Customer Reviews

Box by Box (Popular Woodworking)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is sub-titled, 21 Projects for developing your woodworking skills.

More than plans and procedures for building a bunch of boxes, this book is chock-full of clever techniques for building. Even if you never build a box (and if you build any furniture, you are probably building a box somewhere in there), read it all and you will learn a lot of good techniques in the sidebars and procedures.

He organizes his projects in ascending degree of difficulty so that whether you are a beginner with a hand saw and a hammer or a seasoned woodworker with a shop full of tools, there is something here for you. The book is profusely illustrated with clear color photos.

Jim Stack is one of my favorite authors (and the only one still alive). His sense of humor and creative and imaginative techniques make this a delightful book. He is a very clever guy in his approach to making things work. For an interesting project, try the icosahedron box.

Interesting spiral-bound format makes it easy to sit on your workbench during your project work.

Warning: If you are like me, once you start box-making, every piece of scrap starts to look like a box.

I don't write many reviews since what needs to be said usually already has been. This is true with this book as well but I have enjoyed it so much that I felt the need to add my two cents. This is a great book for beginners and offers some great lessons for more advanced woodworkers as well. It starts with the most basic box you can build and project by project it teaches a new skill. I think some of the concerns expressed in previous reviews may be due to the advancing nature of the lessons. Once one new skill is learned, a new one follows. There is not a lot of variation in box types at any one level. But with all the lessons available, I'm sure that anyone will find at least a couple of boxes that they just have to build. If you are looking for a book that deals in depth with basic woodworking skills with lots of pictures of each step involved, the Taunton book may be a better purchase. But if you want lots of great ideas with a good basic instruction on each step involved, you can't go wrong with this book.

This is a fine book for the hobbyist or fine woodworker looking to make a few fun projects. Great, easy to follow directions that anyone with some decent skill should be able to make.

Box by Box (Popular Woodworking)

My husband has ALWAYS loved boxes -- and since his wood working hobby became his second hobby (his garden and love of gardening will always be first) this book seemed the ideal gift. AND IT WAS!! This is now one of his favorites books -- it's full of lots of ideas and the instructions are easy to follow for not only advanced wood workers but those beginners just starting out.

Sure was disappointed by this book. I am a beginner and from the description felt that this would be a good place to start. It really assumes more knowledge than a true beginner would have.

The text seems to leave out steps and requirements. It seems that the book was edited by someone who didn't understand everything involved to complete the projects.

On the good side, the projects in the book are great.

I would agree with Boxmaker. This is a good book but the projects advance very quickly to more advanced designs. I got some good ideas that I will eventually use but there are several that I will never attempt due to their complexity.
If you have already built some boxes and you need more ideas and designs, you could do worse than this book. If you are a beginner and have a bandsaw, I would recommend "Making Beautiful Boxes with your Bandsaw."
Build on!

I have not built anything from this book yet but flipping though it looks like I will be doing lots from it.