Joined: A bench guide to furniture joinery

by Joshua A. Klein

A heavily illustrated book on the types of joinery used to shape wood into lasting furniture.

Genres: Woodwork, Nonfiction

173 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Emily Carlin]

Delightfully practical reference. Read it cover to cover (it's mostly pictures to be clear), put it away, and then got it out two days later to jog my memory on their advice for cutting clean tenon shoulders and have had it out on the bench since, where I expect it to continue to earn its keep for some time.

[James Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think of this as a reference book for connecting pieces of wood together to make furniture. It goes over mortise/tenon construction, rabbets, grooves/dados, dovetails, and I'm sure I'm missing something. The instructions are detailed with pictures of every step. Some of it may seem a bit over detailed, but when you're having a problem the step by step should help you find where you goofed.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very practical handbook of instructions for the main types of joints used in furniture making -- mortise-and-tenon, dovetails, rabbet, dado -- and how to do them both efficiently and well with hand tools. I took a table-making class with Mr. Klein a few years ago and I know that what he distills here is knowledge employed by pre-industrial woodworkers. Those craftsmen, I mean the ones who made furniture for everyday people, worked at what we would consider an astonishing rate without power tools, in part because they knew how to make every cut count, and not do extra work that wasn't needed. Some of the key things Klein points out are that not every side of a dovetail joint is seen on the outside of the finished product, so you can undercut in certain places to make the joinery faster and easier to fit. I would consider this to be a kind of reference book to be consulted while learning the joints. The author asks you to keep it on your workbench rather than on your coffee table, and never mind the sawdust!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely practical and detailed instructions on the basic joints for furniture building using hand tools. What's important and where you can let things slide. Each joint has an important facet that if messed with, will make it look bad or possibly fail. While I've seen this in other books, it's not organized together in one place like this one.

You will need to order this from the publisher or a woodworking store.

[Dan Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good photography makes or breaks a book like this. Fortunately, Klein knows what he is doing: how to pick the best angle to illustrate the point; how to keep the photo in focus; how to use contrast in the picture to its best advantage. It is dismaying how many DIY books I have seen that fail these important basics. Couple the photography with understandable text, and you have a winner.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best book for learning joinery. Full of color, professional grade photos illustrating every step of common woodworking joinery, Klein accomplishes what few have ever mastered--teaching the masses.

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is extremely helpful. Joshua is very good at explaining the steps, and the photos are well thought out and beautiful. I love that the book is sewn, so it can lay flat. Mine is full of shavings from being on the bench.

[Green G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice read. A few simple projects to inspire unplugged hand-work. I have liked everything that M & T has published.