Table Of ContentContents
Introduction 2 Creating' Working Drawing'S 47
JIM TOLPIN
SECTION 1
Finding Design Inspiration Drafting Basics 53
PHILIP C LOWE
A Short History of Design 4
6RAHAM BLACKBURN Models Help Projects Succeed 60
JAN ZAITLIN
Quintessential Arts and Crafts 12
GRAHAM BLACKB RN
Organize Yow' Projects 65
JIM TOLPIN
Building in the Language
of Greene and Greene 20
A Drafting Table for Shop
THOMAS HUGH STANGELAND
or Home 71
CAMERON RUSSELL
Elements of the Shaker Style 28
CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORT
CTiON 3
Construction by Design
SECTION 2
Developing Designs
Doors Make the Difference 77
and Organizing Projects
CHRISTIAN BfCKSVOORT
Furnitw'e Desig'n: The Fow'
Joining Legs to Aprons 82
Objectives 34
GARRETT HACK
MIKE DUNBAR
Graduated Drawers 89
Designing Furnitw'e: A Survival
CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORl
Guide 37
GARRETT HACK Exposing Your Back Side 91
CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORT
Building' Without Plans 41
CRAIG VANDALL STEVENS
C ON 4
Designing Furniture Designing for
Style and Function
Making' Dining Tables
That Work 95 Designing on the Go:
PETER TISCHLER A Coffee Table Takes Shape 120
PETER TURNER
Large-Case Construction
Strategies 99 Where Furnitul'e
BRUCE COHEN Meets the Floor 125
MARIO RODRIGUEZ
Designing a Chest of Drawers 104
GARRETT HACK Dressing' Up a Basic Box 133
ROGER HOLMES
Sideboard Strategies 110
WILL NEPTUNE Going Over Edges 136
WILL NEPTUNE
Designing Table Legs 142
GRAHAM BLACKBURN
Credits 152
Index 153
Introduction
__• here is something wonderful about Their eyL'S and minds give them the propor
turning a rough idea into a wcll tions that make the piece of furniture feci
crafted, pleasing and useful pic e of grounded and statuesque at the same time.
furniture. The slIccessful furniture makers }jut it doesn'tju~t happen - at least not
find a " ay to tie the piece together \ ith for most of liS. Every wood\ orker should
little consistent details. They expertly craft save his or her Clr\t original projecl,just a~ a
the way the horizontal SlIffaCes meet and reminder of how tin they'vc come. My
compliment the vertical lines anel parts. greatest furniture-making disaster is al a the
only piece f'vc evcr mId. It was a svelte but
pitiful w:tll rack for displaying plates. The
shelves were too small, the joinery v as ugly
and the finish as not finished. But some
needy soul took pay on it and it~ 5 price
tag at our yard sale.
My se and, and much more original,
project is still in our house, although it'
been rdq~ated to the b:lsernelll guest rOOIll.
Now, when guests remark all the crude,
pine cartee table. I joke that my blind
grandfather made it. My ego doesn't su ffer
because I assullle they've seen the subse
quent furniture projects were good enough
to bring up (j·orn the basernent.
I've learned a great deal about furniture
design in the years ~illce tbat coffee table
took shape. Much of it I learned from the
wood" orkers 110 have written the chap
ters of th is book, be ause many have I een
2
sharing their secrets in the pages o( Pill/' designing flll"lIiture. The advice from ollr
IV(l(ldIVOrkill<~ magazine for years. experiellced authors will surely ill1pro e
In the chapters that (oIlO\'\', you'lI find your appreciation (or :111 fine hlrniture
guidance on furnjnJr(~ ~ryles such as Arts & design.And if your woodworking projccts
rafts and Shaker. You'll learn about devel arc already good enough to bring up LrOlI\
oping your sense o( aesthetic design and the the haSClllt'nt, you'll undoubtedly unci that
correct appro:lches to con (ruction de~ign. your (lILlIJl: work will be even better than
The Taunton Press editors ofthj~ book \ hat you've already put on di~play.
searched the issues o( Fil/(' /lVO(ldIllOrkill.<! - Tim Sci IITi ncr, publisher
magazine to find the b~l ani Ies about of FiliI' vMl(I{ll/IlIrkilll~
INTRODUCTION 3
A S hort History
of Design
BY GRAHAM INCI: FII\'/ WOODWORI-./I\·C;'s
BLACKBURN inception 27 years ago. a vast
range of filrn iture from vari
ous periods ha.~ appeared ill its pages.
