Customer Reviews

The Best of Wood Boxes

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The other reviewer is correct. Certainly the title promises plans for these boxes. The plans are just one drawing of the box with a list of materials. So if you want to make these boxes, you'll have to do some figuring out. However, if you want to be inspired, check out this book. Even non-woodworkers will page through this book and find the boxes shown to be beautiful and neat. Boxes as objets d'art... who knew?

The book presents attractive photographs of a number of boxes that will stimulate aspiring beginning and intermediate box builders.

Though offered to suggest "how to" construction guidance, especially with plans, the book has only the most meager detail of construction and nothing that can truly be called plans. The introduction warns readers that the boxes presented ought not be copied and if they are legal action is a possibility. The result is a book more bent on preventing copies of the displayed boxes than providing useful information for the box building reader.

I bought this book thinking that it contain info on tips & techniques, as well as detailed plans; I was wrong.

The 127 pages are filled with color photos of interesting boxes, but not much else. There is a materials list for each piece, but no plans or instructions beyond a stylized isometric sketch.

If you are looking for a book on boxes to decorate your coffee table, this is the one. If you are looking for a practicle guide to box construction, look elsewhere.

This book does suffers from the fact that its subtitle contains the word "plans". It contains none. Nevertheless, if you have some experience as a woodworker and want to build interesting boxes, this will be a worthy addition to your library and a source of inspiration and enjoyment.

On the left hand pages are pictures of interesting and unique boxes of many different shapes and for many different uses. Some of the boxes have more than one picture in order to demonstrate some aspect of its construction. For example, there are three pictures of the inlaid jewelry box on page 44. One shows the box face-on and above to demonstrate the beauty of its construction and the quality of the wood. One shows a close-up of the open drawers to demonstrate the unusual joinery and the craftsmanship involved in the inlay of ebony and ivory salvaged from an old piano. And the third shows the lid and the drawers of the box open to demonstrate its utility. The quality of the pictures is excellent. Each box is attributed to its creator.

On the right-hand page opposite the corresponding picture is a simple drawing of the box. Here is where expectations are dashed. These drawings are hardly plans. They are simply three dimensional perspectives, mirror images of the main picture on the opposite page with the measurements of the boxes height, width and depth. From these basic drawing a skilled woodworker could reproduce some of the simpler boxes, but they would be no help whatsoever in any attempt to recreate some of the more complex boxes (like the incredible "Landscape Box" on page 50). For each box there is also a brief description of the materials used and their cost, the time spent in building the box, the finish used and the inspiration for the design. There are no descriptions of woodworking techniques, methods of joinery, or construction details.

But that is not what this book is for. This is not the place to learn woodworking. Rather this is a showcase for the work of some exceptional craftsmen (and women) who have created some interesting, unusual and beautiful pieces of practical art. Buy this book not to learn the craft but to gain new insights, generate new ideas and to become inspired to make your own beautiful creations.