book on chinese joinery

[Joe Caff]

Anyone have a favorite/recommended book on chinese furniture joinery?

J

[Michael Heffernan]

Joe,
This is a good book on traditional chinese joinery.
http://www.amazon.com/Domestic-Furniture-Photographs-Measured-Drawings/dp/0486251713/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247118561&sr=1-1

[Rick Fisher]

hmm.. all the Chinese furniture I have seen is joined with Staples and glue.








:)

[John Vernier]

The Gustave Ecke book which Michael Heffernan linked to above is the only book I know which shows detailed drawings of traditional Chinese joints, and it illustrates many pieces of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, listing which joints are used in each. But it doesn't examine the construction of each piece in depth, and it is not a how-to book by any means. Still, well worth picking up, as it is probably the best overview of the subject.

Yeung Chan's book Classic Joints with Power Tools shows some Chinese joints, although the emphasis of the book is not exclusively Chinese style work. I find it a good book to have on hand for all sorts of sticky problems. I was lucky to attend a day-long workshop with Yeung Chan some years back, where he demonstrated Chinese joints which are not in his book, using hand tools but also a lot of creative table saw and router work, and I wish he would publish more of this material!