In this book, master woodworker George Frank (1903-1997) opens the doors of his Paris workshop at 88 Rue de Charonne to share the closely guarded secrets of a lifetime. You’ll learn how old-timers brewed dyes from plant extracts and chemicals and how they made their fillers. You’ll discover the best route to the flossiest possible finishes and the way to create an “antique” finish that will food the experts. Frank’s warm narrative and his lively account of trials and triumphs in the trade make this book much more than just another finishing manual. Frank was born in Hungary, where he trained as a cabinetmaker and later earned a diploma as a master of wood coloring from the Technological Institute of Budapest. He emigrated to Paris at the age of 21 and, after working in several finishing shops, became a foreman at Jansen, at that time an international leader in interior design. In 1932 he opened his own shop at 88 Rue de Charonne. He came to New York and opened the George Frank Cabinet Corporation there in 1941. In 1973, he retired from this and became Consulting Editor for ”Fine Woodworking” magazine and published this book and ”Wood Finishing with George Frank”, both classics in the field.