Illustrated Cabinetmaking: How to Design and Construct Furniture That Works (Fox Chapel Publishing) Over 1300 Drawings & Diagrams for Drawers, Tables, Beds, Bookcases, Cabinets, Joints & Subassemblies

by Bill Hylton

Design and construct furniture that works with the help of the most complete visual guide ever published! It's all Illustrated Cabinetmaking is the most complete visual guide to furniture construction ever published. It includes hundreds of clearly-labeled drawings and exploded diagrams that explain everything there is to know about joints, subassemblies and furniture design. Featuring each piece in highly-detailed, exploded drawings and applying time-honored dimensions and ergonomic standards, this comprehensive visual sourcebook takes the guesswork out of furniture joinery, assembly, dimension, and style. Woodworkers of any skill level will benefit from more than 1,300 crisp and detailed drawings that explain classic solutions to age-old problems, such as hanging a drawer, attaching a tabletop, and pegging a mortise. Covering hundreds of pieces of furniture, including kitchen cabinets, dining tables, desks, bookcases, and chests, this book will help you unlock the mysteries of legs, moldings, separate braces, and dozens of other subassemblies.

Genres: Woodwork, Reference, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an incredible reference for furniture makers. It is divided into three main parts, any one of which alone would make this worth reading.

The first is on woodworking joints. I've read other more specialized books (such as Woodwork Joints) that contain more, but those are seldom used things like scarf joints and puzzle joints. This has everything a furniture maker would need, in good detail. It is well organized by function rather than method of construction.

The second part is on using those joints to make furniture parts, like frame-and-panels, tabletops, doors, drawers etc. He covers in detail the common constructions, and their pros and cons.

The third part is the largest part of the book, and is made up of exploded drawings of various tables, chests, cabinets, and beds. Other than chairs and sofas, I think it has almost any type of furniture you could think of.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful set of plans organized by type. A skilled worker could build from these plans and interested collectors can learn typical construction forms to aid in evaluating antiques.

I did find a couple of decent night stand plans. A good starting point.

[Elizabeth Byerly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reference

[Criz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-have for people looking to start building furniture. It explores all the styles, joinery, and techniques from 18th century to today.

[Brian Geyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for furniture builders.

[Adam King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of helpful illustrations. Great read!

[Shaun Deane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's not to like? Practical, visual examples of hundreds of pieces. Bound to inspire many projects down the road.

[J.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great blown-up pictures of all the pieces needed to construct different furniture pieces

[Fred Enzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent reference for a novice cabinet maker. A compendium of definitions, techniques, tips and plans for specific furniture and cabinet projects. The chapters are clear and simply written and start with technical information about wood, it's grain and how it shrinks and swells with changes in humidity...and in turn, the effect that has on building a piece of wooden furniture. It goes on to joinery techniques, construction techniques and styles and then finally to more projects than I can name but several of which I plan to build in the coming months. All in all, Bill Hylton provides clear writing for understanding by new and intermediate carpenters and cabinet makers.

[Gabriel Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great visual of all the woodworking universe from joints, styles and almost any type of furniture.

Even though it is not a project guide, you could use this book as a regular reference for ideas, review and techniques.