Style References

[Chestnut]

I started this because it was pointed out to me that this could be a good reference spot if someone else has questions like this. So throw stuff out there and lets see how much information we can compile. I'll update this post with links ect This way we can hijack and still have a solid post to reference with out our inevitable bickering.

Tom King mentioned Ebay as an excellent resource for used books. Some can be had for $3-$5. I left links to amazon out of ease it is by no way a plug for amazon. If you are going to buy a new book I URGE you to try and buy direct from the author. You may pay a bit more but from everything I've heard a larger percentage of the cut goes their way if you buy from them. Side benefit they are generally signed. If buying from the Author isn't an option please shop around these links are meant to provide reference and by no means will be the inexpensive choice.

17th 18th 19th Century (period furniture)

Albert Sack: Fine Points of Furniture "For period furniture"  -Tom  King
Verna Salomonsky: Masterpieces of Furniture This is quite a good reference that covers mostly Queen Ann, Chippendale, and Hepplewhite styles. There are a few William and Marry pieces as well. The text is brief but the pictures come with a detailed dimensioned drawing. -Tom King
Franklin Gottshall: Simple Colonial Furniture "This one is very worthwhile, if for nothing more than the first 18 pages on  the "essentials of design". " -Tom King
Franklin Gottshall: Making Furniture Masterpieces " Nice stuff in there if you’re looking for ideas, which is why I buy some of these books " -Chip Sawdust
Norman Vandal: Queen Anne Furniture "Hundreds of pictures, scale drawings, and various others such as tools being used. Also for anyone thinking about building any kind of furniture"- Tom King
Charles Montgomery: American Furniture The Federal Period "A basic description of Federal period furniture. It’s descriptive, historical, that kind of thing." -Chip Sawdust
Jeff Greene: American Furniture of the 18th Century "This one is like the one above, descriptive and educational about history." -Chip Sawdust
Glen Huey: Building Fine Furniture " This has projects for turn of the century pieces, but not solely focused on a specific style, but some very nice pieces in it" -Chip Sawdust
Ronald L. Hurst: Southern Furniture, 1680-1830 "600 Page high quality book on colonial furniture with pictures on fine details" -Summarized from Tom King

Arts & Crafts / Mission

Robert Lang: Shop Drawings for Greene and Greene Furniture

Mid-century Modern / Variants

Mike Pekovich: The how and why of woodworking " It's not as cerebral as the Krenov or Nakashima I've listed, but well worth the time to read. " -Bmac
James Krenov: The fine Art of Cabinetmaking "not only gives practical advice but he talks of how to excel, be your best. The photos are inspiring and his attention to detail is incredible." -Bmac
James Krenov: A Cabinet Makers Notebook "First in the 3 book series by Krenov"
James Krenov: The Impratical Cabinet Maker "Third in the 3 book series by Krenov"
Sam Maloof: The Furniture of Sam Maloof, and Sam Maloof, Woodworker "Not how to books but books for inspiration. You can find out the how to through other avenues, but you get the inspiration in these books" -Bmac
George Nakashima: The soul of a Tree " To me no other book connected me more to the medium woodworkers work with than this book " -Bmac
Andrew Hollingsworth: Danish Modern  "fairly interesting, and cheap. Not a bad reference but absolutely no woodworking insight, purely visual and inspirational" -Bmac
Bradley Quinn: Interiors, Furniture, Design Details: "Overall I found the reading and designs interesting. It gave me a few ideas, but I can't say they are must have books. If you are interesting in this style and want to delve deeper than they have a purpose" -Bmac
Cara Greenberg: Furniture of the 1950s "Overall I found the reading and designs interesting. It gave me a few ideas, but I can't say they are must have books. If you are interesting in this style and want to delve deeper than they have a purpose" -Bmac

Shaker

Tom Moser: How to build Shaker Furniture " It's a really good book for ideas... there are measured drawings of a number of Shaker pieces, and it goes into some detail on design elements." -Minnesota Steve
Tom Moser: Artistry In Wood "Covers design and inspiration for shaker and Arts and Crafts furniture. He discusses his love for exposed joinery." -Bmac [Could fit in A&C section as well]

