Customer Reviews

Creating Beautiful Boxes With Inlay Techniques

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Doug Stowe's beautifully photographed book clearly stands heads and shoulders other woodworking box books. Stowe's designs range from the simple to the complex, in a variety of styles, with an emphasis on contemporary and Arts-and-Crafts. I am usually suspicious of books with step-by-step instructions, as I am a relatively advanced woodworker. However, I found Stowe's construction hints helpful and decidedly not tedious. Stowe also breaks the book up with personal essays, which make it a big step up from an arm-chair picture book. The book is fun to read, as well as look at.

Stowe appeared to also write the book to give confidence to the novice. The photography is excellent. One thing I found especially good is one can get a feel for tolerances required for given operations by looking at the photos. One can tell that the finished product is going to be a success, even if a splinter is off here and there, which gives confidence to the novice-- reason being that too often those lacking experience put off trying harder techniques because they have feel for how "perfect" work must be in order to achieve success.

Another strength of the book is that the boxes made are all significantly different, embodying different techniques. This is a good step in the right direction from previous box books, which give umpteen variations on a single theme.

If you're going to buy one book about making wood boxes, this is the one to pick.

A woodworker with little experience with inlay technique often thinks these beautiful projects are beyond their capabilities. This book takes the mystery out of inlay design with its copious photos and descriptions of work in progress. As a modestly experienced woodworker, I found the projects somewhat challenging, while the end result was truely magnificent. The book is a course in appreciating wood for its natural beauty. The boxes are relatively plain, however the projects represent nature's most beautiful art form. A definite must for any wood library.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, not only for the techniques and beautiful boxes, but also for the sidebars on the philosophy and observations on woodworking.

It stirred my soul, and I want to go out and build some more boxes now.

I'm glad the publisher convinced the author to write this book.

The book has some really interesting ideas for boxes. It is definitely worth getting for that reason alone.

This is not a good book for an inexperienced woodworker. Many of the router table techniques shown are incredibly dangerous---I can't believe the author has gotten away with doing things the way he does without losing a few fingers along the way. I shudder to think what might happen to a new woodworker who tries these techniques.

The projects described are somewhat incomplete and quirky. One project, for example, has panel doors---the cutting list contains dimensions for the rails and stiles of the doors, but not the panels. Not a problem for me, since I normally use these things as a source of ideas/inspirations for projects of my own design. But for someone who is looking for a step-by step project guide, this will prove disappointing. As another example, one project mentions using "brainerd hinges"--not a knife hinge, a slot hinge, a quadrant hinge, etc, but a "brainerd hinge". But the author neither shows the hinges in any of the illustrations nor explains them in the text. I was quite puzzled as to just what exactly a "Brainerd Hinge" might be and asked several woodworking buddies. Nobody had any idea. Finally, out of desperation, I "googled" the term "brainerd hinge" and found out that there is a "Brainerd" company that makes hinges. Apparently the author meant a simple butt hinge made by the Brainerd company. The book is full of these quirks and one can either be frustrated at them or view them as part of the book's charm.

One final comment---many of the boxes appealed to my design sense, but some others seemed rather clunky in their proportions. But that's easy enough to change on your own. I say this to stress that the strength of the book is in providing a number of interesting design/construction ideas that can be adapted in many different ways.

I bought this book hoping to cull some ideas for an idea I have for a box with inlay. However, this book is just straight ahead projects. The book does cover other things, like hand made dove tail joints, and making wood inlay - but they weren't as in-depth as I was hoping. If you have a shop full of various power tools and chisels and saws, etc - this book is for you. If you're looking for ideas on box designs/construction, and have a limited set of tools - I wouldn't recommend this one.

Doug Stowe definitely knows his boxes. He's built thousands over the years. Anytime an expert like this decides to share his secrets, one should take the opportunity to acquire the knowledge.
The focus on "inlay" is a fuzzy one at best. Stowe talks in detail about how to make inlay strips or panels and for that information alone, this book is worth its price. A true artist should know how every little bit of his/her works are put together. Since inlay can be a beautiful enhancer to wood projects, designing and assembling your own inlay can only increase your artisanship.
Once the basics of inlay work has been covered, the book goes into some excellent box designs that I look forward to trying. However, and here is where one star goes away, many of these boxes don't require inlay for them to be successful. As a woodworker I both like and dislike this. I like the freedom to use the designs without being bound to the concept of inlay. I dislike that the title of the book specifically ties it to using inlay when many of the projects don't need to utilize it.
Picky? Maybe. Either way this is a good book and many useful designs and techniques can be drawn from it.

Creating Beautiful Boxes With Inlay Techniques

If you love wood boxes and are a woodworking enthusiastist, this is a definite to add to your woodworking library. Why not 5 stars -- this is not the best book for woodworking beginners because of the "inlay" process (which makes the projects a little harder to do). It is a great book to help teach you how to improve your techniques with inlay.

good book to have if you're a novice at inlayed boxes. this is an intro, so it's not for the seasoned professional. Based on this book, i now understand how interesting inlays are made. The downside in my case is that now i need a 16" bandsaw to try to make inlays like those in the book. a little knowledge can not only be dangerous, but expensive as well.

Doug Stowe makes some very eye catching woodworking projects. In this book he shows how it's done. Good descriptions and good recommendations on tools and supplies. Emphasis on using what you have, not going out and spending a bunch of money to start. If you have basic woodworking knowledge, this book will have you making detailed inlay boxes and other fine wood projects in no time.

Good tips and beautiful boxes. The directions are sufficient to be able to make the boxes in the book.