Customer Reviews

Traditional Woodwork: Adding Authentic Period Details to Any Home

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

 

 

I own a small woodworking business and when I ordered this book, I expected to learn how to construct a period fireplace mantel, and maybe some base board trim. What I got was a clearly written and reader friendly tribute to yesterday's woodworkers. Mr. Rodriguez is excellent at taking the reader through the above projects and many others, giving him (her) the background and traditional tools and methods used to create the finished product while also offering modern time saving alternatives.What I found particularly useful was a mindful chapter on the laying of wide plank floors. I have searched high and low and never have I learned as much useful information on this topic as Mr.Rodriguez provided me in 15 minutes. I found the other chapters to be helpful as well. The federal style mantel project is outstanding. This is a book I would've paid twice the price for.

This is a great reference book if you want to add traditional details to a modern home. I especially liked the chapters on adding built up baseboards and window molding. I first saw the book at my local library and found myself checking it out so often that I decided to buy my own copy. Chapters include adding wide plank flooring, a corner cabinet and building your own mantel.

Traditional Woodwork provides weekend woodworkers with projects and ideas that will produce results that are found in 17th and 18th century homes. Mario Rodriguez approach to building these projects makes what would seem to be difficult, very easy to understand and follow. Using clear photographs and easy to read text, projects move along smoothly using inexpensive tools. With a little weekend time, authentic period details can be added to any home new or old. The only thing wrong with this book is it is to short and you will want more.

My wife and I are restoring a home built in 1908. It is a little past the time period this book refers to, but many of the items like the trim work and mantel pieces are not at all out of place for later homes. As other readers have stressed, the only complaint you will have is when you get through the book and find yourself wanting more projects and tips for traditional woodwork in older homes.

This book does exactly what it purports to do. Nothing more, and nothing less. As would be expected, it is not a book for a rank beginner, nevertheless, since people's skills in handiwork vary so widely, it is possible that even a rank beginner could benefit from it. Personally, I have been working with wood for many years, but functionally I am still nearly a rank, fumbling beginner. This doesn't stop me from doing projects, however. I recently finished my second carport conversion, and in this case the owner (my wife) insisted that it not look like a carport conversion from outside, and I was able to accomplish that.

I realize all this might seem like irrelevant rambling, but it isn't. I am trying to convey some idea of my skill level, which relates to my qualifications for reviewing this book, and also some idea of the value of this book for someone of my skill level. One more illustration from my personal woodworking pursuits will suffice. I have been wanting to put wide pine boards of varying widths on our living room floor for years. My wife wants the old, dark paneling in the same room covered with sheet rock. So we finally agreed that if I will cover the paneling, I can have my floor. The type of floor I am referring to is exactly the type of project this book deals with. Built with modern tools and techniques, it will nevertheless look as if were done in the old, traditional way (and by traditional, this book usually means colonial traditional , not Craftsman or Art Nouveau).

So, now that I am seriously thinking about how to pursue this flooring project, I happened to buy this book, and there it is! He has the entire project covered (pun intended), and in a very clever way. I won't spoil it by going into particulars, but suffice it to say that he has come up with a unique way of doing a new wooden floor that will look like an old plank floor, yet will cleverly avoid the gaps that occur from changes in wood dimensions. It isn't a magical new technique, but the way he combines several old and new techniques in this one project approaches magical, at least for me.

The final proof of this is that he comes up with a brilliant way to install a perfectly flat, smooth floor (of this nailed plank style) while avoiding the nasty job of sanding it after it is put in place. Again, I won't go into details, except to say it involves using a flattened spoon with a hole in it.

By his masterful combination of such clever techniques, the author has made it possible for even an experienced hack like me to install a beautiful floor, something not likely otherwise. I highly commend him for this, and for the rest of the book, which follows the same pattern of brilliant simplifications.

I like the book but it is not one of his best. This is a older book from before moving to Philadelphia. I was surprised with the home construction point of view. Mario is most known for his woodworking and cabinetry work. At times the book is a little boring but still worth the money!