Asian Furinture

Shixiang Wang: Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture "History, construction methods and joinery, style variations, beautiful full page photos of the woods used in furniture from the Ming and Qing eras (1500's to 1800's), which were the pinnacle of Chinese furniture designs." -Girino
Gustav Ecke: Chinese Domestic Furniture "Also contains joinery details and the measured drawings are very helpful guides for developing proportions." -Girino

Other

Bill Hylton: Illustrated Cabinet Making Reference for cabinet styles and construction -Ronn W
Julius Panero: Human Dimension & Interior Space "If you've ever been wondering what size or what proportions something should be this book has the answer. It covers everything fro residential to hospital and everywhere in between."  -Me
Josef Aronson: Encyclopedia of Furniture " If you want to research a particular period or style, this has information and black and white pics of it." -Chip Sawdust
Oscar Fitzgerald: Studio Furniture of the Renwick Gallery "Covers history and some minor details on the furniture owned by the Renwick, some awesome pieces " -Me
Bill Hylton: Illustrated Cabinet Making " It includes information on many types of furniture also includes ergonomic standards" -JohnG

Furniture Gallery's

https://thekrenovschool.org/projects/ "Most of it is leaning toward gallery pieces but  the Krenov school's gallery might give you some inspiration." -Chet
http://thekrenovarchive.org/pieces.php Archive of Krenov's Furniture organized by year and furniture type. -Me
https://gallery.collectorsystems.com/MaloofOnlineGallery/2191 Collection of Sam Maloof Furniture. -Me
https://gallery.collectorsystems.com/MaloofOnlineGallery/2354 Drawings of Sam Maloof Furniture, appears to be by Sam Maloof himself. -Me
https://www.nwwoodgallery.com/ There are a lot of categories and higher end pieces that span a lot of styles. -Me

Timber Framing

James Mitchell: Master's Guide to Timber Framing "If you want to do some timber framing, but don't know much about it, or like me, have done some, but want to know more about it, buy this book. " -Tom King
Steve Chappell: Advanced Timber Framing "This book is SUPERB!!!!   It's printed in best quality materials, and methods, and is a Fine coffee table book, if nothing else.   There are many pages of high quality color pictures, printed with High quality printing.  It also has lots of useful information on the craft. Even if you won't ever do any Timber Framing, this one is worth it to have." -Tom King
Steve Chappell: A Timber Framer's Workshop "It does have some information in it that the other two don't have, but not necessary to know beyond the first two on this list,  so use your own judgement about adding this one. " - Tom King

Material To Review

Shop Drawings For Craftsman Furniture

Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interiors

https://www.danishteakclassics.com/

Material Not Yet Purchased

Stickley Furniture: 1912 and 1915 Furniture Collection

*Udated: Update Post

[Chet]

Well, even though I like Arts and Crafts something that is on my list is a Demilune table.  Just something clean and simple no stringing or inlay but probably some sort of cuffs on the legs.

Most of it is leaning toward gallery pieces but  the Krenov school's gallery might give you some inspiration.

https://thekrenovschool.org/projects/

•  

[Tom King]

Whatever book you decide you want, put the title in the search box on ebay, and see what you can find.  I just bought two of the same book (The  New G Better, Best, Masterpiece....) a couple of days ago, that was mentioned on another thread here, and both were like new, but used.  One was 3.99, and the other was 6.99.  Both were like new, and with free shipping.  I bought an extra one to give to one of my clients as a Christmas gift.   New price is like $60.

I checked my ebay book buys, at the end of last year, and I had bought 154 books-mostly Virginia Colonial history, at a total cost of less than $600.  I wrote it off as a business expense.

edited to add:   I just checked, for curiousity, and this didn't work out too good for Nakashima books.  Looks like people hang on to them, since there are no used copies, and there are several signed copies that sellers are hopeing to get a couple of grand for.

