Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture: 27 Stickley Designs for Every Room in the Home

I bought this book to learn how to make Stickley furniture. Good plans, well written and good illustrations. I finished several thousand dollars worth of furniture within.

I am a fan of craftsman furniture and this book was a treasure trove of information. The plans were great.

Nice simple drawings and measurements. Although recommend buying the newer "Revised" edition of GREAT BOOK OF SHOP DRAWINGS FOR CRAFTSMAN FURNITURE (2013), by same author. Newer/Revised edition has ALL of these drawings, PLUS an additional 30 more for a total of 57 drawings in one book. The best Gustav Stickley reference that I can find in one source.FWIW, I enjoy Bob Lang's work and input on social media. Thanks Bob!

Very informative and easy to follow instructions even for a novice. Nine more words required to fulfill review for item.

There are a lot of books about making Arts and Crafts furniture, but only a few really good ones. Some offer inspiration, some offer detailed instructions, and all offer a brief history of the Arts and Crafts movement. Very few offer the kind of detailed drawings it takes to really build the furniture pictured.I'll confess that I haven't built a piece from this book yet, it's simply too new, but a review of the drawings tells me that I could start on a piece tomorrow knowing that the dimensions are accurate.Here's where the experience part comes in. There are no step by step instructions. It is up to the reader to interpret the drawings, decide on the construction techniques to use and plan the project before starting. This book won't tell you the order in which to assemble the parts you make, you'll decide that, among many other decisions. To me, that's part of the fun and challenge of building furniture.If you are inexperienced in building furniture, buy this book for future projects and also buy one with some detailed instructions in it for your first few pieces. (I'd recommend "Authentic Arts and Crafts Furniture Projects" by the editors of "Popular Woodworking" magazine.)

These dimensions are so far off they're not even close. He shows 1 1/2" where it is actually 7/8" That's almost double. He says to buy eight quarter lumber (2" thick) where you only need six quarter (1 1/2") wasting a lot of money.I am building a set of four Stickley Side Chair #384. After milling the legs I thought they looked a little clunky so found and measured a Stickley Side Chair #384 from the factory and I was stunned.The author shows 1 7/8" where it is 1 5/16. That is a huge difference. You can see in my picture how much wood I cut off to correct the dimensions. Also, his chair backs only slope back by two inches while the Stickley chairs slope 3 1/2" which is way too upright.To salvage my work I was able to cut new pieces from what I had but it took hours. To get the legs to tilt back a little more I had to re-do all four cuts on the tall legs. Four taper cuts on each of eight pieces. More on the short legs. Lots of set-up and work for no reason. The sloth of this author has cost me and others so much wasted time, energy, and money.You, sir, should be ashamed. To make a book called "Shop Drawings" for people to build actual furniture without making any effort to be accurate is shameful. You have a responsibility to measure from the actual pieces.

Ever since building our first piece of "Stickley" style furniture I've been looking for a book with more ideas. This one certainly filled the bill. Given the time, I could outfit my whole house with these attractive pieces! Mr. Lang's style helped make it an enjoyable read while his hints and advice came in useful from the start. An added benefit was the facinating history of the Stickley company. It really gave me some insight as to the designs.

I am in the middle of making the Prairie Sofa based on Mr. Lang's dimensions. It has been a long haul. I followed his dimensions very closely and when I went to assemble the sides and back, I was not even close. This is bad. I would advise, if you are taking the books dimensions at face value, you should do your own calculations to make sure it is going to work.I have met Mr. Lang at a woodworking show in Ontario California. When I mentioned to him I was making a project from this book he had a look on his face like "ok, give me the grief". Well I didn't, as I was not far enough into the project to know better. It is a nice book for the inspiration to build, just be careful with the dimensions.

The pieces chosen by the author to showcase in this book are the most popular and best loved arts and crafts pieces, though not entirely by the Stickleys (Gustav et al). Good book to have if you're in the furniture design and construction industry, or simply just interested in furniture.