Dorsett Publications: 2012 Online Catalog

The Scale Cabinetmaker on cd-rom

Published between 1976 and 1996, The Scale Cabinetmaker set the standard for plans, patterns, and tool and technique instructions for the aspiring and experienced miniaturist. In August 1996, Jim Dorsett wrote his "concluding" essay, "Why Scale...and The Scale Cabinetmaker," in which he recounted the 20 plus year span of TSC and described the journal's editorial philosophy and purpose::

By scale modeling we meant the reduced scale reproduction of full scale, or life size, houses, furniture, and related objects. Scale modeling begins with a thorough knowledge of objects in the "real world": not only their characteristics, shape, and details of construction, but their history and social context as well.
...
The core of the magazine's content would be the presentation of scale modeling plans and directions, coupled with information on the tools and modeling techniques essential to their reproduction. Here we acknowledged that the designer of the plan, the author would have accomplished for the modeler much of the task of measuring the prototype object (the "full sized" piece in the "real world"). But the modeler would still have to be conscious of those proportions and their application to the workpiece. We intended to put a measuring instrument, a tool, a piece of material, and a plan into the hands of the reader, depending on the combination to work its own magic. And we predicted that the measure of the magazine's success would be the development of its readers beyond its plans to the measurement of the prototype itself, the design of the scale model, and any further dependence on the publication. In effect, the success of the magazine would be measured by the eventual graduation of its readers.

Despite being 30 plus years removed from the genesis of TSC, the content is still as relevant and as useful as it was when it was first published. Over the next five years, Dorsett Publications will be re-releasing The Scale Cabinetmaker on cd-rom. Each volume listing below provides only a partial list of the contents for each volume. Click on the link under the title for a complete table of contents for the specific volume. All plans and patterns in TSC are given in full dimension and the projects are assumed to be 1/12th scale, unless otherwise noted.

The cd-rom versions are in pdf files and should read equally well across different computer platforms (dos, mac, and linex--we haven't tried the cds on unix).

Not sure about the quality: Try a sample on us....

Adirondack Chair (The Scale Cabinetmaker, Volume 1, No. 4 )

Sheraton Night Table (The Scale Cabinetmaker, Volume 2, No. 2)

Volume 2 (1977-1978) Price: Regular Price: $24.00; Birthday Special Through 5/31/2012: $20.40.

The Cabinetmaker's Guides

In 1964, Helen Bennett Dorsett published the first of what would become a 10 book series, The Cabinetmaker's Guide to Dollhouse Furniture: Victorian. Many of the patterns included in that first and second books were based on the furniture in her mother's house in Peabody, Kansas. The Guides provide enough patterns, in a specific style, to fill a two bedroom dollhouse, including a livingroom or parlor, a dining room or a kitchen, and two bedrooms. All plans and patterns, with the exception of the Half Inch Book, are in inch to the foot (1":1') scale. Each plan includes a bill of materials, so you can order the supplies you need without having to guess.

A final note about the Guides. There are very few duplicate patterns between The Cabinetmaker's Guides and The Scale Cabinetmaker. The development of the initial Guides (Volumes 1 and 2) predate The Scale Cabinetmaker. While the others were developed while TSC was being published, they were and remain separate publications.

1.Lamp Shelf ; 2.Clock Shelf; 3.Spice Shelf; 4.Wall Shelf; 5.Victorian Whatnot; 6.Trestle Bench; 7.Trestle Table; 8.Trestle Lamp Stand; 9.Round Parlor Table; 10.Drop Leaf Table; 11.Kitchen Windsor Side Chairs; 12.Transitional Caned-Seat Side Chair; 13.Shaker-type Rocker; 14.Slab Seat Rocker; 15.Upholstered Wing Chair; 16.Kitchen Dresser; 17.Tin Paneled Pie Safe; 18.Dry Sink; 19.Cottage Bedroom Dressers; 20.Cottage Bedroom Washstands; 21.Cottage Spool-turned Sofa; 22.Transitional Low-Post Bed; 23.Cottage Clock; 24.Cottage Panel Bed; 25.Franklin Stove.

