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Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery (Classic Reprint): Comprising Notes on Materials, Processes, Principles, and Practice, Including About 1800 Engravings and Twelve Plates
Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery is a comprehensive collection of resources for those looking to develop their handicraft skills. Over almost six hundred pages the editor has used both his own and his writers' experience and study to provide concise assistance to the student or journeyman carpenter.
This book is accessible and has many lessons to teach both the serious student of capentry and the complete beginner. Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery is primarily focused on practical advice on tools, techniques, materials and treatments, but those who appreciate a theoretical backdrop will not be disappointed by the comments on the chemistry of creating a perfect artefact or the biological nature of the carpenter's materials. As a practicing carpenter, instructor or experienced amateur you will be excellently served by Paul Hasluck's work.
The encyclopaedic nature of the work is easily navigated using the extensive index which is split into sections on joints, tools, frames, screens and window casements among many other topics, ranging from construction to the manufacture of smaller features and decorations. The student can easily access tutorials on traditional carpentry methods, explained clearly and in detail to enable the completion of a wide range of projects. As in the original edition, almost two thousand detailed and clearly labelled illustrations are distributed at frequent intervals throughout the book.
Any library or personal collection that hopes to provide guidance on woodwork procedure, theory and practice would be incomplete without this work.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
This book is accessible and has many lessons to teach both the serious student of capentry and the complete beginner. Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery is primarily focused on practical advice on tools, techniques, materials and treatments, but those who appreciate a theoretical backdrop will not be disappointed by the comments on the chemistry of creating a perfect artefact or the biological nature of the carpenter's materials. As a practicing carpenter, instructor or experienced amateur you will be excellently served by Paul Hasluck's work.
The encyclopaedic nature of the work is easily navigated using the extensive index which is split into sections on joints, tools, frames, screens and window casements among many other topics, ranging from construction to the manufacture of smaller features and decorations. The student can easily access tutorials on traditional carpentry methods, explained clearly and in detail to enable the completion of a wide range of projects. As in the original edition, almost two thousand detailed and clearly labelled illustrations are distributed at frequent intervals throughout the book.
Any library or personal collection that hopes to provide guidance on woodwork procedure, theory and practice would be incomplete without this work.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
600 pages, Paperback
First published July 16, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 7, 2018
An extraordinarily comprehensive and gorgeously illustrated snapshot of carpentry (and only carpentry) in England in the first years of the 20th century—an invaluable historical document.
As a practical guide to a person working today, though—which is the context in which I saw it recommended—it's very limited, being the product of its circumstances to an exceptional degree. Because this was intended as a meaningful guide to pragmatic, economical practice for the professional carpenter (or, at least, the aspiring student), every bit of advice in it is beholden to the specific material economy, tool ecosystem,† still haphazard building codes (!),‡ and fashions of the time and place in which it was written, and whether any specific decision is the result of general good practice or one or more of these concerns is never made explicit, and often not very obvious. Even the historical woodworker who wants to recreate the specific forms discussed for recreational reasons today will have to second-guess the text a lot (especially when it comes to choice of woods), or risk spending tremendous amounts of money—and effort—to achieve inferior results.
In its context, Carpentry & Joinery seems to have achieved its aims and been tremendously valuable to its target audience, and woodworkers who are already experienced may certainly still find valuable practical advice in it today. For the most part, though, it really needs to be read as a historical curiosity, and it's a fascinating one.
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† Including at least some of the short-lived patent monstrosities that famously afflict(ed) the US that you won't be able to find at any price now.
‡ Britain ran out of sufficient timber for routine traditional heavy-timber framing centuries ago, so the book shows a lot of interesting hybrid forms between traditional work and modern race-to-the-bottom work depending on cheap, fast-growing softwoods; windows, for example, were (and still are) mostly unaffected, but wall frames already had the many thin studs of modern design, infilled with brickwork.
As a practical guide to a person working today, though—which is the context in which I saw it recommended—it's very limited, being the product of its circumstances to an exceptional degree. Because this was intended as a meaningful guide to pragmatic, economical practice for the professional carpenter (or, at least, the aspiring student), every bit of advice in it is beholden to the specific material economy, tool ecosystem,† still haphazard building codes (!),‡ and fashions of the time and place in which it was written, and whether any specific decision is the result of general good practice or one or more of these concerns is never made explicit, and often not very obvious. Even the historical woodworker who wants to recreate the specific forms discussed for recreational reasons today will have to second-guess the text a lot (especially when it comes to choice of woods), or risk spending tremendous amounts of money—and effort—to achieve inferior results.
In its context, Carpentry & Joinery seems to have achieved its aims and been tremendously valuable to its target audience, and woodworkers who are already experienced may certainly still find valuable practical advice in it today. For the most part, though, it really needs to be read as a historical curiosity, and it's a fascinating one.
--------
† Including at least some of the short-lived patent monstrosities that famously afflict(ed) the US that you won't be able to find at any price now.
‡ Britain ran out of sufficient timber for routine traditional heavy-timber framing centuries ago, so the book shows a lot of interesting hybrid forms between traditional work and modern race-to-the-bottom work depending on cheap, fast-growing softwoods; windows, for example, were (and still are) mostly unaffected, but wall frames already had the many thin studs of modern design, infilled with brickwork.
November 23, 2020
Highly recommend the sections on building churches and on scaffolding for building bridges and propping up buildings.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews