"As someone who's been in the book business for a long time, it's been a joy to be on the other side," said Gonzalo Ferreyra, director of acquisitions at Ingram Publisher Services and the author of Wooden Toy Spacecraft: Explore the Galaxy & Beyond with 13 Easy-to-Make Woodworking Projects, just published by Spring House Press.
Ferreyra, who first started woodworking about 10 years ago, explained that his book is a modern, updated version of the classic woodworking books focused on making things like planes, trains and automobiles. It features how-to guides for making 13 different wooden starships, all designed by Ferreyra. While some of the models are inspired by classic spaceships from well-known sci-fi universes, others are highly unusual, like the arachnid-shaped "Centurion Scorpion," of which Ferreyra said he is particularly proud.
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"They're inspired by everything I see out there--pop culture, a touch of NASA spaceships," said Ferreyra. At other times he was inspired by the wood itself. "Occasionally I would just pick up a piece of scrap and start to think about how it would look attached to a fuselage."
Each project features detailed, step-by-step instructions, all carefully laid out and complete with photo illustrations taken by Ferreyra in his woodworking shop. Ferreyra reported that when he was first working on the instructions, he found that written descriptions alone weren't quite clear enough, so the photos show exactly what each step should look like. He added that all too often in woodworking, you're given a list of instructions without a clear guide to follow; he hopes to avoid that problem.
The book is intended for an adult woodworker, as some of the techniques and tools required are fairly sophisticated, Ferreyra said. He described himself as a woodworker who focuses mainly on large projects that can take months to complete, and noted that it can be great to "take a break" with a project that may take just a day or a weekend. His goal with Wooden Toy Spacecraft is to provide woodworkers with those sorts of projects and, he added, every project in his book is made out of small pieces--the sorts of scraps an experienced woodworker might have lying around the shop.
After the first few projects, which are a little bit simpler, things get gradually more sophisticated and complicated as Ferreyra rolls in more complex techniques that he uses in furniture making. By the last few projects, he draws on all of them.
When Ferreyra began woodworking about a decade ago, he focused mainly on building home furniture. Specifically, it started with the search for a coffee table. After looking at yet another $1,000 coffee table, he recalled, he told his wife that if they just invest in some tools, he could do it himself. He had always been interested in woodworking but never had the space. Now he finally had the space, and before long he was working his way through the house, building bookcases, tables and desks. Remarked Ferreyra: "As many woodworkers would tell you, it becomes rather addictive."
For a long time, Ferreyra had no intention of transitioning to smaller projects or of writing a book. But at an IPS sales conference back in 2017, while discussing ideas for woodworking books with Spring House Press publisher Paul McGahren, he brought up the idea of a more modern planes, trains and automobiles type of woodworking book. While writing down the idea, McGahren stopped and asked, "Why don't you do it?" After the conference was over, Ferreyra recalled, he went home and started working on concept builds.
"[This project] gave me newfound appreciation for what goes into the making of any book," said Ferreyra. "I loved the process and hope to do it again." --Alex Mutter