Replies

1. 
   BruceS | Nov 08, 2006 07:57am | #1

   Plans ?  Seldom use them.  The Wife and I generally go out "Furniture shopping" With a note pad, pencil and tape measure and make sketches of the pieces we like and incorporate them into one final piece that is to our liking. By doing it this way you can pick the best of the best and end up with the greatest.   You will soon learn to recognize where craftsmen and wood butchers part company.

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

2. 
   GW52 | Nov 08, 2006 05:07pm | #2

   Velo,

   If you are of the Craftsman mind set look for some of the books about Stickley on Amazon. They will have a lot of detail drawings about the furniture he created. Quartersawn white oak is what he used mostly and I have found it a pleasure to work with. There are a lot of alternatives to the fuming process, which is kind of dangerous, he used for the coloring of the finished piece. Also if you can find a Stickley new furniture dealer around get one of the catalogs, look at the measurements and alter them to fit.

   Greg

   
   

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   Edited 11/8/2006 9:09 am ET by GW52

3. 
   VeriestTyro | Nov 08, 2006 07:03pm | #3

   Now that the crowd who never builds from a set of plans has blown enough smoke up your butt,,,, pay for membership on this site and look up an article entitled:

   Stickley Done Lightly

   If you become interested in building high-quality reproductions, and figure out a way to have after hours access to the museums and private collections that house really fine examples of the various genres, then please let us know how you worked that out.  In the meantime, working off of plans provided by authors who do have (or had) that kind of access is your only recourse.  Don't neglect these resources.  Copying crap from Second Hand Rose's Antique Shop on the corner is not a higher calling than working from well drafted plans of originals or an accomplished craftsman/draftsman/designer's interpretation of an original.  If you nip and tuck here and there to make it work for you then so much the better.

   This is not wood butchery as another misinformed poster labeled it. 

   
   

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   Edited 11/8/2006 2:26 pm ET by VeriestTyro

1. 
   doorboy | Nov 08, 2006 09:17pm | #4

   Cool down just a little bit. Nobody has mentioned copying cheap furniture. There's nothing wrong with visiting a furniture store--maybe one that sells Stickley, Moser, etc.--and measuring the dimensions, pick up some joinery tips, or get ideas on colors or textiles.
   A GREAT source of construction methods is Stickley's catalog, which some stores might give you. Even if you have to buy it, it is a valuable tool for making Arts and Crafts furniture.
   To answer your question, any of the Robert Lang books would be helpful. He also sells full sized plans, which may be just what you are after.
   Unless you are doing a historical reproduction, it's perfectly OKAY to customize any plans and ideas to fit your needs.
   Good luck."Kinky for Gov. of Texas"

2. 
   GW52 | Nov 08, 2006 09:28pm | #5

   Thanks for the thread about Stickley. When we lived in NY went to see the Stickley showroom/ factory and fell in love with the furniture. One of the things that stood out was the furniture finish, it almost felt soft it was so smooth. Talking with one of the workers there is a huge amount of sanding done on each piece. Now if I ever won the lottery...

4. 
   nikkiwood | Nov 09, 2006 04:36pm | #6

   Here is Bob Lang's web site:

   http://www.craftsmanplans.com/

   It is a good place to start, since he has gathered measured drawings from the Stickley originals.

   He also sells plans for various Craftsman items, including a couple of dining room tables.

   http://www.craftsmanplans.com/Furniture%20Plans_4.htm

   And here is the outfit that is selling Stickley reproductions. They don't sell plans, but they are a source of ideas and basic measurements:

   http://stickley.com/

   ********************************************************
   "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

   John Wooden 1910-

5. 
   Gene_Davis | Dec 01, 2006 08:33pm | #7

   How about this one?  Tell me if you like it, and what you might want changed.  I am planning to build it and will complete the model in Google Sketchup, complete with all dimensions and details.

   The top is a heavy slab of edgeglued boards, 1-5/8" to 1-3/4" thick. 

   
1. 
   velomark | Dec 01, 2006 09:15pm | #8

   Gene:

   Your table looks great!  Are the slats at each end the same?  In the drawing, it appears there are fewer slat on the left end.  I think we would prefer them to be the same on either end. That's the only suggested change.  Have you considered making it expandable? 

   Thanks

    

   Velo

    

   Cheers,

   Velo

   Edited 12/1/2006 1:16 pm ET by velomark

1. 
   Gene_Davis | Dec 01, 2006 10:04pm | #9

   Here is a better pic.  I posted a work in progress before.  This pic shows both end frames alike.

   View Image

   Go to the Thomas Moser site and you can see his original, which has a slightly larger top.  I downsized it from 48 x 110 to what you see here.  He even offers one longer than the 9'-2" size.

   The legs are made from 3/4 finished stock, "quadralinear" in assembly, which means all four sides show face grain, and the edges are joined with a lock miter joint, done with a 3HP router and table.  I am doing that because the table will be of quartersawn white oak, and want each face of each leg to show the rayflake quartered grain.  Glue blocks inside at top and bottom of each leg provide some beef at ends and for the mortises.

   This piece will match a desk done a few years ago, made to the Stickley library table design, in which I inlaid a bunch of bowtie inserts, in white oak and rosewood, into the top, bridging the glue-up joints.

   Have you downloaded the free Google Sketchup modeling program?  If not, you should.  With the program, you can spin this all around, look at details, measure all dimensions, and modify it however you like.  I use it to build furniture, cabinets, and whole houses.  I am including a pic from a house model.

    

   
1. 
   keving18 | Feb 06, 2007 12:23am | #11

   Gene have you considered putting wedged through-tenons on the bottom stretchers?

6. 
   ASK | Dec 07, 2006 04:58pm | #10

   Velomark,

   I'm a little late with this but

   "The furniture of Gustav Stickley" by

   Joseph J. Bavaro and Thomas L. Mossman

   Linden Publishing, Fresno, CA

   has plans for a Stickley dining table.

   ASK

7. 
   kenshep | Feb 06, 2007 03:04am | #12

   Hi,
   The only plan I have purchased was a mission table plan. It's from an article in FWW. May/June 1998. The article title is Stickley Done Lightly. A very large table that was perfect except swmbo didn't like it. Maybe next time.
   ;-)

    

   Regards,

   Ken

   "Do as you would be done by." C.S. Lewis