Replies

1. 
   Jimurock | Nov 29, 2009 09:28pm | #1

   According to Amazon it's revised and expanded.  I haven't seen it myself.

   Jim

2. 
   jonnieboy | Nov 30, 2009 07:25am | #2

   Gator,

   I'm always looking for good woodworking books now. I was a little disappointed in a cabinetmaking book I got recently. The Peters' book was helpful in what ways? Do you recommend it for someone newer to the craft?

   --jonnieboy

1. 
   gatordoc | Nov 30, 2009 07:49pm | #3

   I especially suggest Alan's book for someone new to the craft, especially if they're thinking of woodworking as a vocation. I think there are books as useful on the actual making of furniture (Joyce comes to mind immediately) but I think this is the best on the practical aspects of custom furniture making as a business. I recently picked up Greene's American Furniture of the 18th Century and was very impressed. If you're interested in historical furniture of this era, you should check out this book.Let us know what type of books you're looking for and I'm sure the Knotheads here will chip in with other suggestions. There are lots of not-so-good woodworking books out, I know, for sadly I own many of them.Steve

2. 
   Lataxe | Nov 30, 2009 10:06pm | #4

   Jonnie,

   I just finished reading the second edition of Mr P's book.  I never read the first edition so can't do a comparison I'm afraid.

   The book is of genuine interest but the operative word in the title is "professional" as a lot of the content concerns setting up as a commercial maker, along with detailed discussion concerning a number of aspects of business as well as design and construction.  As a hobbyist I found only some sections of the book of real interest. 

   To be frank, you won't find any new revelations concerning design and construction either; although it's certainly interesting to read Mr P's views concerning what he saw as the tendency of many modern designer-makers to both over-design and use poor construction methods.

   I have to mention also the poor publishing standards used, as the photographs are mostly B&W with poor contrast, with even the colour plates are rather fuzzy so not too informative.  I felt frustrated that there was not a much greater quality and detail of Mr P's work shown.  I think also that the prose content could have been better edited; one gets the impression that Mr P was held in awe by the publishers so they failed to persude him to revise-out some of the rambling and revise-in some more stuff about design and construction.

   But I may be unfair here as the book is primarily about cabinet-making as a business, along with a fair bit of autobiography.  It is probably not intended as a how-to or even a catalogue of Mr P's work.  I wish there were such a book as Mr P's sparse yet elegant designs greatly interest me.  He is possibly the best example of the English A&C tradition as it developed through the last quarter of the C20th

   Lataxe

    

1. 
   Buster2000 | Nov 30, 2009 10:16pm | #5

   For those interested in Alan Peters, Rob Cosman sells a DVD that he made recently.  I've never seen it...

3. 
   Marsupial | Dec 01, 2009 12:42am | #6

   The audience for this book is the potential professional cabinetmaker already possessing the joinery and layout skills one would expect a professional to have. This isn't the book you need if you're trying to bring your joinery skills up to an advanced level.

1. 
   Domer | Dec 01, 2009 02:44am | #7

   I would like to find a cabinet making book that details the actual construction of the web. It isn't hard to make the case and mill the web parts but the sequence of how it goes together often times confuses me.I have looked for books or DVD's that show you the construction sequence and have not found a good one yet.Any suggestions?Domer

1. 
   Marsupial | Dec 01, 2009 02:39pm | #8

   I've never tackled that myself and don't know of a source that explains it in full detail.