Arts & Crafts book recommendation

[Michael Peet]

Can anyone recommend a book of Arts & Crafts style furniture plans and construction techniques?

Thanks!

Mike

[Mike Cutler]

Can anyone recommend a book of Arts & Crafts style furniture plans and construction techniques?

Thanks!

Mike

Mike
You may have to be a little more explicit. There are genres inside of the A&C style
Bob Lang has some excellent books, as does
Gary Rogowski (sp).
Darrell Peart has probably the best on contemporary adaptions to the Greene & Greene style.
I probably have 20-25 books on Arts & Crafts style.

[Michael Peet]

I was wondering if that was the case.. I guess specifically I am looking at furniture in the flavor of Morris chairs. Is that mission?

Thanks for the leads, I will check them out.

Mike

[Peter J Lee]

There is a lot of information on Morris chairs floating around on the internet. There is some really good info here if you take the time to poke around. Have you looked at the Stickley website? That might give you an idea of what you want and you can work back from there.

[Mike Cutler]

I was wondering if that was the case.. I guess specifically I am looking at furniture in the flavor of Morris chairs. Is that mission?

Thanks for the leads, I will check them out.

Mike

The Morris Chair is Mission Style.
The original, by John Morris, was a massive piece of furniture. His philosophy was to build serviceable furniture for the masses.
The Stickley version of the chair unfortunately comes in numerous variations. That which was built by Gustav, and the others that were built by the varying partnerships of his brothers through the years.
Gustav's version was more closely aligned with Morris' vision, but his brothers trimmed the piece down and made it lighter. I've seen both side by side and the piece attributed to Gustav was much heavier and chunkier than the Stickley brothers piece. It also commands a much higher price tag.
I have the good fortune to live about 20 miles from Jerry Cohen's Mission Oak Shop. Some Stickley furniture that most folks can only see in books and museums is there for the pawing at. He has a set of 112's, bookcases that are spectacular. I'm not a particular fan off Mission Style, but it's still and education in joinery just to examine the pieces.
Seeing the "real furniture" up close has allowed me to pick up subtle joinery details,and there is much detail that goes unmentioned in current build articles on them.
I'll look through my books, and see if any other than the Stickley Shop Drawings book have any detail.

[Michael Peet]

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the info. I have noticed that some of the stuff looked too heavy to me; I like the lightened look of what I guess are the Stickley variations.

Thanks again,

Mike

[David Peterson MN]

I really like Bob Langs book called Shop drawings for Craftsman Furniture. I am using it as a reference to build several Stickley based tables for my church. http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Drawings-Craftsman-Furniture-Stickley/dp/1892836122

[paul cottingham]

I really like Bob Langs book called Shop drawings for Craftsman Furniture. I am using it as a reference to build several Stickley based tables for my church. http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Drawings-Craftsman-Furniture-Stickley/dp/1892836122
+1 for Langs book. I really like the Greene and Greene book from the same series as well. Daryl Pearts book http://furnituremaker.com/purchase.htm on Greene and Greene elements for furniture making is also very good.

[Bob Lang]

Thanks for the kind words about my books. The first "Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture" was published a little over ten years ago, and was named by Fine Woodworking as "One of 27 Books Every Woodworker Should Read". The second "More Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture" followed a year later, and unfortunately has been out of print for about a year. This summer, those two books, along with my fourth book, "Shop Drawings for Craftsman Inlays and Hardware" will be printed in a new combined edition with the working title "Complete Book of Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture".

The new book will include all of the drawings in the originals, and I have revised the introductory text. Included in the new introduction are many new photos, both of vintage pieces and my own work building reproductions. This new book will be more than 300 pages in length, and if all goes well it will be available mid-summer. The focus is on the best examples of original pieces of the period. Send me a PM for more information, or google the title "Complete Book of Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture."

Bob Lang

[Kent A Bathurst]

Bob's initial 2 books are the first two design books I ever bought. They are on my reference book shelf near the workbench, along with Hoadley, Hock, Hack, Jewitt Flexner, et. al. Bob has not just designs, but also methods of work. There are a half-dozen pieces in the house that came from those books. And - he has available larger detailed drawings on a number of pieces.