[Bmac]

I am a avid reader of woodworking books. I know reading is old school, but there is such a pleasure in it. I'm not sure exactly where you are headed with this post, but I understand it's a reference for certain styles and designers. So with that understanding I'm assuming you may want some feed back on books listed and new reference material. My apologies if I'm off base, but here's my input. 

All Krenov books are superb, but "The Fine Art of Cabinet Making" was very influential for me. He not only gives practical advice but he talks of how to excel, be your best. The photos are inspiring and his attention to detail is incredible. He talks a lot about his love affair with wood, the care he takes in selecting it, drying it, and deciding how to use it. He loves thick cants to resaw and book match, he talks of the subtle skill in coaxing the best figure and color out of every board. This is not step by step how to make something, no plans, just inspiration. My copy of this book is about worn out, it has been very influential.

Second to Krenov, the books about Sam Maloof have changed my woodworking more than anything. The books I own are "The Furniture of Sam Maloof", and "Sam Maloof, Woodworker". Again, not how to books but books for inspiration. You can find out the how to through other avenues, but you get the inspiration in these books. The Mid Century Modern furniture is interesting to me, and Maloof's work is classic.

George Nakashima's "Soul of a Tree" is another nice book. His style is unique and worth the time to look at. I do think the live edge craze dilutes his work, but his love of the wood and the tree that produces it comes through in this book. To me no other book connected me more to the medium woodworkers work with than this book. 

Mike Pekovich's "The How and Why of Woodworking" is a very good new addition to the list. Very well written and thought out, I'm rereading mine for the second time now. It's not as cerebral as the Krenov or Nakashima I've listed, but well worth the time to read.

One area I just can't seem to get excited about, and I own books about them too, are Greene and Greene stuff. But to each his own, I know the style is widely popular and I very well may warm up to it.

Nut, was this the stuff you were looking for in this post?

[Chestnut]

3 hours ago, Tom King said:

Whatever book you decide you want, put the title in the search box on ebay, and see what you can find.  I just bought two of the same book (The  New G Better, Best, Masterpiece....) a couple of days ago, that was mentioned on another thread here, and both were like new, but used.  One was 3.99, and the other was 6.99.  Both were like new, and with free shipping.  I bought an extra one to give to one of my clients as a Christmas gift.   New price is like $60.

I checked my ebay book buys, at the end of last year, and I had bought 154 books-mostly Virginia Colonial history, at a total cost of less than $600.  I wrote it off as a business expense.

edited to add:   I just checked, for curiousity, and this didn't work out too good for Nakashima books.  Looks like people hang on to them, since there are no used copies, and there are several signed copies that sellers are hopeing to get a couple of grand for.

Ebay is a great idea. I linked to amazon because they often sell used books as well for really cheap. Also it's a stable link so someone  (probably me) can read about the book. in the future.

2 hours ago, Bmac said:

Nut, was this the stuff you were looking for in this post?

Yes exactly what i was looking for.  I'm wondering if i shouldn't add some text about the book and then leave the handle of the person that recommended it.

If any one is not ok with getting taged in the post let me know and i'll remove it. I'll leave the quote anonymous.

[Tom King]

Another thing I like about ebay is that when you click on one book, multiple other choices for the same book will show up below that one.  Often, one of the ones below will be cheaper, and/or in better condition.  Their search function works better than Amazon too.  A lot of the same places sell through both sites, but it's so much faster for me to find what I'm looking for on ebay. 

I just put most of what I remember about a book's title, with "book" after it in the search box, and most of the time, several pages of possibilities come up.  Also, you can search for something like just the publisher, which I did for "Omohundro Institute", and then many pages come up.  I go down the list, and when I see something that looks interesting, I click on that book, and other possibilities for the same book come up below.  The book I might have first opened the window on may be $60, but there are probably some for $3.99 w/free shipping below.  For 3.99 total, it takes me about 10 seconds to decide to buy a book.

