You know, we are often advised to go read some good books on finishing, but nowhere have I seen a good critical bibliography. My own finishing book shelf is pretty limited. I own:
1) Flexner’s Understanding Wood Finishing;
2) Frank’s Adventures in Wood Finishing;
3) An 1883 edition of The Complete Carriage and Wagon Painter.
That’s it, I’m afraid for books specific to finishing.
The third is obviously an interesting period piece, but are there others still considered useful?
What are the very best books on the subject (excluding organic chemistry tomes)?
Joe
Edited 4/27/2007 6:06 pm ET by Joe Sullivan
Replies
Jeff Jewitt's book (part of the current Taunton WW series) is a nice, broad overview of finishing. Not much depth, but a very good reference and a good starting point for most all finishing chores.
Jeff's book is good, with lots of illustrations and good information. He also has other books such as Hand-Applied Finishes.If you do not have Bob Flexner's second edition, you must update to it. It's about 50% larger than first edition.In my opinion, all the rest are also-rans.
I'll have to check editions. I'ver had mine for quite some time and am re-reading it. It is very good.
J
Complete Illstrated Guide to Finishes Jeff Jewitt (mentioned above) and Great Wood Finishes also by Jeff
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Sound interesting.
You know, I hope we can make this thread into a good bibliography with a bit of review on each of the best. We have done similar things on a completely unrelated web site (cavalry history and horsemanship), had fun, and had excellent and valuable results.
Joe
I think Flexner's new edition (2005, I think) is still the one "must have" book on finishing. I like Jeff Jewitt's books as well, but I use them mainly to fill in the blanks from Flexner.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
There are also several articles by Jeff at his company's web site,
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/articles.htmand Flexner's at http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/finish2.html (and change the numeral behind finish from 2 .. 9 ) and
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/features.aspI have read most, if not all, of Dresdner's books and prefer the authors above. Just a personal preference, perhaps.
http://michaeldresdner.com/ and
http://www.woodanswers.com/expertadvice_cat.asp?part=date
I agree with you about Dresdner. As far as authors are concerned, I also agree with you that Flexner and Jewitt are the "go-to-guys" on the scene right now.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
" (cavalry history and horsemanship)" Now that's up my alley. Ex-dressage trainer and rider here. Only way to get a perky response from non-riders is to explain how the art was developed for cavalry/war purposes.
There have been at least 2 threads recently (last 6 mos) with lists of books. Not sure how much info was presented.[Typing w/ 1 paw sucks; plz 4give typos]forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG -
Maybe you can verify (or refute) something I heard about a McClellan saddle. I was told that the slot in the seat was there to help new cavalrymen keep their seat by holding onto a sensitive part of their anatomy.
Any truth to this? - lol
Dave:
Would you volunteer for the cavalry under those circumstances? If so, you really would be An Army of One.
Actually the structure of the Mac is not too much different that the structure of the basic stock saddle you see at the rodeo. It is just that the stock saddle has additional layers of leather for other purposes. And that takes us to the bottom line -- the Mac was designed to be strong and lightweight so that even when loaded with full field pack including weapons, the load was reasonable for a horse going long distances under strenuous conditions.
Joe
Joe -
Yeah, that "Army of One" part would probably be right. And, that one would probably be a Soprano, too. An old time cowboy told me about the slot in the McClellan several years ago and had me almost believing him. He never cracked a smile and had sincerity positively oozing from his skin. He might have sold me except some of the crew finally started cracking up.- lol
I've never ridden a Mac - or even an English saddle. I've ridden my custom made, 3/4 rigged, Western saddle since '86 and can't imagine using anything else.
Indeed.
I collect macs and other cavalry saddles. Own 15 or so of them from the 1859 through 1936 models. I have literally hundreds of hours of saddle time in stock (western) saddles, but these days usually ride a Stubben Tristran, or an original M1936 Philips officer's saddle.
Joe
What about Dresdner?
Joe,
Two of my all time favorite books in the field of finishing are;
Staining and Wood Polishing by Charles Hayward. It is one of the best and most complete books on French Polishing.
The other is;
Coloring,Painting & Finishing Wood by A. C. Newell
This book is well worth looking for. I know it's out of print as it was published in 1940. It is by far the most comprehensive in it's explanations of materials, media and the practice of finishing wood.
Peter
Peter:
Thanks for respondng with a couple more good ones that had not previously been mentioned. I'll look for them.
J
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