Books
Doormaking: Materials, Techniques, and Projects for Building Your First Door
Useful, clear, with anecdotes and digressions on the role of hand-made things in our lives. Linden Publishing, 2017.
“Making a door is easier than you think―here's everything you need to know to build a door that will last for years and you'll use proudly every day.
Few pieces of furniture, save perhaps chairs, work as hard as doors. Building them to last, especially exterior doors, takes knowledge and experience that don’t come from making other types of furniture, such as tables and bookcases. Doormaking: Materials, Techniques and Projects for Building Your First Door by woodworker Strother Purdy gathers all the information and guidance that both beginning and intermediate woodworkers need to be successful making their first door.
While covering the construction of the eight most popular doors, Doormaking starts first by addressing the fundamentals: the basics of good design and proper construction technique, the pros-and-cons of common materials including wood and sheet goods, interior and exterior finishes, hardware and the fine points of hanging doors.
Once those key elements are covered, Doormaking offers project chapters that walk the reader step-by-step through the construction of eight essential doors, explaining design and material choices in specific contexts, tool options and other considerations. The first four projects are easily accessible to a beginner while the remaining projects offer up some more challenging details for the intermediate woodworker. Also included are sidebars containing amusing anecdotes and mistake stories―each delivering tips as well as details for hanging a door―and an inspiring gallery of doors that are sure to inspire.
Doormaking: Materials, Techniques and Projects for Building Your First Door is a must for any woodworking hobbyist, professional craftsman, or DIY homeowner.”
Traditional Box Projects
Very straightforward and useful. Taunton Press, 2010, but currently in publication limbo (Taunton Books now owned by Abrams, and they’re not answering my calls).
Box making has always been one of the perennial favorites of all wood projects. And because wooden boxes make such meaningful gifts, this collection of beautiful, durable, and functional box projects is sure to please. All of the designs are based on traditional boxes, historically inspired by Shaker, Arts & Crafts, and other popular styles. But this is not a book of exacting reproductions for master craftsmen only. These are attainable interpretations of some of the most enduring box designs, all presented in a step-by-step format, with photos and detailed instructions. The author, a fine-furniture maker, offers tried-and-true tips for avoiding pitfalls as well as alternative design and construction options. Most of the boxes are easy to build, though a few offer challenges. A wide array of design styles and the consistent high level of detail in the projects will appeal to a range of woodworkers.
Türen selbst bauen: Materialien, Techniken und 9 Nachbau-Projekte
My Doormaking book in German, HolzWerken, 2024.
That Precious Ghost in Glass
A fragmented novel of ideas, self-published, 2017.
Finster Gummiboots is a not a nice man. He likely has insulted you already, and for no good reason. Living alone, his thoughts tend mostly to what is wrong with this world, and in great depth of detail.
But in his solitude, Finster has also spent much of his life contemplating the one meaningful thing he does not have -- love. In fact, he has thought so much about the value and beauty of love, that he realizes he understands it better than anyone else. On the bus, one day, he recognizes his singular responsibility to teach the rest of the world about the importance and usefulness of love.
So, he writes a novel about love.
That Precious Ghost in Glass is a novel of ideas set in an infinity of absurdist worlds. It explores how beauty and life can spring from the despair of solitude, given a childlike imagination. A suspicious cat named Behemoth, the actual Porky Pig, and an artificial intelligence named Mr. Information help many characters navigate their fates as they seek love and understanding.