We are
currently at work on our June 2011 issue, which we have dubbed “The
Bookcase Issue,” and it is the first jab at steering the magazine’s
content so that the articles relate to each other in obvious and
sometimes not-obvious ways – a la Woodworking Magazine, may she rest in peace.
To
that end, we are working on a couple articles for the issue that I
don’t want to say too much about because it will give it away to our
competitors, and I happen to be a bit of the Type A personality.
For
one of the articles, I’d like to ask your assistance. Just answer the
following question: If you could own only one woodworking book, what
would it be? You can make your choice based on sentimental or practical
factors. Maybe you like the pictures. Maybe you use it every day in the
shop. Perhaps it opened your eyes in some significant way. It can be a
book that’s in print or long out of print.
Simply post the title
of the book and the author as a comment below. You don’t have to say why
you like it, or why you chose it. You are welcome to do that, however.
So thanks in advance!
Oh, and to kick things off, here’s my pick: “Illustrated Cabinetmaking” by Bill Hylton.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Our commenting system has been overloaded by responses, so we set up this online survey below. Don’t worry, no one’s response has been lost!
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
Is "The Essential Woodworker" still available anywhere (not including the bay and the list, of course)?
Thanks!
Full Disclosure: I’m cheating and naming another:
Tage Frid. After Krenov, the second book(s) I read that opened my eyes to what woodworking could be. No offense to Krenov, but Frid grounded me in the sensible approaches to cutting and forming wood, the marrying of form and function and the awareness that there is more than one way to accomplish a task.
Gary
"The Woodwright’s Shop" by Roy Underhill. It changed my way of looking at (and working) wood the way no other book could. I’m glad I don’t actually have to go without his other brilliant books, though
The Cabinetmaker’s Notebook, by James Krenov, is a book I go back to time and time again. It is where I go to when I need motivation and inspiration – not to make something in the style of Mr. Krenov, but just to go do SOMETHING with wood, even if it is to take a walk through a forest of not-quite-ready lumber.
Tage Frid three volume work on woodworking
Joinery
Shaping, Veneering Finishing
Furniture making
I would love to see you guys update this with new pictures and methods, but it is the most comprehensive.
John
I have to echo the book, Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking. It was my first, and I always pull it back out for reference.
The Complete Illustrated guide to joinery by Gary Rogowski.
You know how to make good joints you can build anything.
Still another vote for Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking
I bought my copy years ago, long before I had time to actually work wood. It’s as good for dreaming as for doing.
The Great All-American Wooden Toy Book
By Norm Marshall
First woodworking book I ever acquired….
Toys kids will play w/ for years,
runs on imagination
Mark McKay
Sandston, Virginia
Hand Tools by Aldren A Watson.
Amazing book. Clear and concise. Opens up the whole world of hand tool woodworking.
Tim
Chris:
What a great way to start to build a reading list. Ask for more – the top five books – so that we can get deeper and broader suggestions.
I continue to return to "The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking," by James Krenov.
I value all five of the books by Mr. Krenov because he contemplated more the "whys" of woodworking.
The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery by Gary Rogowski
The book is huge, some 300 pages.
Very well laid out and illustrated with full colour step by steps.
Full of alternative methods.
Very clear and concise in its instruction.
Aaaaarrrrgh!
Just one hunh?
How about Mike Abbotts
"Living Wood From Buying a Woodland to Making a Chair"
Living Wood Books
ISBN: 0-9542345-1-0
or his earlier
Green Woodwork
Working With Wood the Natural Way
Mike Abbott
Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd (August 1992)
ISBN 0946819181
or the classic
Make a Chair from A Tree by Alexander
an introduction to working green wood
Taunton Press, c1978
ISBN 0918804019
Lavorare il legno
by Ernest Scott
(Working in Wood: The Illustrated Manual of Tools, Methods, Materials and Classic Constructions)
The only good book translate in italian language.
But I learned from Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking, so that’s a close second. I just don’t open it as much anymore.
Encyclopedia of Furniture Making, Ernest Joyce.
Contains almost everything.
Weeehooo… one book…
Bernard Jones, editor: The Practical Woodworker 4 or 2 volume set
or, and perhaps of more importance to the woodworker:
Complete Practical Brewer, by M. L. Byrn, 1856
I just can’t decide which is more vital to the craft?
Gary
Soul of the Tree by Nakashima, cause I wouldn’t be here without it, and everytime I read it, it teaches me something.
-Cory Watson
Cabinetmaking and Millwork by John L. Feirer. My ‘bible’ for 35 years.