Customer Reviews

Arts & Crafts Woodworking Projects: 11 New Designs in the Stickley Tradition

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We each have our own tastes, and I find most of the projects in this book ugly and/or ill-proportioned. The best piece, a "Sofa Table" (I'd call it a sideboard), isn't bad, but if you look at it, and then look at pictures of authentic Stickley pieces, the Belke piece is just... a little "off." The morris chair is positively hideous, and there are some odd little pieces included to fill out the book (a CD holder? a box?) that don't look much like anything except high school shop work. You know, the sort of stuff that you'd be proud of if your 14-year-old son made it.

The plans seem well-drawn, and there are plenty of drawings of the separate pieces of the projects to make it clear where all of the joinery is located.

So often we find that the books with good furniture have rotten plans, and the books with poor furniture have great plans.

Here are the projects:

Desk Box

CD Holder

Coatrack

Valet Stand

Cheval Mirror (with *TURNED* posts)

Room Divider (frame & panel screen)

Revolving Bookrack

Coffee Table (spindle ends)

Sofa Table

Morris Chair and Footstool

Bunk Beds

This is a weak Arts & Crafts furniture book. Many of the plans are simple and pseudo "Arts & Crafts" pieces (a CD holder?). There are a couple of nice plans, but that's it.

The drawings look like they are from a budget CAD program, but that aside are quite detailed and informative.

I would recommend looking at another book, such as "Classic Arts & Crafts Furniture You Can Build" by Andy Schultz or "The Furniture of Gustav Stickley : History, Techniques, Projects". Those are two really nice books, with excellent plans.

The furniture in here is absolutely beautiful, but don't bother unless you have some serious equipment like a table saw w/dado set, and a drill press. (Or a lot of patience and accuracy with hand tools.)

I have three Stickley furniture plans books and this is the weakest of them. Several of the plans are not truely "Stickley" furniture, but more "sort of like arts & crafts style".

I'd recommend looking at another book. "The Furniture of Gustav Stickley", is _much_ better.

An absolutely fantastic modern adaptation of the Stickley style of furniture design. The projects are complete and easy to understand. The book, unlike others I've read, actually shows you the important things like how to do the joinery and how to do the finishing. If you like the mission style of Gustav Stickley (or prairie style or any other closely related style), you will LOVE this book. I can't wait for the author's next set of plans.

I do not recommend this book for the advanced woodworker. The projects are not refined and of little interest to the serious woodworker.

For all you critics out there who have not written books but have instead just commented on them without really thinking about why they were written the way they are here is a second thought. Books are all different and some are good and bad, this book does not show to be any less quality and actually has some really nice drawings which are very helpful compared to those who have none at all. These peices of furnature range from a cd rack which is very useful around our house to a near-by coffee table that lies in our living room now. This book instructs those who want to learn some fairly easy projects that progress in difficulty even if you have the right tools. Why not have the something decorative and useful such as the cd-rack in this book?