Christmas Gift - Book

[John Adam]

To all,

I will be asked what I want for Christmas this year and was thinking that I'd like good hand-tool woodworking book.

Any recommendations?

[Jim Watts]

http://www.woodworkersbookshop.com/p...sentials/books

[John Adam]

Good start...I like the articles Christopher Schwartz writes, why not the book...

[Chuck Nickerson]

Just so you're aware: 'Handplane Essentails' is a collection and reorganization of articles and blog entries. I'm very glad I have my copy, but a few people were bothered by the lack of new material.

Two about-to-be-released books you might consider: 'The Joiner and Cabinetmaker' (also a Chris (and Joel) project), and 'Made by Hand' by Tom Fidgen.

[Aaron Hall]

Two about-to-be-released books you might consider: 'The Joiner and Cabinetmaker' (also a Chris (and Joel) project), and 'Made by Hand' by Tom Fidgen.

These two are already on my wish list for the holidays. Both look like very good reads, but YMMV.

~Aaron

[John Adam]

Thanks...I've seen ads for the 'made by hand' book and it looks very interesting too.

Today's a bad day to think about it. Ever have one of those days where nothing goes right?
- Dado didn't fit (of course it's too big, so no repairing it)
- My jointer seems to remove more from one side of a board than the other
- I spilled my boiled linseed oil on the bench
- Can't cut a straight line to save my life

Ok, I'm done whining, I'll have a beer and try again tomorrow!

[Joe McMahon]

Thanks...I've seen ads for the 'made by hand' book and it looks very interesting too.

Today's a bad day to think about it. Ever have one of those days where nothing goes right?
- Dado didn't fit (of course it's too big, so no repairing it)
- My jointer seems to remove more from one side of a board than the other
- I spilled my boiled linseed oil on the bench
- Can't cut a straight line to save my life

Ok, I'm done whining, I'll have a beer and try again tomorrow!

John, as bad as this day was, at least you got into the shop and made sawdust. I didn't get anywhere near sawdust today and won't for at least a week.

Joe

[John Adam]

Good point...I did make quite a mess

[Eric Brown]

An excellent book you don't hear about is:
Manual Training: First Lessons in Woodworking (1888)
by Alfred G. Compton
Got mine from Amazon

It is very good teaching you about how wood behaves and why.
For instance, the first lesson you use a knife and try to cut straight across the grain and you can't go far. You then tilt the blade and go obliquely and the wood cuts. Then you tilt the other way and compare how cutting with or against the grain also matters. After that you learn about handsaws, planes, etc.

The book is about 200 pages. Good illistrations. Best beginners book I've seen yet.

Eric

PS: Can't wait for the Jointers book & DVD from Lost Art Press.

[Hank Knight]

I learned more from Tage Frid's two volume work Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking than from any other single book(s). It was, and will always be, a classic.

http://www.amazon.com/Tage-Teaches-W.../dp/1561580686

Hank

[Richard Jones]

Either or both of Garrett Hack's books,Classic Hand Tools and/or The Handplane Book.

Amazon sometimes discounts these if you buy them both. Great studying in the, uh, reading room................

Maybe not exactly woodworking books proper, but I still find them fascinating and indispensable, at least in my humble library.

Rich

[James Owen]

To all,

I will be asked what I want for Christmas this year and was thinking that I'd like good hand-tool woodworking book.

Any recommendations?

John,

Try these sites for woodworking books that you may find useful or interesting:

http://www.astragalpress.com
http://www.blackburnbooks.com
http://www.cambiumbooks.com
http://www.woodworkerslibrary.com
http://www.amazon.com

Here are some of my favorite woodworking books:

(Books in Bold Italic type are the one I consider to be essentials for hand tool woodworkers.)

Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings (Aldren Watson)
Taunton’s Complete Illustrated Guide to Sharpening (Thomas Lie-Nielsen)
Choosing and Using Hand Tools (Andy Rae)
Restoring, Tuning, and Using Classic Handtools (Mike Dunbar)
Sharpening With Waterstones (Ian Kirby)
Dictionary of Woodworking Tools (R. A. Salaman)
Understanding Wood (R. Bruce Hoadley)
Furniture Making Techniques [Volumes 1, 2, & 3] (David Charlesworth)
Making Woodworking Aids & Devices (Robert Wearing)
Complete Guide to Sharpening (Leonard Lee)
Entire Woodwright Series (Roy Underhill)
The Village Carpenter (Walter Rose)
The Nature and Art of Workmanship (David Pye)
Furniture By Design: Lessons in Craftmanship from a Master Woodworker (Graham Blackburn)
American Furniture of the 18th Century (Jeff Greene)
Making Classic Chairs: A Craftsman’s Chippendale Reference (Ron Clarkson)
Traditional Woodworking Techniques (Graham Blackburn)
Traditional Woodworking Handtools (Graham Blackburn)
The Complete Dovetail (Ian Kirby)
Modern Practical Joinery (George Ellis)
Hand Tool Essentials (Editors of Popular Woodworking Magazine)
Workbenches: from Design & Theory to Construction & Use (Chris Schwartz)
Complete Illustrated Guide to Period Furniture Details (Lonnie Bird)
Planecraft: Hand Planing by Modern Methods (C. W. Hampton and A. E. Clifford)
Keeping the Cutting Edge (Dynamite Payson)
The Handplane Book (Garrett Hack)
Essential Wood Carving Techniques (Dick Onians)
Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving (David Esterly)
Old Ways of Working Wood (Alex Bealer)
The Workbench Book (Scott Landis)
The Toolbox Book (Jim Tolpin)
Taunton's Best of/New Best of FWW & FWW On... _____ [your subject of interest -hand planes, hand tools, finishing, etc.]
The Woodworker's Guide to Hand Tools (Peter Korn)
Classic Hand Tools (Garrett Hack)
Woodcarving: Tools, Materials, & Equipment [Vol 1 & 2] (Chris Pye)
The Art of Joinery (Joseph Moxon, with commentary by Chris Schwartz)
Period Furniture Projects (V. J. Taylor)
The Dunlap Cabinetmakers (Philip Zea and Donald Dunlap)
Understanding Wood Finishing (Bob Flexner)

Hope that this is of some use to you.

[John Adam]

WOW, that's quite a library!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[James Owen]

WOW, that's quite a library!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

That's only part of my woodworking library.....

(Yeah: I got a tool habit, a book habit, a music habit, a ......)

[John Adam]

Good to know I'm not the only OCD on sawmill