The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction

Good, comprehensive text, good illustrations and explanations.

So you begin your new project and think about the joinery and materials you are going to use. Then you google/youtube the techniques so you can build it faster and better. Until you find out there were some things left out (because you did not know they existed or thought were not important) that may affect your outcome, any way, you fix them and then in the next project you are a better faster woodworker.What if you could just read a "best practices" book, or a comprehensive one containing lots of things to consider and techniques you could use for your projects?This book will help you with that, it won't go into much detail on how specifically tackle some things down, but it will give you a great pointer of what to research/google before you go and build, saving you lots of headaches in your glueups, joinery, you name it.So be sure you read it thoroughly, and once you pick a project you will able to select a more educated approach on how to make it happen by properly design your plans.Won't help you master techniques, but will let you know where to start deeper knowledge.

This book has plenty to offer anyone. A lot of it was review for me, but it is always good to make sure you don't forget the basics as you move forward in carpentry - it's like trying to attempt calculus without algebra.I have read this from cover to cover and feel I could read it again to pick up on the little things I missed. It is indeed as it's titled, the "complete" guide. I will say that some basic knowledge will be instrumental for fully grasping and understanding this book, but for the most part, explinations are clear, concise, and simple. There are a few charts in this book that make it very handy and also some very good pointers - some of it is very helpful, but doesnt' seem to be able to adhere to any of my brain cells, so this is one book I like to have close to my shop.Overall, I'm pleased with this book, and can't wait to read Taunton Press' Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery, which is referred to in this book from time to time.

I have been very pleased with my copy of Construction. I am an advanced amatuer, trying to build furniture making skills by taking on some projects that are fairly complicated. I find myself returning to this text time and again to understand my construction options and the proper steps in executing the project. The book is well illustrated, comprehensive and organized. Notably, it is not just a bound set of Tauton reprints, but instead a real reference manual. I think that books like this should have a DVD that illustrates the content. There is nothing like watching an experienced person demo a skill to build your own abilities. With a DVD I'd have given this 6! stars. But still, this is worth having.

Exelente. Explica todo con lujo de detalles. Será mi entretenimiento e ingreso cuando me retire, aparte de mi profesión de electricista licenciado.

I was very eager to add this book to my collection after purchasing Tauntons Finishing book in this series. However, I have to admit some dissappoint with this book. It is too general and doesn't go into the necessary detail I would expect It trys to be an encyclopedia of sorts for cabinet construction and wood working techniques...a text that trys to cover everything but fails to deliver the necessary steps to go from beginning to end.To be honest, I am by no means a seasoned wood worker. For all intents and purposes, I'm a novice. However, this book provides limited detail of dovetails and I never see mentioned jigs or tools (like PC's 4200, which I own) to make various dovetails. I also expected more text regarding router's and router tables and their usage in furniture construction. The preparation of wood for joining and the glueing process didn't seem to me to be as professional and top-notch as I have read in other cabinet making books.The book is by no means a complete loss, the section on wood turning and matching turned legs is informative, practical and useful. Most of the notes and tips on the sides and bottoms are invaluable and I will be able to use them in my wood working endeavors.Regardless though, I must recommend other material, especially those books with are dedicated to 'cabinet making'. At least to me, they provided more detail and technique that could be applied to various furniture pieces.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction is a great library of information for planning, setup, ideas and just looking at furniture construction techniques you may want to learn. I am very happy to have this book and look at it regularly for ideas. More than a shop book. This book will present solutions you may need when building or designing your next projects. Tools needed for the furniture and cabinets are discussed with helpful layout and use of needed materials and accessories and jigs. I enjoy just thumbing through it in the evening. You would be wise to have this Taunton Press Publication.

I own over twenty various books on cabinetmaking and this is probably the best of them all for construction. The information contained in this title is not only for the novice woodworker, but many aspects can be incorporated for the more advanced woodworker as well. The book is laid out in a logical 'easy to read' (and understand) manner which is well worth the investment.It would be nice to have the imperical and metric measurements side by side for those of us who live outside the US. I use my conversion calculator to suffice this minor inadequacy.Buy this book, you will not be dissapointed.

I bought this book in preparation for a furniture making course and by the time I got to page twelve I had learnt at least three new things about wood, tools and about working wood. You will also find really useful advice to do with jig making - brilliant circular saw jig for cutting large sheets - and ways of jointing and thicknessing wood to overcome cupping and twisting of timber. One of the BEST things Andy says in this book is "There is really no right or wrong way of making furniture...." - in the sense that you can take all the advice available but you really need to build some and learn from it. A really well written, practical and accessible text for everyone interested in furniture making and best of all: written by a down to earth guy! I will use it for years to come *****

Lots of interesting points and illustrations

It is a good book for beginners but some basic knowledge of woodwork helps. It tells you what tools you'd need and how to use them in making furniture and cabinets. It is fairly easy to understand straight away with good pictures and diagrams.

A beautiful book with detailed pictures and diagrams and goes well with the complete book of Joinery which is from the same publisher.

I'd strongly recommend this book. Very informative indeed. To begin with it seemed like it was trying to cover too much, but in fact it has a lot of worth while tips and tricks, rules of thumb, alternate methods and approaches, pros and cons of machine methods vs hand tool methods, and much more.