I: CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND NOTES (1.General Construction Methods , and 2.Construction Notes & Bills of Material). II: ELEVATION DRAWINGS: 1.Child's Six Board Chest, 2.Child's Small Footed Chest,3.One Drawer Blanket Chest, 4.Two Drawer Blanket Chest, 5.Small Case of Drawers, 6.Three Step Stool, 7.Two Step Stool, 8.Carpeted Foot Bench, 9.Dining and Meeting House Bench, 10.Keyed-Tenon Short Bench, 11.Kitchen Bench/Table with Drawers, 12.Three Slat Chair, 13.Two Slat Dining Chair, 14.New Lebanon Arm Chair, 15.New Lebanon Rocking Chair, 16.Small Trestle Table, 17.Community Dining Table, 18.Six Square Dining Table, 19.Sister's Shop Table, 20.Stretcher-Based Drop-Leaf Table, 21.Low Work Table, 22.Rimmed Top Stand, 23.Adjustable Candle Stand, 24.Round Candlestand, 25.Workstand with Cyma Legs, 26.Sewing Stand, 27.Small Sewing Chest, 28.Sewing Desk, 29.Drop-Leaf Sewing Table, 30.Swivel Sewing Stool, 31.School Desk, 32.School Bench, 33.School Hanging Book Rack or Shelf, 34.High Cupboard/Chest, 35.Washstand, 36.Trustee's Desk, 37.Low Bed, and 38.Bed.

The Best of The Scale Cabinetmaker

This is a six volume collection of select articles from the 20 years of The Scale Cabinetmaker. Each volume is topic specific and contains the plans and directions for multiple projects. Each volume also contains articles specific to the techniques required to successfully complete the projects included in the book. Additional volumes of the Best of TSC, including TSC for Beginners, will be released over the next few years.

The Toys At Christmas: An Introduction (Jim Dorsett & Meghan Dorsett). TOY ARTICLES: 19th Century Noah's Ark (Helen Dorsett), 19th Century Nuremberg Kitchen (Helen Dorsett), 1858 Greiner Doll and 1867 Crandall Doll Carriage (Helen Dorsett), 1870 Operating Kaleidoscope (Ruth Armstrong), 1877 Bentwood Sled (Helen Dorsett), 1886 Two-Wheel Pull Cart (Helen Dorsett), 1914 Speedway Roadster (Jim Dorsett), 1929 Child's Vanity Dresser (Helen Dorsett), 1935 Fiberboard Doll House (Helen & Meghan Dorsett), 1940's Artificial Christmas Tree (Helen Dorsett). TECHNIQUES: The Cabinetmaker's Notebook: Preparing Tinstock (Ruth Armstrong). Techniques for Bending Wood (Don Peck & Helen Dorsett), Nature of Cuprous Metals: Copper, Brass, and Bronze (Al Atkins), Photo Etching and Scratchboards (Jim Jedlicka & Jack Reifel), Soldering Tools and Techniques (Jim Dorsett), and Scroll-cutting (Suzanne Russo).

PROJECT ARTICLES: Built-in Kitchen Cabinets (James H. Dorsett), An 1890 Country Kitchen Cabinet (Helen Dorsett),
1920's Kitchen Cabinet (James H. Dorsett), 1920's Breakfast Nook (Marie & Don Heuer), 1930's Sears Roebuck Breakfast Set (Helen Dorsett), and Contemporary Kitchen Cabinets (Helen Dorsett). TECHNICAL ARTICLES: A Guide to Joinery
Ripping Stock, Table Saw Safety, & Cutting Joints with Hand & Power Tools, Using a Drawplate to Size Dowels, and Measurement Conversion Chart.

PROJECT ARTICLES: The Craftsman Furniture of Gustav Stickley (James H. Dorsett)(Celandine Tea Table, Library Table and Chair, Hanging Book Shelf, and Magazine Cabinet); Arts & Crafts Bungalow Furniture (James H. Dorsett) (Stickley Paneled Bench (Inglenook Bench), Library Table & Chair, Spindle Sofa, Greene & Greene Fern Stand); Half Inch Scale Mission Bedroom Set (Helen Dorsett) (Panel Bed, Bedside Stand Chest of Drawers, Princess Dresser & Mirror); and The Morris Chair (James H. Dorsett).

Collector Issues

Dorsett Publications has a few of the original issues in stock. Each issue has been stored in a plastic sleeve and is in pristine condition. Availability is limited, and once the issues of been sold, the only place to find the original TSC will be on collector sites on the internet.

The Community Planner

Dorsett Publications also publishes The Community Planner--a how-to journal on community, county, and regional planning. The journal uses the same approach we used for The Scale Cabinetmaker and applied it to planning and government processes and projects: how to create a comprehensive plan; how to write an RFP; how to develop a citizen survey; and a host of other topics. While the subject may seem off the beaten path for a company best known for publishing miniature plans and patterns and tool and technique articles; the new journal is as much about building place (albeit on a different scale). Jim Dorsett was a Presbyterian minister and a sociologist before he decided building and writing about miniatures was a significantly saner pursuit than writing about regression analysis. Like her father, Meghan Dorsett came to Dorsett Publications from a background other than miniatures: environmental analysis, county planning, and geography. Unlike her father, she was in a field that had a wider appeal and that lent itself to the Popular Mechanics approach.

1 Year Individual Subscription (single-user)

1 Year Instituional Subscription (multiple-users)

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