What follO\ s is a condensed overview
ckscribing many of these vJrious styks.
I've tried to put them into a historical per
~pective based on their defining characteris
tics, but the proce. s of design is continual
various 1Il0narchs during whose reigns it
and unending. Ilq pk\ hite and heratoll
was made, but for a more fallliliar division
. tyks. for instance, were made during the
of furniture design in Anlerica, I've cho. en
Mahogany Period in Engl;U1d but weren't
more locaillames. Nevertlldess. it remain.
prevaknt in the nited States
trlle that most Al11erican fiu'lliture is very
until after the Revolutl0l1.
similar to the conternporaneous 13ritish
I during the rederal Period.
styles. A great deal of furniture fi'OIlI the
It is il1 the very l1(1tllre qf Any attelllpt to categorize
early periods made in the United States was
ddinitivdy the product~ of a
hlmitllre deslR'1 to evolve) built by craftsmell either trained in 13ritain
given period is bound to be in
or who llsed British patterns. By the 20th
... ta/.dng a little/rom here exact. It is in the very nature of
century the differences had Jllorc to do
filrmture design to evolve. often
\ ith indivicJual Iliakcrs than \\ ith lIatiollal
~md a little/rom there) haphazardly, taking a little from
styles.
here and a little fTorn there,
wmetimes 1naRillg a lmge
sometimes making a large kap
GRAHAM BLACKBURN is a furniture maker, author,
leap with ... a new tech with the invention of a new illustrator and the publisher of Blackburn Books
technique or a new material. (www.blackbumbooks.com).
Ilique or a new material. British filrniture i. mmt of
ten described in term of the
4
uch early American furniture came here with the
first immigrants, including, most famously, the
Pilgrims. They brought-and then made-oak pieces
typical of the Jacobean, William and Mary, and Carole an
periods in Britain; pieces that retained a strong Gothic
influence, sturdy pieces, heavily carved pieces, pieces
with cup-turned legs and bun feel. Much of the work
from this Early Colonial Period is representative of a
utilitarian life.
'1'{,t' E1dt'l' • Wainscot constructed oak (wain , I (II $ IS/" '1'(' (" I,
scot means 'wagon oak" and
lk('/I'.(/I"· (.fur; r, refers to the paneling) • Nicholas Disbrowe is the first known American maker
ell. J6 5(J • Joiner's wor!<. • Oak, frarne-and-panel construction
• Framed construction, pinned for • Uncompromisingly rectangular
strength • Similar to earlier English oak stytes, but dlstmctlve Connecticut
• Bold turnings Valley, Hadley style
• Heavily carved • This piece shows the chest becoming a chest of drawers
• Stout stretchers • Tulip motif carved over entire toot
• Less-heavily carved chairs of the
same construction are common
• RemlOiscent of earlier British
chairs in the GothiC style
'n""I',
III CII. 17 (
• Oak • Pinned mortise-and-tenon
construction
• Strap carving on front apron
• Bracketed legs
• Simple turning with square
ends on legs • Post-assembly carving
(as on old chests)
• Stout stretchers
• Edge-joined top
i I (" 7f
(I
• As with most boxes of the pened, thIS one IS
nailed together
• Oak throughout, but many boxes were made
of pine or With top and bottom of pine
• Lunette and flute carvingS were simple and
geometrically based
• Overhanging, cleated top
A SHORT HISTORY OF DESIGN 5
he Mahogany Period (late Colonial), covering the
first half of the 18th century, roughly parallels the
periods known in Britain as Queen Anne and Georgian.
