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, youll 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?"

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

Having written and edited hundred of pages of workshop and home improvement material, Ive 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 woodone guy could even identify wood by taste. If these folks were to cut themselves (mind you, it would never happen in the shop), youd discover that sap, not blood, flows through their veins. Ill be the first to admit that Im not one of them . . . yet.

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

With that difference in mind, Ive 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, youll 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.

Customer Reviews from Amazon

I haven't had the time yet to do any projects from this book but I'm anxiously looking forward to. When I do I will update my review.

I've reviewed the book. I like how the projects are laid out and I'm positive that even though I'm still a novice at woodworking, I can do these projects.


My wife says that if I don't do them she will. She's never done woodwork yet she is confident that she can do the projects in this book.

I bought this book for the quartersawn white oak blanket chest, since that is what my daughter asked for. The piece is beautiful. The milling instructions are ambiguous and confusing. On at least two occasions, the book text tells me to place the parts one way for machining grooves, and in the accompanying photo it says to turn them the opposite way. There's a lot to figure out in this project, and I had to remake the legs because the biscuit slots turned out to be in the wrong place -- about 20 hours of wasted effort. I am now struggling to make sense of the frame and panel assemblies.

I will get it done correctly, but the book could have been more helpful.

This is a great practical book. Covers the basics and moderately advanced projects and techniques. Doesn't just tell you to get the ABC Jig; it shows you how to build the ABC Jig. Maybe just a little simple for the really serious, advanced woodworker, but perfect for a small home shop weekend guy that doesn't want to spend a year on one project.

Excellent projects and good basic skills. Each skill is taught as needed--when you need a router table for one of the projects, he shows you how to build a router table. Also so good insights to less beginnery items--sharpening and using a scraper, for example.

My one star off is for the fact that measurements shown in the diagram for the first project (desk organizer) do not match the measurements given in the text! Very disconcerting for the beginner this book is aimed at.

Furniture You Can Build: Projects That Hone Your Skills by expert carpentry and craftsman Joe Hurst-Wajszczuk provides a definitive understanding of woodworking and craftsmanship of particular pieces collectively compiled to assist one the novice carpenter in bettering and furthering their skills as a woodworker. Introducing readers to simple, yet beautiful and impressive pieces, Furniture You Can Build deftly showcases and provides step-by-step instructions for creating desks, bookcases, beds, blanket boxes and more. Furniture You Can Build is very highly recommended to all so-it-yourself weekend enthusiasts and hobbyists looking for woodworking projects that will easily enable them to follow and produce the pristine pieces they see laid out in the pages of this impressive "how to" guide.

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