Wood Books

[Michael Em]

Hi Everyone,

It's me again, the newbie. So far I've ordered Router Magic, Table Saw Magic and Wiring a Home. I'm looking for more good books. Can you recommend any good books for building things? I found some books by Taunton Press that all start with 'Complete Illustrated Guide to....'. Seems to be a ton of them too. Are these good books?

First and foremost, I want to learn how to build nice cabinetry and entertainment center type of stuff. That way I can first transform my cabinet-deprived garage into a nice work environment. :D

Thanks for any iguidance you may be able to provide.

Michael

[Scott Thornton]

A member posted a great site that has over 50% of Taunton Press books a few days ago, I'd check that site out and pick up some of the woodworking titles there.

[Corey Hallagan]

For cabinetry I would recommend 2 different authors,craftsman and styles. Danny Prolux's cabinetry books are great in my opinion and I also like Jim Toplin's book on building cabinetry. I don't have the name but go to amazon and I am sure they will be listed under the authors name. Hope this helps.

Corey

[John Shuk]

I find it helpful to go to Barnes & Noble or Borders and get a big cup of whatever and browse. It helps avoid buyers remorse later. Out in California you stand a really good chance of your local library having a great selection as well.

[Mike Cutler]

Michael.

The Taunton books are very good. They have lots of pictures and illustrations. They also have cut lists for projects. Sometimes though they leave out some subtle details, glue-up, and squaring methods for large cabinets, but they are good.

There also is a book on cabinetry for the shop, but the title escapes me.

This is a quick shot of some of the books I have.

I would reccomend the following from them;

Wood Joiners Handbook. Sam Allen. Detailed instuction on use, techniques and purpose of various joints. A lot of joints you may never use, but he covers all of the basics.

Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking. Tage Frid. Incredible, no nonsense series of books. Tons of pics, great ideas, and some of the more complicated woodworking techniques are broken down into their most simple basic elements. It's expensive though, but worth it. The DVD is kind of amateurish, but you get a clear idea from it. it's nice

Understanding Wood Finishes. Flexner. You need this book, 'nuff said

Jigs and fixtures Bible. De Cristoforo. ( Great book for good shop jig ideas). His chapter on building the "Master Tablesaw Jig" is worth the price of the book. Good book for the person on a budget. Nice solid, accurate repeatable jigs.

The rest are period books.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Michael, as has been pointed out the Taunton books are usually among the best. The site posted the other day was bookcloseouts.com. The prices were a fraction of retail.

There are so many books and many are pretty lousy (and not cheap) so I have started checking out books at the library to see what I want to have in my collection. I suggest you do the same. Librarys are a great resource that I hadn't taken advantage of for years.

Jake

[Mike Cutler]

Jake.

You can get some pretty good deals on the books at Amazon, half.com. and eBay if you have some time.

Our "Local" library is pretty thin on woodworking books. I'm envious of those that have that resource available.

I do the "sippin' and sittin' at the bookstore also.;)

[Matt Warfield]

Also, keep in mind that if your library doesn't have a particular book, most often they can obtain it for you through the inter-library loan program. One of the libraries in my area charges a buck for processing this as they're pretty small. Most that I've been to don't charge anything.

I'd steer clear of buying a book without flipping through the pages as there are some pretty poor examples out there.

Matt

[Michael Em]

Pft! I didnt' even think about going to the library. Our local library sucks, but I teach at Fresno State, and they have a pretty big library on campus. I will definitely check that out.

The local Borders is a huge store and sometimes they have a ton of books on a subject, and other times they don't. Very hit or miss which is odd, because that bookstore is really big. I will go there today and check out all the books you guys mentioned. I made another list (gee, I have a lot of woodworking lists going)...

Thanks again guys!
Michael

[Scott Vigder]

Once I decided last year to take up woodworking as a serious hobby, I joined the Woodworkers Book Club. My reference library has grown dramatically over the past year. They have a very liberal return policy if you do not like a book.