Good books on general furniture construction "rules" and principles

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

As I finish my workbench, I keep thinking about trying larger projects than the instruments and small pieces I've done. I've built things from plans and magazine articles before, and probably will continue to use that as at least as a jumping off point. While I have no illusions of being a grand designer at this point, as I look at altering things to suit my own designs or the materials at hand, I start to run into questions about general design principles - structural things, not aesthetic ones. How thick should the stock be for this part; or at what point do I move to a double tenon for an apron or side; can I get away with a weaker, but easier to make joint in this spot, etc.

For any specific question, I can usually turn to the internet and perform a search, and if I'm just altering the dimensions of a piece in an article or plan, I can turn to that for some questions. But it'd be nice to have a better working knowledge of the principles of design from a structural standpoint.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a book(s) to turn to here? I've got a small woodworking library, and I do admit that I haven't read through everything I own just yet, but I don't think what I've got really covers things from that angle. Obviously, as I'm posting here because I'm more interested in things from the "neander" aspect - a book that covers all sorts of options for biscuit joinery, pocket screws and sheet goods, isn't going to play to my interests, or mesh well with how I work, although I'd still find it useful, my interests are mostly in solid wood construction and things that can be accomplished mostly by hand.

[Trevor Walsh]

I really like Robert Wearing's "The Essential Woodworker" it has a lot of this sort of info with regards to joints for different applications. If you want a more style by style reference, I've found the Pleasant Hill Shaker Furniture book to be really good also, in addition to history, there's also an assortment of projects and shop drawings for exact replicas of the pieces.

[Frank Drew]

Joshua,

Encyclopedia of Furniture Making by Ernest Joyce, either the original or the later edition with revisions by Alan Peters. Not just for hand workers, of course, but tons of useful information and practical grounding.

[Mike Siemsen]

Illustrated Cabinetmaking (Reader's Digest Woodworking) by Bill Hylton This is a surprisingly good book. It is also published by Fox Chapel. The Readers Digest one is the cheapest online. Mine was $10 delivered. Great explosion drawings of just about everything you would want to build.
Mike

[Rob Fisher]

I'll second "The Essential Woodworker" as a great book. It really opened my eyes to hand tools in a simple, straight forward way. The Lost Art Press reprint is really well done, I highly reccomend it.

[Deane Allinson]

I always refer to "The Complete Woodworker" by Bernard E. Jones. I also have his "Practical Woodworker". I don't know when they were written, looks like 1915ish from the photos. Pretty good old school info.
Deane

[Zahid Naqvi]

I'm partial to "the complete illustrated guide to furniture and cabinet construction" by Andy Rae. My local library has it and I check it out at least once every 3 months.

[Chris Griggs]

"The Drawer Book" by Bill Hylton (the same guy Mike mentioned) is a very good guide to the basic layout and construction of drawers and carcasses. For me, the internal layout of cases (divider, dust panel, drawer guides) has been one of the more challenging parts of learning to woodwork and this book has given me a really nice overview of the various ways one can layout and join casework. I haven't seen the book Mike S mentioned but if its anything like "The Drawer Book" I will definitly need to check it out.

I also have the essential woodworker which is more of a guide to specific techniques and as others mentioned quite good.

[James Owen]

A second on Robert Wearing's Essential Woodworker, on Bernard Jones' Practical Woodworker and Complete Woodworker, and on Bill Hylton's Illustrated Cabinetmaking. All cover the subject well, but from different perspectives.

Some other books cover furniture making techniques and design areas, that you might find useful (in no particular order):

Cabinetmaking and Millwork by John L. Feirer. Good, extensive overview of tools and joinery techniques. Oriented more toward doing production work with power tools, but adaptable to hand work.

Exercises in Woodworking by Ivin Sickels. Good information on using hand tools to perform basic joinery tasks, and good information on joinery and when to use it.

Practical Furniture Design by Editors of FWW. Series of articles containing very useful information on both aesthetic and structural aspects of furniture design, with several articles on building specific types of furniture (chairs, beds, tables, etc).

Furniture-Making Techniques 3 volumes by David Charlesworth. Series of articles containing good, useful information on some of the fine points of furniture building and tool techniques.

The Joiner and Cabinetmaker by Anonymous, Christopher Schwarz and Joel Moskowitz. Haven't read this one yet, but glancing through it, there appears to be a lot of useful information on both the hows and whys of using specific joinery techniques for specific purposes.

Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction by Andy Rae. Good step-by-step information showing the hows and whys of furniture construction for a variety of furniture types.

Measure Twice, Cut Once by Jim Tolpin. Solid and entertaining information on the hows and whys of furniture building.

Modern Practical Joinery by George Ellis. Oriented toward architectural woodworking, but the techniques and principles are readily adaptable to furniture building. Lots of information on doing curved work.

The Complete Japanese Joinery by Hideo Sato and Yasua Nakahara. Two books in one. Excellent information on Japanese joinery, when and how to use it, and how to cut it.

Made By Hand by Tom Fidgen. Good, solid information on hand tool furniture building and techniques, with plenty of fun anecdotes to accompany the technical information. One minor irritation is that my edition (1st printing) is full of typographic errors that detract from an otherwise good book.....

Spons on Carpentry and Joinery by E. and F. N. Spon, Ltd. Good information on tools and techniques. The "Construction" section is useful, and covers both furniture building and architectural woodworking.

Chairmaking and Design and Beds by Jeff Miller. Both books go into great detail on design, the various joinery techniques available, and why to use one over another.

Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery by Gary Rogowski. Good step-by-step information showing the how to cut it, why to use it, and when to use it for the majority of commonly-used joinery techniques.
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I hope that this will be of some use to you.