The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction Description:

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction review:
3 stars (The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction) - Not for beginners...The book is beautifully done as far as construction, pictures, binding, etc. but needs a little more about basic tools. E.G. Coping saw is used for coping. O.K.?

If your looking for the basics this isn't it.



John
4 stars (Just misses 5 stars by a small planet.) - I have nothing but good to say about this book, and concur with all the other positive comments from other reviewers. The reason I can't give it 5 stars is that I COULD put it down. There are other woodworking books, also designed as references, that were just so well done, and so well written, that this one just doesn't quite get there. (Two I'm thinking of are Scott Landis' The Workbench Book : A Craftsman's Guide to Workbenches for Every Type of Woodworking and Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner.)

This is a wonderful book that you should buy. Just make sure you get the other two as well!
4 stars (An Excellent book meant to be used in the shop) - This book shows all the techniques that can be used to build cabinets, which is the structure most furniture is built from. It is abondantly illustrated, is not necessarily targeted at accomplished enthusiast (I only own a few power and hand tools, no table saw, jointer, planer, and still do not feel left behind when reading this book), and well chaptered. It is not meant to be read from page 1 to page 300, but rather on a when-needed basis. I would have liked it to be a bit more developped on each subject, but at 300 pages it is already a big book. Recommended for everyone, perhaps especially for those who are rather new to woodworking.