A strong follow-up to Ventura's first band saw book

Price: $18.24 at Amazon. Buying used or from Half.com (thanks Jim) might help you find it cheaper.

Like many here at LJs, I throoughly enjoy making band saw boxes. My first inspiration for these was Lois Keener Ventura’s “Building Beautiful Boxes with your Band Saw” book. This is a “sequel” to that first book. I’ll be hunting that review down and posting for that one later on as well.

I have posted a bunch of reviews on Amazon and am migrating the woodworking ones over here to LJs so all the jocks can have a look.

Ventura mentions in the beginning of this book that she had a recent medical setback and has not been able to work in the shop as much. I’m sure we can all relate to that on some level. I’ve seen several folks here being forced to address injuries or illnesses that keep them away from the shop. In this case, Ventura’s friends (one of which is Jim Stack), stepped in and helped this book come to fruition. I’m sure LJ’s would do the same for an LJ in need (and many have).

If you need step by step details and the theory behind certain approaches, I would highly recommend the first book. If you are familiar with the general concept of band saw box making, are an experienced woodworker, or have read the earlier book, this book will pick up and move forward.

The directions for making a BS box are abbreviated in comparison to the first book but there are several new designs to try. That’s what I was looking for so I took it and ran.

This book doesn’t have the mystique of the first book where you feel you are being let in on the secrets of making BS boxes. Since other authors are assisting, I don’t think that could be avoided.

As has been discussed here many times, the topic of design protection appears to be an underlying issue in this book. Ventura said in the first book and then again here, these designs are intended for personal use and gifting but not for use for profit. In this one sense I kind of got the idea that she might have been publishing some designs to get them out there so she can say, “Look, see that one is mine.” I guess in today’s business world it is an essential thing to do.

After a basic run down of how the boxes are built the rest of the book is devoted to numerous designs and instructions to help you make some really fun boxes. All three authors contributed their designs to this part and the designs run from very simple to extremely detailed. A challenge awaits for any experience level.

I hope that the medical concerns with Ventura have passed and she will continue to contribute in the future. This is a great book for your collection and will provide hours of fun shop time.

-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO