Book Review: Mid-Century Modern Furniture: Shop Drawings & Techniques for Making 29 Projects by Michael Crow

 

I read the Kindle version. The first 25% of the book is the history of mid-century modern and basic how-to woodworking, the general fluff that is common and frustrating in woodworking books. The woodworking how-to in particular is pointless as this book is aimed at intermediate or higher skill level woodworkers. To build these pieces you should already have an understanding of joinery, wood movement and the ability to read and build from minimalist plans. Most of the pieces are sketchup renderings only and I assume were never actually built by Michael Crowe. That isn't necessarily bad but you will be building untested plans. Typically you get a 3D rendering, an isometric exploded view with joinery, a 2D drawing with finished dimensions not including joinery, a cut list, and written instructions. The ones that have actually been built will have photos. When planning cuts, make sure to double check that the cut list allows for tenons. I spot checked and those did although the tenons on one were very short. On the Kindle version the pictures are clear, the cut lists easily readable, but I had to zoom in to read fractions. I definitely want to try some of the pieces in this book. Overall Michael Crowe has done an excellent job with the drawings and research. This book is definitely worth owning if you'd like to build mid-century furniture and I would love to see a Part II with even more designs.

You can purchase this book from Amazon.