Walnut gave way to mahogany as the predominant
wood, and the beginning of the period saw a sudden
simplification of style into a less am amen ted and more
severely elegant aesthetic. Perhaps the most typical ele
ment is the cabriole leg, at first plain and finished with a
simple turned pad foot, and later developing into a highly
carved element complete with ba/l-and-claw, hairy-paw,
or lion's fool. Fumiture was made by cabinetmakers
rather than joiners, and the list of American Chippen
dales is long (Thomas Chippendale was the most
famous English cabinetmaker of the period and by
whose name furniture of the middle of the
period is often known). It includes the God Side ellai,., w. 1780
dards and Townsends of Newport, R.I.,
and many notable Philadelphia makers, in
• Typical Chippendale style • Highly carved. squared-
cluding William Savery, Thomas Affleck, off cabnole frOnl Ip.gs
, Mahogany
and BenjamIn Randolph. • Square back • Ball-and-claw feet
• Stump rP..ar legs
• Cupid-bow crest rail
Arm terminal volute
• Rectilinear seat
• Pierced and carved splat
Savery·styte 'longue'
carving on knee
'~I (I If '/ I). ({ Iyr;
• Made by John Townsend of • Single, wide drawer
Newport, RI.
• Two !oers of narrow drawers
• Mahogany, with poplar as a
• Closely related to the highboy
secondary wood
on the opposite page, this is
• Block and shell front essentially the lower half of a
• She/I·carved kneehole door chest on chest with a knee
hole upboard
• Bracket feet
• Sohd top
6 FINDING DESIGN INSPIRATION
-~.,.".. , •• " •• . J •.•••~
. .
;
J J illil11l1 • ',"ler)'
Armel",;';
no
I.
• Typical Queen Anne styl
• Mahogany
• Rounded back
• Plain, profiled splal
• Not much carving, except for
volutes and shells
• Cabriole front legs
• Simple trifid feet
-
(
'(
• Philad phia-round • Tilting top
type • Ruted pillar
• Mahogany • Richly carved legs
• "Pie-crul>1" scalloped • Tripod legs
edge
, • Ball-and·claw feet
t' , 17.'i()
• New England·
rectangular style
• Mapl ; originally
painted red
• Markedly slender
cabriole legs
• Pad feet
• Deeply scalloped
apron
\
I
0 , J
,,..
t , I ,." ( Ii II ) ( 770
• High-style work typICal of Philadelphia cabinetmakers
• Chest-on-chest, double-case construction
• Richly ('.arvad, broken scroll bonnet
• Carved corners
• Carved cabriole legs with ball-and·claw feet at fcont and back
• Sophisticated proportions, progressively graduated drawers
• Veneered casework
A SHORT HISTORY OF DESIGN 7
'n,Mc, 1810-1820
("t/,
fter the Revolution, American tastes and sympa
thies transferred from Britain to France, especially
with regard to fumiture styles. The French Empire style
• Reminiscent of the
planned and fostered by Napoleon was adopted and Shemton style
• Pier·type table With ovolo
distinctively modified by American cabinetmakers and is
comers
typicaJly known as Federal style. In comparison to the • Mahogany and maple painted
black with gill and polychrome
light and well-proportioned fumiture typified by the • Harbor view painted on center
Hepplewhite-and Sheraton-style pieces of the end of of apron
• Typical of Baltimore Federal·
the Mahogany Period and the early days of the Federal style painted furniture
• No stretchers, Sherdton·style
Period, much Federal fumiture is dark, heavy, and vulgar.
tapered and fluted legs
The finest, however, is often superb and owes much to • Inlay and banding
• Tapered fe t
one of the most famous of all American cabinetmakers,
Duncan Phyfe, a New York woodworker possessed of
great taste and a wonderful eye for proportion.
Typical
H pplewhite pull
• Khsmos·type chair With classical u
d talis, made by Duncan Phyfe ./
• Mahogany
• Shaggy front legs r
• Hairy-paw feet
• Lyre splat
• Heavily reeded
• Graceful curves
• Light, stretcherless construction
('(I' I, r}' t1 I LO
• Highly varnished
• Veneered construction
• Massive in scale and proportion
• High-style Philadelphia Federal bureau,
French Emplr inspired
• Mahogany and bird's-eye maple
8 FINDING DESIGN INSPIRATION
