ILKLEY craftsman, Chris Tribe, who has been designing and making fine furniture for the last 25 years, has ventured into the world of books.

Chris, who has also taught furniture making for many years, enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for wood with his students and says ‘Nowadays, most people spend much of their life at a desk with little opportunity to actually work with ‘stuff’, so it’s a real joy to introduce students to the physical pleasure of working with wood’.

Chris was delighted when the publishing company, Quarto, asked him to write a book on woodwork. The book, ‘Complete Woodworking’, gives amateur woodworkers the basic skills they need; it suggests projects for them to practice their skills, and tells them how to put things right when they go wrong. Chris says that in writing the book he wanted to go further than just explaining the various woodworking techniques.

"I wanted to help readers when they get into difficulties, so each technique has a section explaining what to do when things don’t go according to plan," he said. "This is definitely a book for the work bench, not the coffee table."

Although Chris has been writing articles for woodworking magazines for the last twenty years, he found writing the book a challenge: "Mainly because there wasn’t room for everything I wanted to put in," he said. The final stages of the book were the most difficult: "Trying to fit the photographs to the words, and working with the publisher’s design team to make it look good, but it was worth the effort. I’m really pleased with the way it looks, and the fact that there’s photos of every stage of each process will help people to get things right." he added.

Quarto have recently completed deals that mean the book will also be published in France and the US. Chris hopes the book will stand alongside his courses in helping him to achieve his goal which is to awaken people to the joy of woodwork.

Details of Chris’ courses are available on his website www.christribefurniturecourses.com Compete Woodworking – essential skills and techniques for beginners is published by Quarto Press today, December 1.