view it as an original image or as plain text. I have spent many happy hours reading through the editions and still find something that I'll go back to time and time again. Many thanks to the University of Wisconsin for their digital library. You can find the Craftsman collection here.

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/DLDecArts/DLDecArts-idx?type=browse&scope=DLDECARTS.HOMEDESIGN