Chests of Drawers: With Plans and Complete Instructions for Building 7 Classic Chests of Drawers

very good guide, Clear and concise

This is a review that I hate writing. I own many, many of the books and magazines published by Taunton Press, and have been almost unfailingly pleased. I own all of the "Outstanding Projects from... " books in the series that they have published and have been very impressed with the quality of, and the wealth of information contained in, "Beds," "Desks," "Tables," etc. Unfortunately, "Chests of Drawers" falls well short of its siblings, for the following reasons:1) Fewer projects. With the exception of "Desks," which also has seven projects, the other books have from 8 to 11 projects each. This isn't a huge deal, except for the fact that many of the projects are virtually identical (see below) and there is not much coverage of the many design options that a reader could use, going forward, to make his or her own, unique chests of drawers.2) Projects advertised on the cover aren't in the book -- a real problem, in my mind. The back cover says "The projects range from a Shaker four-drawer dresser to a chest-on-frame or chest-on-chest." Well, unless I'm missing something the book does not contain a four-drawer dresser in any style (although one or two, because they have simple lines, could be seen as Shaker-influenced) and there is no chest-on-chest at all. (However, there is a brief, two-sentence reference in the opening chapter on the use of molding to keep a top chest in place on a lower chest.) There is a Queen Anne-style chest-on-frame, but one out of three advertised projects is a terrible percentage. Perhaps the cover was written before the book was completed; the author himself admits, in the "Acknowledgments," that he wrote this at a very slow pace.3) Minimal project variety. Of the seven projects in the book, four are more or less variations on the same theme. With the exception of the above-mentioned Queen Anne, the Pennsylvania Dutch, and the bow-front cover chest, the rest are simple boxes with very little unique detailing or methods: one each of a "contemporary," double, triple and tall dresser. The tall dresser goes a bit further than the other three, with some raised frame-and-panel construction and stylized hardware... but they're really just variations on the same theme.(Now, one could argue that chests are very simple objects, just boxes in boxes. But the same argument of "simplicity" could be made for tables, beds, desks, bookcases, etc. -- yet this didn't seem to stop the authors of those books from choosing unique and interesting projects that provided new learning opportunities and a variety of styles to choose from. Further, Taunton has published another book, "Treasure Chests," which -- although focusing more on chests similar to this book's Pennsylvania Dutch chest -- is chock-full of novel pieces. Note: this is NOT a complaint about the craftsmanship that went into designing, and goes into building, the pieces. There's just very little variety.)4) Somewhat sloppy, poorly edited writing. Burr-under-the-saddle phrases such as "It's got"; references for further information that either take you to the wrong page or -- when you get there -- don't provide you with the information you expected to find; and instructions that read "Decide how you'll join the corners of the inlay," without explaining the advantages and disadvantages -- if any -- of the subsequently offered methods, are fine in a first-draft document. In later drafts and the final, published version, these sorts of errors and inadequacies should have been corrected and/or edited away.Again, I'm fairly distressed at having purchased this book and at feeling compelled to write this review. The rest of the books in Taunton's series are excellent, well-written and offer many design styles and project levels to choose from. I purchased this book, "Chests of Drawers," on the strength of that series, and I'm sure others will, too.In the future, or in a re-issued version of this book, Taunton should not only make sure that the cover promises are fulfilled in the book itself, but it should also go back to what made the other books so successful: crisp, solid writing and great projects in a variety of styles and skill levels. Taunton generally does a great job of providing great information and education for woodworkers at almost all levels; it just fails to do so here. I'm still deciding whether or not I'll send the book back.

As a budding hobbyist woodworker I have to work hard learning how to execute and that's hard enough. Not having a solid game plane is disaster. This book has excellent diagrams and construction principals that I'm using to learn how to make real furniture. Without such guidance I tend to build with "anti-patterns", which takes significantly more time because of the one-up thought that has to go into figuring out how to do something, as well as the customize fitting. While I haven't build a complete plan from this book, I routinely refer to it for inspiration and technique guidance.

I liked this book! I have purchased a number of books lately looking to "notch up" my furniture building skills. There are plenty of books showing general, basic construction technique but most stop short of showing how to make many of the more difficult designs. I really liked the Tall chest and the Queen Anne chest (I am not a fan of contempory styles). This is not a beginners book (unless you want to see what to aim for) but I personnally found it instructive and will add it to my other favorites.

It’s ok. I would like something a lot more comprehensive