Books

Re: Books

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Woodcentral's own book reviews. There's a link to it right to the left in Departments.---Jack

Here is a link to WC reviews & recommendations  *LINK*

Dan Donaldson

>


WC Book reviews

Re: Here is a link to WC reviews & recommendations

Chris Hedges

>I never claimed to be a good observer! Looks like I need to get started...

Re: There are two books....

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>somewhat out of the mainstream, that I'd highly recommend.

After reading your question, I went to look over my woodworking related books (a few under 200) to see just which I'd most want again if I were just starting out. While there are great books for inspiration (say Krenov) and pretty books to look at (say Nakashima and Maloof) and most interesting books devoted to a particular subject (say Japanese Joinery, or Finishing or a specific power tool like the router or bandsaw), they aren't necessarily the best books for one who is starting out acquiring and using hand tools to complete actual furniture.

The two I came up with are:

1. Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools by Mike Dunbar. While focusing on "classic" (i.e., used tools), the information contained within applies just as well to the selection, evaluation, maintainance and use of all tools (not just planes, but chisels and saws, and braces as well), those currently produced as well as those manufactured in the past. It is a wonderful book, dense with practical advice, but organized in such a way as to be very accessible. One might quibble about a few specific points (like whether a chip breaker ever really works to "break" chips), but overall, a veritible fount of practical wisdom from someone who actually uses these tools. I can't recommend it highly enough, regardless of one's level of experience in woodworking. My only regret about this book is that it was published by Sterling Press, who limited it to black and white photos and did little to promote it. Had Taunton published this, it would likely be on nearly every woodworkers bookshelf.

2. Working with Wood by Peter Korn. First let me say that a third of this book is of minimal value, being a general and cursory introduction to woodworking machines and hand tools. These topics have been handled much better elsewhere (e.g, by Dunbar) Please don't let this failing deter you from the excellence of the remainder of the book. What the remainder of the essentially offers is Korn's two week course in basic woodworking with seperate descriptions of how to perform each essential task using either power tools or hand tools (and Peter is one of the few who truly has facility in, and does justice to, both methods of woodworking. He doesn't merely write about the fundamentals, but he instructs you on HOW TO PRACTICE the fundamentals, first by learning how to square up wood ("milling a board four-square", then a chapter on PRACTICING making a mortice and tenon joint, than a chapter on PRACTICING making a dovetail joint, that then a chapter each on buidling a small furniture bench and a small wall cabinet where you learn to integrate your skills by PRACTICING them while building actual furniture. Thus I think you can see that this book isn't just a nice dissertation on how somebody else does things, but rather a written guide to acquiring the essential woodworking skills through PRACTICE, practice that is more meaningful as it includes actually making furniture you will be proud to have produced.

Now I must muddy up this latter recommendation with the fact that this book, though still available, is now available in a "revised edition" under a different title: Woodworking Basics, Master the Essentials of Craftsmanship. I haven't seen this edition, and it may or not be a minor improvement (It has a virtually identical Table of Contents, though I believe they have upgraded to color photos and a different second project).

The books are relatively inexpensive, and you could get a pair for under $40 dollars from places like Amazon. If you actually devote yourself to the exercises and projects, I can virtually guarantee your skills will increase and the cost of the books will be one of the better and more lasting values you encounter in woodworking.

Re: There are two books....

Brent Smith

>Another book that's off the beaten path, but offers great insight into the tools used in it is "Making and Mastering Wooden Planes" by Finck. Though it's not a book about handtool use, Finck does a great job explaining what to look for in a tool and how to use it.

Brent

Re: There are two books....

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>I agree. Had the Dunbar book not existed and covered more tools, I think it would have been the Finck book that I would have recommended. I kind of like his approach of using a book on the making of a plane to explore and convey the skills of using a plane.

1. Planecraft 2. Before buying, borrow

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>1. "Planecraft," and it's cheap, too. Woodcraft sells it for about $10. It's a reprint of an older British book that was CLEARLY commissioned by the Record Tool folks, but it has some of the best discussions of joint-making, shaping, etc., with planes I've ever seen.

2. Ben Franklin's finest discovery/development, even more than the entertainment value of wet kite string in lightning storms, was the lending library. Before buying anything, read the WC book reviews and see what's available of these from your friendly local public library. You can figure out which books will fit best with your current skill level and interests.

;-)

Dan Donaldson

>It is not necessarily obvious if you don't know it is there.

Re: Books *LINK*

BarbS, Wenatchee WA

>The Book Review list is getting so long, it's beginning to need reorganizing, as if Ellis hasn't anything else to do! One I would highly recommend for beginners is Lonnie Bird's contribution to Taunton's 'Complete Illustrated Guide' series. It covers wood, hand tools and power, plus layout and how to avoid common mistakes. Also, check out Andy Rae's Choosing and Using Hand Tools by Lark Books.


Using Woodworking Tools

Re: Books

dave caudill

>While not a common book one I find that has an incredible diversity of infomration is John Alexander's "Make a Chair From a Tree: An Introduction to Working Green Wood". Obviously John talks about making chairs but he goes into wood movement, felling and splitting wood for use. A good section on tools, and their care. Also how to make a shaving horse and other useful fixtures. A great book.

A lot of good books and a lot of good suggestions. The Peter Korn book as mentioned is a great book and I have done both of the projects in the book one at Peter's school in Maine and the other at home. For small projects they give you a lot of the basics that can then be applied to larger projects.

I would agree that the book list is getting long and maybe it would be good to be able to select by alphabet. I tend to get overwhelmed when the list is so long and just close it. Or a better breakdown by specific topics.

Lots of great options.

Dave