cover image Cabinetry: The Woodworkers Guide to Building Professional-Looking Cabinets and Shelves

Cabinetry: The Woodworkers Guide to Building Professional-Looking Cabinets and Shelves

. Rodale Press, $27.95 (440pp) ISBN 978-0-87857-981-5

This collection of 31 woodworking projects , aimed at amateurs who own their own workshops , may well signal the reemergence of real interest in woodworking after a decade of watching it performed on television by virtuosos. Eighteen American woodworkers have designed, built and furnished careful instructions for a variety of objects and furniture to occupy every room in the house, from a modest ``recipe box'' to a more elaborate and challenging kneehole desk and cherrywood buffet. Compiler Yoder warns us that this is serious woodworking, adhering to traditional quality; use of fiberboard and plastic parts is deemed unacceptable. Well-put-together step-by-step instructions, amplified visually by excellent cutaway sketches and ``exploded'' views, provide a sequential work order that is most useful, stressing economy by avoiding mistakes. And tips are dispensed for woodworkers not altogether comfortable with advanced techniques (e.g., cutting half-blind dovetails; planing; chip carving). All told, a welcome, no-nonsense approach. Photos not seen by PW. (Dec.)