Here's an opportunity to create something truly unique by using woodworking techniques that are as "green" as it gets.

By collecting branches and logs, recycled lumber, or scavenged wood from old buildings, you can build rustic furniture with a distinctive look -- and a primitive, earthy charm.

But before you get started, you'll need the guidance of a seasoned furniture maker. And it's all here for you in Rustic Furniture Basics -- from professional woodworker, teacher and author Doug Stowe.

An ideal guide for beginners, this valuable reference includes 10 diverse projects designed to teach you all the basic techniques you'll need to make a wide range of rustic furniture.

Here are a few of the projects you'll find.

• Rustic white oak chest
• Western cedar tables
• Rustic chair
• Slab-top coffee table

By following step-by-step instructions with detailed graphics, you'll learn every procedure -- traditional joinery, cutting round mortises and tenons, weaving twigs, making a webbed seat, and much more.

In searching for the natural materials to complete each project, you'll discover a process that challenges your imagination in a new and satisfying way -- as you tap into your own powers of ingenuity.

And by using basic hand tools and low-tech procedures, you'll revisit some of the simple pleasures that earlier generations of craftsmen enjoyed.

If you've got a cabin in the woods or a country hideaway in need of just the right pieces to suit its rustic character, here's the book you need to make it happen.

Introduction

Western Cedar Tables
Cut the stock to length
Assemble the base
Add the top
Variation: Coffee table and details
Additional Variations

Five-Board Bench
Prepare the stock
Taper and fit the legs
Make the stretchers
Assembly
Apply the finish
Variation: Natural-edged hall table

Stick, Twig, and Branch Tables
Cut and attach the legs
Create the top mosaic
Add stretchers to strengthen the legs
Variation: Round table

Slab Bench
Cut the slab to size
Surface the top
Shape the edges
Make and shape the legs
Drill the mortises
Cut the tenons on the legs
Assemble the legs and slab
Trim the legs
Finishing touches
Variation: Stump table
Variation: Slab chair

Rustic Tree Branch Footstool
Prepare the stock
Drill the mortises
Cut and fit the stretchers
Assemble the frame
Trim the legs
Weave the seagrass seat
Variation: Weave a shaker tape seat
Slab-Top Coffee Table
Make the top
Make the trestle table base
Mortise the trestle legs
Make the trestle
Make wedges
Attach the base to the top
Variation: Tree branch base

Rustic Chair
Start with the seat
Make the chair frame
Fit and attach the seat
Make a seat back
Shape and attach the seat back
Variation: Armchair

Rustic White Oak Chest
Prepare the stock
Assemble and sand the sides
Fit the bottom panel
Assemble the chest
Make the rustic feet
Make a tray
Texture, stain, and sand the chest
Finish the chest
Variation: Rustic wall cabinet
Variation: Freestanding rustic cabinet

EACH PIECE OF WOOD TELLS THE STORY of the tree from which it came. Where there's a knot, there had been a branch. Where the grain is wide and straight, the tree had grown quickly, straight and tall. Where the grain is crooked or dense, the tree had grown in defiance of harsh circumstances.

We are storytellers, too, so it is not surprising we have a natural affinity with wood. When we make something from wood, we add the story of our understanding of the tools and our sensitivity to the materials. We also tell through our workmanship the story of the care we feel for others and ourselves.

The qualities of rustic work speak for themselves. Raw, rough qualities expressed as texture, random shape and form offer a direct connection to the wondrous beauty of nature.

You may be a beginner making your first piece for a new home, or an experienced craftsman exploring new creativity in the woodshop, you will find adventure in rustic work, and it is my hope that this book provides a foundation for your first step.

If you are a beginner, start at the beginning of this book. The projects are arranged in order of difficulty and only a few common handyman tools are required for the early projects. Mix and match techniques between chapters and use the ideas presented in the variations to customize and personalize your own work. But don't forget to look beyond this book. Go out into the woods. You will find the forms and textures of the forest to be your greatest source of inspiration. Then don't be afraid to make mistakes. It is how we learn best.