Please help me spend a little book money

[Doyle Alley]

I've got to use a couple of gift certificates to one of the big box book retailers (don't remember which one offhand but I think it is B&N). I'd like to use them for woodworking books and I'm looking for recommendations. I need knowledge in lots of areas, but I was primarily thinking about:

Finishing
Tool setup and adjustment
Wood identification and properties
Hand tool (planes) setup and usage

If anyone has any favorites, I'd appreciate hearing about them.

[Mark Pruitt]

Finishing: Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner

Tool setup and adjustment: anything by Mark Duginskie

Wood identification and properties: Understanding Wood by Bruce Hoadley (a "heady" book by my standards but considered a definitive work)

Hand tool (planes) setup and usage::confused: I'm blanking on that at the moment

[Brian Hale]

Any (or all) of "The Complete Illustrated Guide To ..........." By Taunton Press. These are the big hardcover books and there are several in the series such as Joinery, Furniture and Cabinet Construction, etc.

Brian :)

[Steve Beadle]

For a great book on handplanes, get Garrett Hack's book. The exact title escapes me at the moment.

[Loren Hedahl]

I look at my collection of a few yacht interior books more than any for inspiration. Bingham and Mate' are two authors that have a number of books on yacht interiors and construction.

I also bought a book awhile back at a Japanese store on Japanese bathrooms. Don't laugh - - this is an architectual grade book with lots of pictures and diagrams that shows some interesting concepts of design that you wouldn't see in this country.

Loren Hedahl

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Hand tool (planes) setup and usage::confused: I'm blanking on that at the moment

Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic Woodworking Tools by Michael Dunbar

[Doyle Alley]

Thanks guys. If anybody else has an opinion, I'm still open. I plan on ordering this weekend (sometime after I find those blasted gift cards that I've misplaced).

[Danny Buie]

I would recommend Norm Vandal's Queen Anne Furniture. This not one of your topics but it is a great project book for the skills you are attemping to devolop. All the original Queen Anne furniture was built using hand tools. It will certainlly give you something to aspire to.

[tod evans]

doyle, no help on titles but a suggestion.....buy books that are geared toward where you want to be, not where you are...02 tod

[Doyle Alley]

doyle, no help on titles but a suggestion.....buy books that are geared toward where you want to be, not where you are...02 tod

Excellent tip Tod. Actually, this is what I'm trying to do. To date, my highest level of finish is multiple coats of Minwax Tungoil (good stuff by the way - hard to screw up). My attempts at machine alignment have been limited to getting under my saw to re-adjust the bevel limiter stop. There is an awful lot of really basic stuff that I need to make sure I get right before I try to take it to the next level.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I like John White's book "Care and Repair of Shop Machines". His home made jigs do everything that the fancy ones do and more. First, they save you enough bucks to buy some small tools. The jigs are great and simple to make. The drawings and pictures a very good. This is one of the most reccomended books on web sites. ( I wish I had $10 for every time I have reccomended this book- I could buy a new 8" jointer and still have some left over.)

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Great Wood Finishes : A Step-by-Step Guide to Beautiful Results by Jeff Jewitt

Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner

I would recommend both. I would not recommend the Flexner title alone. It is a great techincal book that will help you understand why you are using a certain finish, but it does not detail application like the Jewitt book.

[Chet Parks]

I stumbled accross "The Woodworker's Problem Solver" at Barnes & Noble last year. It's edited by Tom O'Malley and published by Reader's Digest. It has no plans, but is an assembly of solutions to problems encountered in woodworking. It is the most useful and most often consulted book I have.

See: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076210225X/sr=8-1/qid=1148211063/ref=sr_1_1/103-9259571-3173406?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Chet Parks

[Pete Harbin]

Doyle,

The "Understanding Wood" by Bruce Hoadley is recommended by every instructor in Santa Fe's Fine Woodworking program. I took the half semester class "Characteristics of Wood" and this was the text. Our instructor had his first edition copy, and said that he refers to it still.

It's a lot of info, but will really educate you on the properties of wood and how they apply to a woodworker.

Pete

[Russ Massery]

I can only comment on one book. But I can highly recommend Jeff Jewett's "Great Wood Finishes"

[Jerry Olexa]

Garret Hack's book on planes is great as is any book by Jeff Jewitt on finishing or Flexner for that matter. The Taunton books IMHO are usually some of the best on any WW subject...

[Michael Fross]

For a great book on handplanes, get Garrett Hack's book. The exact title escapes me at the moment.
"The Handplane Book" (Amazon LINK (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1561587125/sr=8-1/qid=1148327349/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-5932768-3191132?%5Fencoding=UTF8)) is the name.

[Brent Smith]

Machine set up...John White's book or a new one by David Thiel "Power Tool Maintenance".
Handplanes....Taunton's "Handplanes in the Workshop" or either of David Charlesworth's books.

Brent