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Fine Contemporary Furniture Manufacturer - Our customers include home builders, hotels, resorts, furniture wholesalers, importers, retailers, architects, interior designers and individual customers. We manufacture contemporary furniture and decor items primarily teak, natural and synthetic rattan/wicker, water hyacinth, bamboo, leather, stainless steel and various metals. We can custom manufacture to our customers? designs and specifications. Sample sets can be produced at short notice.

Foreword - This second edition of How to Build Modern Furniture combines in one volume all of the really useful instructions and diagrams for woodworking, cabinet making, and furniture hardware that have made the two volumes of the first edition so popular. A very few details of restricted commercial interest have been eliminated, and a number of new developments in technique and hardware have been added.

General - In order to select the type of wood best suited to the work to be done it is essential to understand the characteristics of the material. I have, therefore, outlined some basic information regarding its structure, as well as methods of sawing and handling.

Woodworking - After obtaining the rough wood from the lumberyard, mark out the various pieces on the wood using the straight yard rule (A), the try square (B), or the bevel gauge (C). If you use the two latter devices, remember that one edge of the material should be straight.

Basic Joints - This is one of the simplest and most frequently used joints.

Similar to the preceding method, but less used because it is more difficult.

A common method, often used where the total area is large.

Plywood + Curves - Plywood is produced by placing three, five, seven, or more layers of wood one on top of the other with the grain of each ply at right angles to that of adjacent plies. Each layer is glued to the previous layer and put under heavy pressure. The face veneer generally is in one continuous sheet stripped or peeled from the surface of a single log after the log has been reduced to uniform diameter.

Covering Edges + Panels - In order to conceal the laminates in plywood or a lumber core panel, the edges must be covered with hardwood. The methods used are:

A—Painting the edge to match the wood: This is the simplest and cheapest method.

B—Veneer banding
This material is now available in rolls.

C—Solid edge

Doors - The basic use of single or double door stops is to seal a furniture compartment and so protect its contents from dust and other injury. Door stops also help to mask the gaps that appear when the wood shrinks. Stops are seldom used in mass production; to save time a straight board is used.

Shelves - Adjustable shelves have several advantages, but the chief of these is that the spacing between them may be varied to suit the objects to be displayed. These shelves are often used for bookshelves, kitchen cabinets, and china cupboards. Here are several types.

Drawers - A drawer is one of the most useful and important parts of furniture construction, and smooth operation of the drawer depends upon the perfect design and assembly of the furniture piece.

Drawers may be hidden by doors or they may be exposed. Many solutions are possible with either design. The drawings in this section give a clear idea of their construction and application.

Not Wood - Attaching glass, plate glass, or a mirror to wood is one of the most delicate operations in furniture construction. The possibility of breaking the glass during the working process makes it imperative that great care be taken.

Plate glass or a mirror may be attached to the wood in a horizontal, vertical, or oblique position. It may also be welded to the wood with glue or cement.

Chairs + Upholstery - Upholstering is an art in itself. While most other operations in furniture construction are done by machine, upholstery work is still done by hand. Expert workmen have usually served a long apprenticeship before acquiring the skill necessary for upholstering a chair or divan. There are, however, several ways that upholstery work can be done by apprentices and amateurs; for example, by substituting foam rubber for the materials used in normal work.

Reading Drawings - The drawings used in this book have been especially planned to help the home craftsman visualize the finished piece, its parts, and the way they are fitted together. Each design includes (a) a complete view of the finished piece, (b) front, side, and sectional views as they would appear in a professional cabinet maker's drawings, and (c) an exploded drawing, with parts shown in detail for ordering and cutting. Accompanying instructions give step-by-step procedure for assembly.

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