Customer Reviews

Building Beautiful Boxes with Your Band Saw

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great book if you are a novice woodworker or an intermediate level woodworker new to using a band saw. This is an instructional book that does not leave out some key instructions that could leave you hanging half way through a project. It spells out clearly everything you need to know to make a gorgeous band saw box.

There are fourteen projects in the book, complete with patterns and finishing instructions. The author takes you through all the steps to complete one of the projects, including design aspects, choosing the wood, a list of necessary materials, and suggested mail order sources.

The book is filled with color photos that show every stage of the project, making it very interesting and easy to understand the text.

I have a large number of "how to" woodworking books and I would rate this one as being one of the best!

With this book and 4 tools, you will become an instant craftsman (in your own mind at least). Lois Ventura will show even a novice (a little experience in the required tools is necessary) how to create magnificent artful boxes using just a bandsaw, jointer (although you can always substitute a sander and time for this), a belt sander and a palm sander. Thanx to this book, I'm turning $100 into $500-$700 worth of Christmas presents (already own the tools).

Best book I've ever purchased. And yes, her listed designs are similar to each other. That is because she is working within a style. She creates flowing natural shapes that are inspired by the nature that brings us the materials we use. As no straight lines and right angles appear in nature, neither do they in her designs.

In the 4 years since I have bought this book, I no longer build Ventura-style patterns (since so many others are doing them and not giving Lois credit). But I am using her techniques to great effect with my own patterns. With the slightest imagination, you can develop your own patterns. I do cars, trucks, semis, animals, butterflies and more things. Creativity is crucial to avoiding the slow death of repetition that plagues woodworking. This book is no exception. And I continue to give this book 5/5 stars.

I received this book as a Christmas gift and was immediatly impressed with the photography and layout of the book. Ms Ventura is a fine writer and waste's no time in getting you hooked into the art of bandsaw boxes. I had often admired boxes made with bandsaws but had not quite figured out how the whole process was accomplished. This book covers it all, equipment and tools needed, selecting materials, laminating, layout, cutting and finishing. The resource section is a bonus. As an added bonus she supplies you with the templates for a good number of her famous designs, with tips to allow you to accomplish the fit and finish they each deserve. They are all designed to be made with a standard 14" bandsaw and one of the best hints is, she use's one blade for everything. She suggests alternate methods for shaping and sanding if you do not possess some of the machines that she routinely uses and encourages you to use your own imagination and creativity. I have been making jewelry boxes and toy boxes for some time now, and while I enjoy making them sometimes I wish I could get away from the standard "square" box. This book has shown me a definite alternative and I will be adding bandsaw boxes to my list of projects. Great book, can't rate it high enough.

I got this book a couple months ago and have built seven of the boxes and have nine more partially done (two are repeats and the rest are different patterns). My friends are blown away with the beauty of the boxes and I am too. The instructions are clear. The boxes are relatively simple to build - no complex joinery. I used some really exotic woods and also "sandwiched" in some wedges of contrasting color on many of them. Two I have "faced" with a slab of maple burl (one was about 3/8" thick and the other was about 2" thick. The are absolutely breath-taking and super fun to make.

Paul

I have made several of the boxes featured in this book. The instructions are clear and easy to understand. If you want to follow the plans for some of the larger boxes, you will need a 14" or larger bandsaw (I'm selling my new 12" as a result!). These boxes are beautiful! I have received many compliments on them. The author encourages you to use your own creativity and I definitely have many ideas to pursue after discovering how fulfilling making a work of art like this is! Thank you Ms. Ventura!

I read this book cover to cover and made a couple of the boxes. The step by step directions were fantastic. I was absolutely amazed at how well the boxes came out. The best thing about the book is that it teaches you techniques that you can apply to other projects. I ended up making all my Christmas presents this year with the techniques I learned. I would have given this book 5 stars if it weren't for the following. I only have a 12" band saw and almost all of the projects require a 14" or bigger band saw. It states this only after you have read considerably deep into the book. I was able to work around it with my table saw, but it would have been nice to give a list of tools or limitations right up front. The finishing section wasn't all that informative either. I wish the author had gone into the step by step detail in the finishing section the same way she did in the machining section. With that said, I would recommend this book to anyone with a band saw. The box designs are fun, and the techniques learned will overlap into other projects.

If you want to make curvy boxes like the one shown on the cover, this may be the perfect book for you. There are numerous photographs and the boxes are beautiful. Includes 14 projects with full size, to-scale templates (8 1/2 x 11 templates). There are a number of tips in the book for beginning to novice woodworkers. I bought the book based on the rating. I did not want to make curvy boxes, so I should not have purchased the book- every box in the book is just a variation of the cover picture (hence only 4 stars). Author shows a 14" Delta in use. The book is useful with nice photographs, and lots of detailed instructions, even if you're not making fish shaped boxes. Hope this was helpful.

A wonderfully written and illustrated book. I have the book a week now and have made 5 different boxes with wonderful results. I highly recommend this book.

I purchased this book to try something different for gifts. The boxes that I have made came out great! I have only made five so far, but will make more. I used walnut oil on four of the boxes, rather than the products that she mentions, and tried spray lacquer on one. I followed her suggestion for flocking the inside of the drawers. They require quite a bit of sanding, but are lots of fun to make. You'll really want a spindle sander or 6" X 48" belt sander or similar for the curved surfaces. You won't be disapointed with this book.

As a beginner with the bandsaw, I loved the approach Ventura took with this book. From the beginning she presents the building of these boxes in a logical and well described manner. I have made several of the boxes in the last month and have learned a bunch. I will continue to make these boxes since everyone loves them and have asked for them as gifts.
The only drawback I would like to point out is the chapter on finishing. Ventura is a little locked into the finishing products she uses. There is little in the way of recommendations on finishing with other than those particular products. I don't use those so was left a little to search on my own.
Aside from that one minor issue with the finishing I found this a great book to help the beginner jump in and make some very successful designs.