Paperback 8-1/2 x 10-7/8 in. 160 pages, with color photos and drawings
Published 2004 ISBN 978-1-56158-688-2 Product #070771
Now you have the guidance of an expert woodworker to help you choose the right tools and equipment to outfit your shop. Youll learn exactly what to buy (and why you need it) for each skill level in your woodworking. Plus youll get smart advice on how to organize, light and power your shop, and where to store your stuff.
About the author Aim Ontario Fraser, author of the bestselling introduction to woodworking,
Getting Started in Woodworking: Skillbuilding Projects that Teach the Basics, has been woodworking and boat building since high school. A former editor of
Fine Woodworking, she is a frequent contributor to woodworking magazines. She also teaches woodworking and boatbuilding in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Woodworking matters. Its more than a pastime or hobby -- being a woodworker means you know the satisfaction and pride that comes from using your hands and mind to build beautiful functional objects, and that youre as interested in the process as the outcome. Amidst all the speed and chaos of the modern world, woodworking gives us a place where we can slow down, pay attention, and take the time to do things right. Woodworking matters because it can make your life richer and more meaningful.
In woodworking, tools matter. It took a while for me to realize this because I had the not-uncommon notion that if you had the right attitude you could build a chest of drawers with rusty tools from the neighbors shed. After some experience with decent tools, I realized that a properly sharpened and tuned plane is just as important as attitude. Good tools wont make you a great craftsman, but they will make it much easier to develop the skills needed to become one.
Your shop, the place where you keep and use your tools, is itself a kind of tool. A poorly laid out or organized shop can hinder your workmanship just as surely as inferior tools. But your shop is more than a tool -- its also a creative studio where ideas become objects. For most of us, our shop is also a retreat where we can relax and recharge.
How this book is organized
This book recognizes that your skills as a woodworker, your collection of tools, and the layout and organization of your shop develop together. Its based on the notion that woodworkers go through four stages of development and each stage has its own requirements for tools and space.
The book is divided into four sections -- one for each stage. Each section opens with an introduction explaining why it contains those particular tools. Then it focuses on each tool in turn. Photographs across the bottom of the page show what the tool can do, and a photo-illustration of the tool points out important features. The text explains features or aspects of using the tool and tells you what to buy. The section closes with a discussion of some of the aspects of setting up and organizing a shop to use the tools properly.
One short book cant tell you everything you need to know to master each tool. But it can tell you what you need to know to purchase a quality tool with the right features. It cant show the latest tricked-out models of tools, but by sticking to simple classic tools, it can give you enough information to evaluate new features on your own.
The four stages of woodworking discussed here are not strict guidelines, and cant take into account all the tools used in woodworking sub-specialties (instrument making, boatbuilding, cabinetmaking, and the like). I dont expect you to buy the tools exactly in the order given, but the order has a logic. If you buy the tools and learn to use them in more or less the order given, youll avoid the common mistake of buying too much too soon. Using the wrong tool or using the right tool improperly can be unpleasant enough to turn you away from woodworking. My goal is to get you started in woodworking with a string of successes that keep you going. By following the books progression, youll create a solid foundation of woodworking skills you can build on with confidence.
Customer Reviews from Amazon
Average Customer Review:
Emphasizing the Essentials, July 25, 2009
As a beginner's guide to buying woodworking tools, this book is quite good--and it certainly lives up to the title as stated. However, and as with many other Tauton Press books, the large assumption is that the price paid for tools does not present any financial barrier to the reader. Still, the author's practical buy-it-as-needed advice appears to be quite sound, providing the reader with an essential reference towards acquiring the tools involved in contemporary woodworking. Perennial novice that I am, I find myself continually returning to this book; and the idea to present things in layers--i.e., the steps leading from the "essential, basic, efficient, and well-rounded shop"--is most ingenious. Used in combination with Jim Tolpin's "Working Wood," or perhaps Aldren Watson's old-fashioned "Hand Tools," one would have little more to ask for from the start. To my mind, the only real drawback the present title presents is that the photo-illustrations tend to be a bit of a promotion for the tool companies involved (but much the same holds true for many other Taunton Press books). As a result, the book has become slightly dated and will soon call for a new edition.
Interesting but not really instructive, March 8, 2009
The only real contents of this book is Amie Frasier's opinion on the order in which you should buy things for your workshop, which could be accomplished in a page or two. The other books in this series contain projects and skill builders, but this book completely lacks any activities whatsoever.
Basically, this book is just a series of short descriptions of the different common woodworking tools - something you can easily find online although you probably already know as much as this book will tell you.
The editing of the book is remarkably poor (similar to other books in the series) with many mistakes, a few cut off sentences, and pictures that are either incorrect, or are cropped so poorly that they cut off what they are trying to illustrate.
I'm pretending it was a gift., November 2, 2008
If you know nothing about a workshop, then this book is better than nothing. If you know anything about a workshop, then you could have written this book. The book reads like it was taken from product descriptions rather than from an experienced user trying to impart knowledge.
Very basic, February 9, 2007
This book is good if you need a list of the different tools it's possible to buy for a workshop, but otherwise you should pass it up and buy something else. Don't expect to learn how to use them or any workshop tips. You can find about the same information in a woodworking catalog, and they would be free. Save your money and buy a good compilation issue of WOOD magazine or one of the many other books available on Amazon.
interesting for a beginner, September 28, 2006
I bought the book because of the good reviews, but was a bit disappointed. It was a nice overview of levels of shop equipment, but it was really geared towards the beginner. If you're building the 3 or 4 stage shop described in the book, you probably won't get anything new out of it.
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