Rustic woodworking is the 'green' way to make furniture and is currently very popular. Visual demonstrations make it easy to learn the valuable techniques. Most projects only require simple tools. Rustic furniture has an earthly charm that evokes cabins in the woods and country hideaways. Easy to make, rustic furniture is also 'green' through incorporating reclaimed and found materials. In this step-by-step project book and companion DVD, an award-winning woodworker and teacher shows how to use materials collected from the outdoors or recycled from old buildings to make one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture. Every technique is detailed, from cutting round mortises and tenons to making a webbed seat, weaving twigs, traditional joinery and more. Heirloom-quality projects include a storage chest, chairs, tables and other attractive and useful pieces. Design alternatives show how to apply the basic techniques to other projects.

Out of all the trees in the world, the ash is most closely bound up with who we are: the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. One frigid winter morning, Robert Penn lovingly selected an ash tree and cut it down. He wanted to see how many beautiful, handmade objects could be made from it. Thus begins an adventure of craftsmanship and discovery. Penn visits the shops of modern-day woodworkers-whose expertise has been handed down through generations-and finds that ancient woodworking techniques are far from dead. He introduces artisans who create a flawless axe handle, a rugged and true wagon wheel, a deadly bow and arrow, an Olympic-grade toboggan, and many other handmade objects using their knowledge of ash's unique properties. Penn connects our daily lives back to the natural woodlands that once dominated our landscapes. Throughout his travels-from his home in Wales, across Europe, and America-Penn makes a case for the continued and better use of the ash tree as a sustainable resource and reveals some of the dire threats to our ash trees. The emerald ash borer, a voracious and destructive beetle, has killed tens of millions of ash trees across North America since 2002. Unless we are prepared to act now and better value our trees, Penn argues, the ash tree and its many magnificent contributions to mankind will become a thing of the past. This exuberant tale of nature, human ingenuity, and the pleasure of making things by hand chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.