Paperback 8 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. 272 pages, with 366 photographs and 297 drawings
Published 2009 ISBN 978-1-60085-078-3 Product #071243
If you've been looking for practical advice on how to design furniture, you know there's not much information out there.
That's why we decided to create Practical Furniture Design, a comprehensive collection of articles dedicated to furniture design -- all gleaned from the pages of Fine Woodworking magazine.
By offering thoughtful insights on the creative process, this unique volume gives you all the advice you need to design and build your own projects -- from some of the world's most accomplished woodworkers.
Here's an example of the breadth and depth of design advice you'll find:
- Where to find inspiring design ideas
- Construction strategies that will inform your creative process
- How to create professional working drawings
- Ways to solve knotty construction problems
- 366 photos and 297 illustrations that bring the design process to life
Based on the philosophy that good design leads to good construction, this valuable reference stretches the concept of design well beyond aesthetic considerations.
You'll discover strategies for making form and function work seamlessly together. You'll learn how to choose appropriate materials for every project. And you'll find out how to use sound building strategies to make every design as sturdy as it is beautiful.
As you flip through the pages of this useful resource, you'll learn how it truly lives up to its name. Here's the most practical book you're likely to find on the art and craft of furniture design.
For me design is the most exciting aspect of woodworking, whether I'm working in a traditional mode and trying to get the details right, or attempting to make a piece no one has ever seen before. I've learned not to skimp on the process. Fine woodworkers face a cruel irony: Those who make things to last a lifetime have a lifetime to live with their mistakes.
This book brings together Fine Woodworking magazine's most trusted voices on furniture design, experts who will show you in a few pages what it took them years to work out. They'll guide you through the whole process, from finding inspiration, to using sketches and models, to getting the construction details right, so your furniture will remain strong, stylish, and useful for generations to come. This is a book you will return to again and again.
To kick things off, I'll offer three of my favorite tips. When editors sit down with submissions to the Readers Gallery in the magazine, or judge furniture shows around the country, you'd be surprised at how similar the conversations are, and how often they touch on the following issues.
Tip one is to make your furniture look handmade, as opposed to factory-made. Factories have to rush; you don't. Take the time to choose your boards carefully, and be thoughtful about grain and figure; the wood itself can make or break the look of a project. Factories also oversand, or sand crudely, dubbing over crisp edges and details. And they love router bits, which offer a quick way to make things look "fancy." So be careful how you use your router. Big roundovers are usually a bad idea. Think twice about all those flutes and ogees. Do they clash with the period or style of the piece?
Tip two is to keep things in proportion. Are the legs too thick for the piece? Consider everything: tabletop overhang, width of an apron, sizes of rails and stiles, shapes made by doors and drawers. And ask yourself if the details -- inlay, moldings, pulls -- are in proportion too. Many a piece has gone astray with a thick racing stripe of stringing or banding. Sketches, models, and small mockups are your friends here.
Tip three is not to overdo contrast. The exotic, intoxicating variety of woods has seduced many a craftsman. If the contrasting area is large, such as a door panel, make the difference subtle -- think curly cherry with regular cherry. If the contrasting material is extreme, use it in small doses -- beads, wedges, pulls?
Now on to the experts. They'll take it from here.
Asa Christiana, Editor
Fine Woodworking
Customer Reviews from Amazon
Average Customer Review:
Practicle Furniture Design, September 28, 2009
Great book sort of basic but lots of info on styles and furniture eras. Also great book on how to design furniture that looks pleasing to the eye.
Not worth the time, July 14, 2009
I find it hard to believe the Fine Woodworking keeps on putting the same material across a multitude of books. I was hoping for some insight above and beyond the few books my library has on the shelves but this book contains about 80-90% of the same content from those few books (all of them from Fine Woodworking).
I would bet that Find Woodworking (Tauton Press) can mix and match from the last 50 years of magazine articles to form just about any book of 200 pages on any subject and call it yet another fine book.
I would search elsewhere, like the library for prior Fine Woodworking books.
Excellent design book, April 4, 2009
This book is exactly what I was looking for. Has good information on the aesthetics of furniture design including use of the golden ratio (phi) for establish pleasing proportions. Cover the process from the drawing board to making models and mock ups and finally consruction. Has a very good article on how to construct a chair that will stand up to abuse. Help with design, engineering and construction of any type of furniture.
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