Joiner's Work, Peter Follansbee (book)

Forget what you think about 17th-century New England furniture. It is neither dark nor boring, but a riot of geometric carvings and bright colours, all built upon simple constructions using rabbets, nails and mortise-and-tenon joints.

Peter Follansbee has spent his adult life researching this period to understand the simple tools and straightforward processes used to build the pieces featured in this book. Joiner's Work is the culmination of decades of research and shop experimentation, written with the dry wit Follansbee honed over 20 years of demonstrating at Plimoth Plantation.

If you like green woodworking, the book shows how to process furniture parts straight from the tree using an axe, froe, hatchet and brake. Follansbee also goes into deep detail on carvings that appear complex but are remarkably straightforward, and on casework.

The book features six projects: a simple box with a hinged lid, the same box with a drawer, a box with a slanted lid for writing, joined chests in several variations, with a paneled lid and with drawers below, and finally a little bookstand. Everything is covered in detail in the text and hundreds of step photos, assuming you know almost nothing about 17th-century joinery. Ideas for historical finishes are also included.

There are no detailed construction drawings or cutting lists, as the size of the parts is based on what you can harvest from the tree. Instead, pencil sketches by Dave Fisher explain the anatomy of each project, with rough sizes to help you plan your work in the woods and at the workbench.

Specifications:
264 pages, 8-1/2" x 11" format
Full-color images on coated paper
Sewn signatures reinforced with fibrous tape, hardbound with cotton cloth covers
Dust jacket with supermatte laminate
Published by Lost Art Press and printed in the United States.