quibuslibet wrote...


What are the titles of some of the more
helpful books? I suspect that many of the recipes would have been
familiar to 18th century cabinetmakers.


Biblio, Alibris, and ebay are good sources for used books on-line.

Here are some that I have & like:

Hodgson's New Hardwood Finishing, Including Wood Manipulation, Staining, and
Polishing by Fred T Hodgson, 1904

The Expert Wood Finisher by A Ashmun Kelly, 1921

Wood Finishing Plain and Decorative by F N Vanderwalker, 1944

Easy Methods in Wood Finishing by F Maire, 1911 (a trade school textbook)


I like Hodgson's the best, but they are all packed with info that I imagine
used to be passed from master to apprentice for generations.

--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com