cover image The Essential Pine Book

The Essential Pine Book

John McGuane, Megan Fitzpatrick. Popular Woodworking Books, $24.99 (128pp) ISBN 978-1-55870-711-5

Experienced woodworkers with a taste for country-style furniture and a limited budget will appreciate this guide to working with pine, one of the most cost-effective woods. The book details 12 projects, including a planter-bench, a Franklin chair, a parlor lamp and a trestle table. Most of the designs lean towards a cozy, homey style that would fit in well with a Victorian home. Though many of the projects are relatively simple, and they are all illustrated with clear step-by-step color photos, they do rely on equipment like drills, band saws and electric sanders that only regular woodworkers will have.