The Joiner and Cabinet Maker Authors: Anon, Christopher Schwarz, and Joel Moskowitz ISBN: 978-0-578-03926-8 Available through (with DVD );; and. Published 1839; 1841; 1883 (w/addendum), and 2009 (expanded edition includes 1883 addendum and added commentary, notes, and instructions) First published in 1839, The Joiner and Cabinet Maker is an instructional text on the life of a young joiner's apprentice, and tells the story of a fictional young apprentice by the name of Thomas, starting with his applying for the position and his initial duties in the shop. Eventually, Thomas builds a client a small packing box, then a 'School Box', and finally a simple dresser. The author goes into great detail on all of these projects Thomas completes, giving us one of the earliest, intimate views of early 19th century woodworking procedures and techniques. There are essentially three parts to this book I would like to look at in this review. The first part is the original text of the book (along with a precious few illustrations). Then there are the parts added by the additional authors, both of whom are very well known to modern hand tool woodworking enthusiasts.

The second part of this review covers what author Joel Moskowitz (of and ) has added, which include an introduction and a brief explanation of the conditions of the joinery trade as well as explanations of what tools were commonly available and used at the time. Joel has also taken great pains to add footnotes to the original text to add relevant facts of interest to today's reader as well as help better explain what is being referenced in the story. The next part will cover author Chris Schwarz's (of and fame) contributions, where he reproduces the three items that the main character makes in the book, investigating the methods used during the time. Offering instructions and suggestions of his own as well as a full set of plans from which they can be built. The Original Text of 'The Joiner and Cabinet Maker' I enjoy a good book - and I enjoy having a good reference book, though with those, I'm more likely just to read the part in which I am interested at the moment, usually because it references what I happen to be doing at the time. For hand tools, older texts and authors are almost the only way to go when referencing hand tool woodworking (however I did just receive a copy of ' by Robert Wearing - while I haven't read it yet, it looks promising). Authors like Charles Hayward and Paul Hasluck holds a lot of sway with me not only because of their content but the fact the material is written in such a way that it's interesting. Marvel Ultimate Alliance Wii Ntsc U.

Not all older texts are so readable, in fact many - if not most - are quite disappointing, with only a few nuggets of useful information. I must say, I do have some trouble with Moxon's, one of the oldest woodworking texts (I reviewed Chris Schwartz's edition ) for a few reasons. First, the language is so very arcane that it's actually hard to interpret. Secondly, it's fairly obvious Moxon himself was not in the trade. Another example often heralded by some as a great early example of woodworking text is, by George Sturt.