Before I knew Bob, one of our senior editors here at
Popular Woodworking, I knew him as Robert W. Lang, the author of
two landmark books
I owned that were chock full of shop drawings of Craftsman furniture.
Those dog-eared books (and two more he's published on Craftsman
interiors and inlay) were books that I gladly plunked down my own money
on. They are books that I built three projects from. They were books
that I referred to almost every week as I was teasing out a detail on a
piece of Arts & Crafts furniture. I was a fan.
However, when
Bob gave me a copy of his latest book, "Shop Drawings for Greene &
Greene Furniture," which just hit the streets this week, I was a bit
reluctant to write a review. I've watched Bob slave over these
drawings. When we all went to Las Vegas for a woodworking show last
year, Bob slogged off through the desert after the show to spend time
in Southern California researching pieces for this book. He's been
agonizing over the details in the drawings for the 23 pieces shown in
the books. It has been a difficult project. I'm admittedly biased
because I've watched the guy push himself hard to research, write and
draw this book on his own time (It's being published by a competing
publisher, not Popular Woodworking Books).
But when I cracked
open his book and started reading it, my hesitation disappeared. This
is a landmark book and deserves your attention. If you have even a
passing interest in the work of Charles and Henry Greene (and their
builders, John and Peter Hall), you will be thrilled with the projects
in this book. The Greenes, architects working in California during the
Arts & Crafts heyday, were two of the most talented designers in
the 20th century, though their pens produced only about 400 pieces of
furniture.
I've seen a fair number of the pieces that Lang has
chosen for this book – either in photographs or in person – and I think
he's accomplished what few other people in our profession can do: These
shop drawings capture the true spirit of the Greenes without dumbing
anything down. The furniture of the Greenes was subtle and full of
detail, and Lang does the pieces justice.
These drawings are the
missing link for the craftsman. There are countless books about the
Ultimate Bungalows produced by the Greene brothers with sumptuous
photos, sketchy dimensional details and highly romanticized copy. And
there is great affection among woodworkers to produce these pieces,
which are well-suited for the home woodworker in their construction
details and joinery methods.
But until now, there was no easy
way to go about building any of these works without a trip to
California, looking both ways for the museum guards and ducking under
the ropes with a tape measure.
The projects chosen for "Shop
Drawings for Greene & Greene Furniture" are an excellent
cross-section of the Greene's work and represent pieces of varying difficulty.
Beginning woodworkers can cut their teeth on the Gamble Mirror, the
Blacker Medicine Cabinet and the Thorsen Plant Stand. As you learn the
vernacular of the style (the mortise-and-tenon joints are particularly
unusual), you'll build confidence to tackle the stately Robinson Dining
Table, the Gamble Kitchen Cabinets (I will build these someday) and the
Blacker Hall Seat (ditto on this).
The Blacker Hall Seat, a masterpiece of design, detail and craftsmanship.
Then you can give the Gamble Chiffonier a shot before you leave this
earth. It combines all of the details of the Greene Brothers –
cloudlifts, proud-finger-jointed drawers, inlay – into an astonishing
package.
This is not really a how-to book. Lang provides some
important details on construction techniques he's used to reproduce
some of the important details. And he gives a workman-like history of
the work of the Greene and Hall brothers. And Lang explores some of the
nagging work-method mysteries that remain about the work, such as why
the Halls built their drawers the way they did. These details add to
the corpus of knowledge about these four brothers, rather than just
hyping it.
However, if the complete shop drawings aren't enough
for you and you'd like enlarged shop drawings with full-size details,
Lang sells those as well on his website.
The book will soon be
available everywhere, but I urge you to buy it directly from Bob. He
has it in stock right now, he gets a bigger cut when he sells the book
directly, and I hear his son, Hunter, also gets $1 for every book he
packs up and mails.
You can purchase "Shop Drawings for Greene & Greene Furniture" for $22.95 at
craftsmanplans.com or by sending an e-mail to
info@craftsmanplans.com or calling 513-531-2690 x 1327.
— Christopher Schwarz