Additional Resources

This is a list of books and resources I've found valuable. If you have a suggestion for something I might find interesting, please let me know.

Books

My Book

Dining Tables by Kim Carleton Graves & Masha Zager.

"Dining Tables" is one of the "Master Craftsman" project books from The Taunton Press. Other books in the series include Beds, Bookcases, Desks, and Tables. Plans and construction details are given for nine dining tables in a variety of styles from seventeenth-century through contemporary. The book is not just a project book, but a reference for the beginning and intermediate woodworker. Stock selection and preparation, solid wood methods, mortise and tenon joints, biscuit joinery, miters, compound miters, basic and advanced veneer work, torsion box construction, inlays, pattern routing, vacuum pressing, and production methods are all covered. "Dining Tables" is also a design book; it shows how to use the techniques to design your own table. We hope "Dining Tables" will be a good first book for aspiring woodworkers and a basic reference as your skills progress.

Business

• Growing a Business, by Paul Hawken. This was the first book I read when decided to start a business. The lesson I took away from Hawken is that customer service is everything. No matter how good I am technically, or how good my designs are, if I don't serve my customer, I won't be able to sell anything.

• The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Accounting Course, by Robert Dixon & Harold Arnett. For the "36 hours" I worried that Carleton Woodworking would become Carleton Bookkeeping. The course taught me enough to know what's happening behind the computer accounting program and to fathom the Greek my accountant seems to speak.

• Photographing Your Artwork, by Russell Hart. I've always been interested in photography but knew nothing about the technical aspects of studio work. It is all here in this book. If you don't think having good pictures of your work is important, just think about which ads you pay attention to.

• Running a One-Person Business, by Claude Whitmeyer, Salli Rasberry & Michael Phillips. This is an absolute must. I wish I had read it when I first started the business instead of finding it after three years.

• The Woodworker's Marketing Guide, by Martin Edic. This is a how-to book. It demystifies how you go about getting a client. I changed the way I answered the telephone after reading this book. I changed the name of my company after reading this book! It is that basic and that good. This is the most important book on my woodworking list.

• Working at Woodworking, by Jim Tolpin. Tolpin's idea of creating production systems was very influential for me. Doing production woodworking is much different from woodworking for fun. This book helped me make that transition.

Woodworking & Design

• Designing Furniture, by Seth Stem. Another winner from Taunton Press, but now out of print. Order a used copy if you can. Form, composition, proportion, and necessary tools are all covered here.

• Human Dimension & Interior Space, by Julius Panero & Martin Zelnik. A reference book of how people's "human dimensions" interact with their "interior space" - for example, how wide an aisle should be so people can pass each other comfortably. Divided into residential spaces, office spaces, eating and public spaces etc. I use this book with almost every client when designing furniture. It helps to scale a new piece of furniture to the space it will occupy.

• Sandor Nagyszalanczy, former senior editor at Fine Woodworking, has written three books that I would like to recommend: Woodshop Jigs and Fixtures, Fixing and Avoiding Woodworking Mistakes, and Woodshop Dust Control. These three Taunton Press publications are well written, beautifully produced, and have all the technical detail needed to cover the topics.

• Turned Bowl Design, by Richard Raffan. Raffan's videotapes taught me how to turn. His book taught me how to look. My own bowls took a quantum leap after reading this book because I had a way to think about them.

Philosophy and Stuff

• A Cabinetmaker's Notebook, The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking & The Impractical Cabinetmaker by James Krenov. Making fine furniture is so much more than the stringing together a set of technical operations. Krenov's books have helped me expand my decision making process.

• The Nature and Art of Workmanship & The Nature and Aesthetics of Design, by David Pye. The question of what kind of woodworking did I want to do was an important one when developing a business plan. These books helped me clarify that question.

• The Power of Limits - Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art & Architecture, by Gyorgy Doczi. I'm very interested in how furniture affects the way people use space. This book was helpful to me because it explores the Golden Rectangle proportion, which characterizes patterns that work for the human form.

• A Timeless Way of Building & A Pattern Language, by Christopher Alexander (and friends). These books are a revelation to me. They didn't so much change my way of seeing as give me a vocabulary to describe my feelings about living spaces. Filled with beautiful black and white photographs illustrating the points he is trying to make.

Instruction

• Country Workshops in North Carolina gives a variety of classes in chair making, carving of wooden ware,boat building, and timber frame construction. They also sell some wonderful  and hard-to-find tools for green woodworking.

• Mike Dunbar is "the old man" of Windsor chair making. His book, Making a Windsor Chair with Mike Dunbar, has become a classic. Mike is almost single-handedly responsible for the Windsor chair craze among both woodworkers and the public. Most of the pros who now make chairs took class from Mike. Dunbar makes and sells chairs and gives chair making classes at his Portsmouth, NH workshop. If you need information about Windsor chairs, how to make them, or what tools to buy, Mike will be happy to answer your questions. E-mail Mike Dunbar.

• The Taunton Press: Many of the books mentioned above are published by The Taunton Press. They also publish the Fine WoodWorking, Fine Homebuilding and several other magazines.  In addition, Taunton has a series of instructional videotapes that are very worthwhile. Both furniture and construction tapes are available. Basic joinery, machine use and tuning, basic and advanced turning, refinishing, kitchen cabinet construction, house framing, refinishing, furniture repair, are just some of the topics available on these very professional tapes. I learned to turn by watching the Richard Raffan tapes about a million times - no kidding!

Sources of Tools , Wood, and other Woodworkers

New York City Area:

• Anatoli's Restoration, Inc.: Anatoli Lapushner buys and sells high-end antiques. He has a restoration and upholstery shop in New York City. (212) 629-0071

• Garrett Wade - New Yorkers can visit their showroom at 161 6th Avenue at Spring Street. Known for their high-quality hand tools, GW also has finishing supplies and fine hardware, and is the East Coast INCA dealer. If you have a question about finishing, they can help you. Instructional classes given periodically. (800) 221-2942

• Hardwood Lumber - There are two reputable places to buy hardwood lumber in the New York City area that I can recommend: Condon Lumber Co. in White Plains (914) 946-4111 and Rosenzweig Lumber in the Bronx (718) 585-8050.

• Henry Wehling Hardwoods - Henry is known for his imports of exotic lumber and slabs of wonderful domestic hardwoods. Nakashima's studio has done business with him for years. I went out to visit him because I needed some 16/4 Bubinga for a project. He had a 50-year-old slab 36" by 18/4 by 12' long that I was fortunate enough to get. Out in the yard, Henry has four huge bubinga logs - a butt and first log piece from two trees. The biggest log was 8-1/2 feet in diameter by 16 feet long (see picture). The crew thinks that the logs may well have figure in them. The logs have not yet been cut. Anyone interested in creating conference tables from slabs of this lumber should contact Henry Wehling in Sugarloaf, PA at (717) 384-4764.

If you're looking for an Interior Designer, home decorator, remodeling contractor, Architect or landscape artist - you'll find a complete directory of professionals waiting to do business with you at TheInteriorDesigner.com. Also, browse our supplier exposition area and choose from offerings in over 100 categories of decor, furnishings, accessories, appliances and plumbing fixtures for the home or office.

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Last updated 12/17/01