Tauntons Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making [Paperback]

Doug Stowe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Taunton's Complete Illustrated guide to Box Making presents both small and large projects. This book covers how to create boxes in different shapes, Japanese puzzle boxes, and band-sawn boxes. 500 color photos are featured in this clear and comprehensive woodworking guide.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Doug Stowe is a professional furniture designer and box maker. He is the author of 5 books including Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making, Creating Beautiful Boxes with Inlay Techniques, Simply Beautiful Boxes, and Making Elegant Custom Tables. He also writes for Fine Woodworking and Woodwork magazines. In 2001 he started a pre-K through 12th grade woodworking program called "Wisdom of the Hands", recognizing the importance of hands-on learning for all children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561585939
• ISBN-13: 978-1561585939
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Remodeling & Renovation

More About the Author

Doug Stowe began his career as a woodworker in 1976, making custom furniture and small boxes. He lives on a wooded hillside at the edge of Eureka Springs, Arkansas and specializes in the use of Arkansas hardwoods. In 1995, he began writing how-to articles for a variety of woodworking magazines. In 1997 his first woodworking book was published and his sixth in the fall of 2009. He is also the author of two Taunton DVDs, Basic Box Making and Rustic Furniture Basics.

In 2001, he began a woodworking program at the Clear Spring School, designed to integrate woodworking activities to stimulate and reinforce academic curriculum, restoring the rationale for the use of crafts in general education and demonstrating its effectiveness. In 2009 he was named an "Arkansas Living Treasure" by the Arkansas Department of Heritage and Arkansas Arts Council for his contributions to traditional crafts and craft education.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No Comparison, September 10, 2005

By 

Mr Joel Mason (Burke, Va United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tauntons Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making (Paperback)

When I started making boxes, a friend of mine gave me a copy of David Freedman's book Box-Making Basics. That book contains photographs of a variety of boxes, has large line drawings to illustrate details, has precise measurements for each box, and has a numbered step-by-step procedure for making each box. That book enabled me to make several of the boxes in the book with relative ease. Stowe's book, on the other hand, really disappointed me. Although it has colored photographs of the boxes, they are so small that it's difficult to see what's going on in them. His procedures for actually building the boxes are way too general for me to follow. In a couple of sentences, he attempts to describe five or six procedures at a time. He has no dimensions for any of the boxes. There are no line drawings to further illustrate what he's trying to show in the tiny photographs. If I had used this book when I first started making boxes, I probably would have built book cases instead.

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars More Taunton product, June 4, 2005

By 

harry11733 (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tauntons Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making (Paperback)

This is a superfluous book. It is an essentially contextless version of another book written by the same author "Creating Beautiful Boxes With Inlay Techniques". The book provides very detailed descriptions of a large number of woodworking procedures but does not put them into the context of any particular project. It is a grab bag of procedures rather than a thoroughly worked out tutorial or set of projects. The primary value for this particular book is as a companion to "Creating Beautiful Boxes With Inlay Techniques", which lacks some critical details, some of which can be found in this volume.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Well Written and Complete Guide, December 3, 2004

By 

Scott Pointon "Former Marine, Librarian, Wood... (Crest Hill, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tauntons Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making (Paperback)

When Taunton bills this book as "The Complete Guide..." they are not kidding. As a huge fan of the Taunton Press and of this series, I was prepared for all of the great detail that this book offers. I especially appreciated the organization of the book. All of the major components of a box, the joinery, the lid, the base and feet, hinges & hardware, and the interior all get detailed treatment within their own chapters.

My only complaint is that as a moderately skilled woodworker, I wasn't prepared for the over-simplistic first two chapters. Maybe I am being too critical, but to me it doesn't seem likely that most who are interested in box building would need information like "Tools for box building" and "Box making materials." In other words, if a person doesn't already have a shop and a basic collection of tools, they should not be starting with this book and thus why include this woodworking beginner information?

That is a minor irritation though. Overall this book is an excellent resource on the subject and it is deserved of Taunton's reputation for excellence. Highly recommended to all woodworkers interested in box building.