[Coop]

Nut, heck of a deal! Perhaps a new section should be added as Reference Material before this post gets lost to obscurity. Wonder who we would approach for this? 

[Chet]

1 minute ago, K Cooper said:

Nut, heck of a deal! Perhaps a new section should be added as Reference Material before this post gets lost to obscurity. Wonder who we would approach for this? 

Kev

[Coop]

And Chet! Your input is important to us!  Seriously, I think it’s a neat idea. You guys consider it, por favor! 

[Chet]

I can't do it Ken.  It has to be done by Admin (Kev)

[Chestnut]

9 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Nut, heck of a deal! Perhaps a new section should be added as Reference Material before this post gets lost to obscurity. Wonder who we would approach for this? 

I could keep bumping it to the top or another option is to politly ask if it could be pinned or stickyed?

[Tom King]

This one should be on the list, in case anyone wants to study period furniture:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-New-Fine-Points-of-Furniture-Early-American-The-Good-Better-Best-Super/293005987226?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

[Tom King]

I just did some searching on ebay for "furniture design book", and found some interesting looking ones, like: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Masterpieces-of-Furniture-Design-by-Verna-Cook-Salomonsky-1931-Hardcover-Book/302868758061?epid=12023874897&hash=item4684627e2d:g:D1YAAOSwiZZbg0TX&frcectupt=true

ended up resulting in this purchase: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Masterpieces-of-Furniture-in-Photographs-and-Measured-Drawings-Verna-Cook-Salo/153264029117?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

[Chestnut]

54 minutes ago, Tom King said:

I just did some searching on ebay for "furniture design book", and found some interesting looking ones, like: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Masterpieces-of-Furniture-Design-by-Verna-Cook-Salomonsky-1931-Hardcover-Book/302868758061?epid=12023874897&hash=item4684627e2d:g:D1YAAOSwiZZbg0TX&frcectupt=true

ended up resulting in this purchase: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Masterpieces-of-Furniture-in-Photographs-and-Measured-Drawings-Verna-Cook-Salo/153264029117?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Purchased.... for $4 i'm sure i'll get something useful out of it.

[Tom King]

This would be a good, cheap education for someone.  I left this one for someone else.  Signed even.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Furniture-by-Design-by-Graham-Blackburn-Signed-PB-Pictures-Directions-Designs/323780379319?epid=2320367&hash=item4b62d082b7:g:aFUAAOSwfi1ctlVQ

[Tom King]

18 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Purchased.... for $4 i'm sure i'll get something useful out of it.

That's the way I look at it.  Often, I have to read a whole book just to get one new, useful piece of information.

[Tom King]

I splurged on this one:   https://www.ebay.com/itm/143204693516

[Coop]

I’m looking for that really rare edition of “How to Build A Maloof Low Back In Less Than Six Months”! 

[Chestnut]

1 minute ago, K Cooper said:

I’m looking for that really rare edition of “How to Build A Maloof Low Back In Less Than Six Months”! 

It's called quit your day job.....

[Spanky]

2 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

I’m looking for that really rare edition of “How to Build A Maloof Low Back In Less Than Six Months”! 

Call Bmac............ He can build one a month.

[Coop]

2 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

It's called quit your day job.....

Coming up at the end of Sept.!

 

3 minutes ago, Spanky said:

Call Bmac............

A phone call won’t help this hapless sculpturer! 

[treeslayer]

3 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

Coming up at the end of Sept.!

[Spanky]

11 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

 

A phone call won’t help this hapless sculpturer! 

I guess, I can get RIW to fly down to Houston and help you with it. But he want have it built in two years, but he knows how to build them.

[Coop]

At least my daughter hasn’t seen a close up of what it’s supposed to look like, so she’ll never know the difference. As long as it doesn’t become a folding chair,  she’ll be happy! 

[Coop]

Sorry OP for the change in direction. So Kev, whata ya think about a new category? It will probably get as much activity as the Digital Design or the CNC or more and everyone can benefit from it.