Customer Reviews

Making Rustic Furniture: The Tradition, Spirit, and Technique with Dozens of Project Ideas

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

 

 

If you love rustic funiture you need this book. I have several books on the subject and this is by far my favorite. It has lots of great photos of both contemporary and traditional rustic pieces, and many helpful tips and how-tos. I made a willow chair and found the instructions easy to follow, with good descriptions and step-by-step photos. It was a fun project. Daniel Mack makes beautiful furniture and does a great job of sharing his knowledge.

If by chance one of those strange looking pieces of "stick furniture" has ever caught your eye and the price seemed high for your budget than consider making your own. This book is full of useful information. Besides the more elborate high end pieces, that are closer to a work of art , there are many examples of simple pieces. The good news is that YOU can make a piece or even a set of rustic furniture. Although it looks complicated, the twisted wood all connected for a functional piece of furniture is relatively easy to make. I've had this book for years and have used it to make several projects for the backyard. You can begin easy with say, a bird house, trellis or a small stool or table. With more experience and confidence the book will provide you with suggestions and inspiration for more dificult projects to tackle. Essentially once you learn and practice some of the basic techniques you are ready to let your imagination go. If you can visualize it YOU can make it. One of the good things about this type of furniture is that if something goes "wrong" this can actually be "corrected" and may lead to an even more interesting effect. Also the piece does not have to have all one type of wood, you can use the burls and roots for interesting effects and even other non-wood objects can be incorporated . Apparently willow is one of the best woods to use but just about any wood will work to create a piece of furniture; it just may not have the intricate and flexibile weavings of willow. You can use whatever is readily avilable in your area. There are examples of various woods including hickory, driftwood, juniper, cedar and maple. While doing a major spring yard cleaning, in summer, I used California Pepper tree limbs and branches to make a large settee for the backyard. Most anyone can do this, even young people without woodworking experience; children can even participate. I incorporated the help of my 15 year old son to complete this project . He had many good ideas and once he got the hang of it was working on sections without me! It made for a good father and son project.The point here being anyone can make something, including YOU. This book will help you learn the basics and than you can move on with the suggested detailed techniques and projects. Besides the tecnical help the book provides, the outstanding varied examples of rustic furniture with different types of wood, the book also has a section on sources for books , rustic furniture dealers, places to buy old and new tools and many of the furniture makers featured in the book addresses and phone numbers for contacts. Once you get this book you will never look at the old wood pile or take a walk in the woods in the same manner. This is an excellent sourcebook with informative and creative inspiration just waiting to help you get started on your first project. Happy rustic furniture making!

If you love rustic funiture you need this book. I have several books on the subject and this is by far my favorite. It has lots of great photos of both contemporary and traditional rustic pieces, and many helpful tips and how-tos. I made a willow chair and found the instructions easy to follow, with good descriptions and step-by-step photos. It was a fun project. Daniel Mack makes beautiful furniture and does a great job of sharing his knowledge.

Misled by its title, I was expecting that this book was about making rustic furniture.
However only the last third of the book is about this.
Two thirds of the books (100 p.) consists in a gallery of pictures (with some comments), mostly chairs. Their style is not modern, but not traditional either. I find most to be weird or snob. Actually many look postmodern to me (they may not all be from the author, but from his friends -many being also from New York City like him). These may be a source of inspiration for some, but definitely not what I am looking for.

And that last third of the book, about making things is also quite a deception in itself. It is a collection of shallow articles by other authors, who show projects they make, with a very vague and general talk about the technique they use. One uses tenons and mortises (anyone knowing a bit about conventional woodworking will not learn anything here), and worse, others use nails and even bolts (the last one). I really learned nothing from this. In addition, this is all about dry wood.

I recommend instead Les Smith's Build your own Log Furniture (only a little bit of technique, for dry softwood, but at least something...), and much more a book where you really can learn many things: Drew Langsner's Green Woodworking.

This book offers a great review of origins and development of rustic chair making overtime. If you have experience making rustic furniture, it offers numerous design ideas in the form of photographs of some terrific tables, chairs and benches. If you are looking for plans and instructions, this book (oddly) has only a few pages of plans for items not really worth making.

Great tips throughout the 160 pages. More black and white than color
photos due to historical photo examples and workshop illustrations
more than drawings. Somewhat more stylish and art intensive than
everyday use cover suggests.

I've been doing regular woodworking and decoy carving for decades. Since I've gotten this book, I've made two rustic tables. I'm looking forward to trying some other projects soon.

Mack is passionate about this form, and I've also gotten his other book: The Art of Rustic Furniture. If you're at all interested in doing this type of work, each these books are a must-have.

Nice book, but i thought it might have had more details on how to actually make furniture. Has some nice examples though.