Best Woodworking Tools
The Complete Guide to Sharpening. Leonard Lee is a contributor for Taunton Press titles including The Complete Guide to Sharpening.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great book but only one somewhat brief section on sharpening knives."
"This book includes incredible detail to suit those who simply want to sharpen a knife, to the science and detail behind WHY it's sharpened the way it is."
"If you think you want to know something about sharpening, read this book."
"I was a little nervous to sharpen my woodworking tools before buying this book."
"The husband has assured me this is *the* book on sharpening."
"A very informative book on sharpening."
"Much of the content is timeless, but he does make specific recommendations for products that are either no longer available, or have been made obsolete by better technology."
In a visually stunning, technically informative reference on the classic handplane, professional woodworker Garrett Hack provides detailed, practical information on choosing, using, tuning, and repairing all types of planes, including unique, antique, and specialty planes. Woodworkers beware: Garrett Hack has put together a completely irresistible book, beautifully illustrated with color photographs, drawings, diagrams, and everything you would ever want or need to know about the handplane, the ultimate woodworker's tool.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Well written and illustrated."
"I've been using hand planes for basic tasks for years but never got the performance I felt they were capable of."
"The woodworker that recieved this book as a gift was thrilled."
"Loads and loads of cool info on hand planes."
"In that book the author made mention of this book he wrote on handplanes but I was not all that interested."
"Awesome book!"
"good read and information."
"This book covers information that runs the gamut, from the history and use of hand planes, construction methods and materials, to all the various types available now, maintenance, tuning, and sharpening."
Demonstrates tool storage solutions, from rugged, old-time journeymen's chests to today's versatile truck boxes, and explains how tool users can plan and design personalized boxes that help with organization and tool protection. In this guided tour of some of the world's best tool-storage solutions, you'll learn how the toolbox evolved as an essential tool and how the site boxes of today have their roots in long-ago journeyman's tool chests.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Better than described , a tour de force of tool boxes ."
"Great book!"
"This is the book to get if you are looking to explore ideas for tool chests. If you are an amateur looking to build a first tool chest then you might supplement this with a more basic book with more step-by-step details of the build process."
"My loved one loves this gift."
"makes you wanna start a new project."
"The lowly toolbox often gets short shrift in our thinking, and frankly most modern woodworkers don't need the sort of boxes our grandfathers had, but nothing displays pride in your trade quite as quickly as a beautiful tool box."
"Inspirational book."
"I am a fan of Jim Tolpin, I have most of his books, videos, and magazine articles."
Best Woodworking Decoys
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Everything was satisfactory."
"This is a very good reference book on how to carve eyes on duck carvings, the detail is fantastic, I will consider buying all in the series,"
"There are other books in the "Bird Carving Basics" series, including "Heads," "Feet," "Bills and Beaks," "Texturing," and "Painting," but there's a reason why "Eyes" is number one. The procedures for setting glass and plastic eyes are covered in detail, as are the techniques for carving or burning the eyes into the wood itself, including Pete Peterson's innovative method for making eyes in folk art fish and shorebirds by using a sharpened rifle cartridge mounted in a wooden rod. Peterson uses no filler, but prefers to friction-fit, setting the eyes into very snug, carefully drilled holes, the lack of filler ensuring a perfect finish when the carving is to be left natural or stained."
"Other books have the same information and a lot more would not waste to much on this it is repetative in copied from other J D Sprankle books."
Best Woodworking Projects
One Man's Wilderness, written by Sam Keith from the journals of Proenneke, is a re-released classic that first captivated readers twenty-six years ago. Though few will follow Proenneke's lead, his story can be quite inspiring.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Read how Richard Proenneke built his cabin by hand and thrived (mostly alone) in the bush. What This Book Is: - An important introduction to Richard Proenneke's story. - Heavily edited (I would even say rewritten). - A pleasant, easy read (goes great with the 2-part documentary that airs on PBS). - Easy to get your hands on very quickly. What This Book Is Not: - Richard Proenneke's authentic journals, in his OWN words. - Proenneke's story told in his own voice. I was captivated after watching the 2-part PBS documentary, "Alone in the Wilderness". Bottom Line: - I would rate this book ("One Man's Wilderness") 3.5 stars if I could. - I would rate "The Early Years" 5 stars, hands down. - I recommend this book as an easier, quicker read."
"I have been to Alaska and my family made memories we will tell for the rest of our lives, the desire to go back and explore more is a fire that's been fully ignited."
"I was telling my husband about this book as I started reading it. There is nothing dull about this book and I suspect the people who find it dull haven't any interest in living in the wilderness without Blackberries, i-pods, automobiles and restaurants."
"I've read it a couple of times."
"Not because it has a sad ending, I was just sad to no longer share in the adventure."
"What a fun read."
"Dick could fabricate or make virtually everything he needed...pots and pans out of gas can tins, forks and spoons out of stump wood, tables, chairs, bunk beds, even wooden hinges!"
"If you have never traveled to remote Alaska, you will want to after reading his book."
Best Woodworking Furniture & Carpentry
Superbly detailed, this step-by-step guide walks readers through the stages of planning, design, construction and installation. Danny Proulx opened his own custom kitchen-remodeling shop, Rideau Cabinets, in 1989.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I've been buying books on kitchen cabinet construction in anticipation of building some cabinets for my house. Looking past the style and materials, there are nice pictures of the construction process he uses, dimensions and decent information to build this style of cabinet. I think a good book on kitchen cabinet construction should cover different materials and construction techniques for building the cases, the pros/cons of each and the tools required for different approaches."
"which is the basic material for European style cabinets and this method also saves you a good deal of money over laminated hardwood faced plywood cabinets The melamine coating is also easy to clean and very strong, and the use of hidden hinges and adjustable legs make for easy installation, a time saving feature."
"This book is ok, but it's mostly aimed at someone wanting to build cabinet carcasses from melamine covered particle board and screwed corner joints."
"Cabinetmakers thinking of using this info commercially would benefit more from avoiding that race to the bottom with poor materials and cheap construction."
"There is some good information in the book but it was not worth the price for me."
"Basically, this book presents anatomy of standard, out of mill, unimaginative kitchen cabinets."
"If you really want to read something written by a pro, and with much better techniques (and results) I'd suggest you buy Building Kitchen Cabinets by Udo Schmidt."