Now - Bob - if I could just entice you into doing a book on Charles Rennie Mackintosh...........:D :D

[Bob Lang]

It's already been done, by Roger Billcliffe, title "MacIntosh Furniture" ISBN # 978-0906506011

great designer, great book

Bob Lang

[Kevin Groenke]

Many furniture style nomenclatures can be confusing, Arts and Crafts/Craftsman/Mission is no exception. The range of this style/s is very broad including one-off pieces from late 19th century english makers to mass produced 1920's pieces made by the many makers in Grand Rapids, Michigan and similar centers of production. In certain regions, "Mission" describes a rustic southwestern style rather than the generally rectilinear style that Stickley and his contemporaries popularized.

The broad style is probably best described by being broken into sub-categories, often described by the maker/manufacturer (Stickley, Roycroft, Limbert, Green & Green, Mackintosh, Wright, etc). The numerous mass market manufacturers are tough to categorize since you don't want to risk attributing them to a maker.. perhaps ________ style does the trick, though by the 1920's the mass market pieces really lost the details and design flourishes that made specific makers/manufacturers styles unique.

Throw into the mix parallel and subsequent related styles such as: Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Weiner Werkstatte, Danish Modern, Deco and similar Modernist styles and many piece in the middle get tough to label. The widespread production of reproduction and derivative pieces made by individuals and manufacturers since the 1980's doesn't make things any easier.

I find it particularly interesting that the reclining chair design by William Morris (#1), is not what many would call a Morris Chair (#5).
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-kg

[Jim Rimmer]

Many furniture style nomenclatures can be confusing, Arts and Crafts/Craftsman/Mission is no exception. The range of this style/s is very broad including one-off pieces from late 19th century english makers to mass produced 1920's pieces made by the many makers in Grand Rapids, Michigan and similar centers of production. In certain regions, "Mission" describes a rustic southwestern style rather than the generally rectilinear style that Stickley and his contemporaries popularized.

The broad style is probably best described by being broken into sub-categories, often described by the maker/manufacturer (Stickley, Roycroft, Limbert, Green & Green, Mackintosh, Wright, etc). The numerous mass market manufacturers are tough to categorize since you don't want to risk attributing them to a maker.. perhaps ________ style does the trick, though by the 1920's the mass market pieces really lost the details and design flourishes that made specific makers/manufacturers styles unique.

Throw into the mix parallel and subsequent related styles such as: Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Weiner Werkstatte, Danish Modern, Deco and similar Modernist styles and many piece in the middle get tough to label. The widespread production of reproduction and derivative pieces made by individuals and manufacturers since the 1980's doesn't make things any easier.

I find it particularly interesting that the reclining chair design by William Morris (#1), is not what many would call a Morris Chair (#5).


-kg

Amen to this comment. Throw in the uneducated (or uncaring) and you can add Pottery Barn style to the list. :( I recently made some A&C style bedside tables and when I showed pictures to some young nieces I got the "Oh, that's like Pottery Barn!" comment. I gritted my teeth and thanked them because they thought it was a compliment.

[Kent A Bathurst]

It's already been done, by Roger Billcliffe, title "MacIntosh Furniture" ISBN # 978-0906506011

great designer, great book

Bob Lang

Yep. I swallowed hard and bought it when the new edition was released. Outstanding book. There is a lot of interpretation-slash-interpolation required to get from that level of construction detail to the level in your books. But - that's not gonna stop me.

[Jerome Hanby]

Amen to this comment. Throw in the uneducated (or uncaring) and you can add Pottery Barn style to the list. :( I recently made some A&C style bedside tables and when I showed pictures to some young nieces I got the "Oh, that's like Pottery Barn!" comment. I gritted my teeth and thanked them because they thought it was a compliment.

You know you've doomed anyone that posts project pictures from now on to getting at least one post that says "Oh, that's like Pottery Barn!" :D

[Bob Lang]

That's one of the reasons I push woodworkers to learn SketchUp, you can do it yourself. And I can spend less time working on books and more time building furniture.

Bob Lang

[Michael Peet]

Curse Amazon and their swift efficiency! I placed an order for the "Shop Drawings" book last night and it's already shipped, otherwise I would have waited for your new edition, Bob.

Thanks for the education, folks!

Mike

[Don Bullock]

It's already been done, by Roger Billcliffe, title "MacIntosh Furniture" ISBN # 978-0906506011 (tel:978-0906506011)

great designer, great book

Bob Lang

OK, how about one from you on Charles Limbert?