I am looking for a book to get me through a Buffalo winter. Not a project or how to book. I'd like something to provide inspiration. If you have a favorite book from one of the masters I'd like to know about it. Thanks.
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Member
I am looking for a book to get me through a Buffalo winter. Not a project or how to book. I'd like something to provide inspiration. If you have a favorite book from one of the masters I'd like to know about it. Thanks.
Contributor
I love tools and I have recently re-read the Anarchist Tool Chest. I really enjoy Chris's through and interesting discussions of essential hand tools.
As for inspiration, I've been looking through Greene & Greene Furniture: Poems of Wood & Light. If you like G&G, the pictures are fantastic and, to me, very inspirational.
Best of luck. Our Chicago winters may not be at the level of a Buffalo winter, but a good book certainly helps me.
Michael
Last edited by Michael Fross; 01-24-2019 at 6:58 PM.
Member
As bitterly as I complain about the typos and the pedestrian micro-typography, Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley is a wonderful, inspiring book.
There's an excerpt up on the product page (which shows one of the errors which I find most egregious, the duplication of a photo of flat pliers, rather than the pair of jeweler's pliers which should be depicted --- does anyone know of a good photo of those in any of the photos which have been shared?) which should give you a good idea of it.
Contributor
Groundhog day is coming up soon.
Member
An inspiration for me was the "Grove Park Inn - Arts and Crafts Furniture", by Bruce E. Johnson. It's a Popluar Woodworking publication. It's got it all...history, intrigue and very nice pictures of beautiful furniture! 😁 Seriously though, I thought I appreciated historical woodworking but until I read this book I had a limited concept of the depth of the subject and the influence on society of the woodworkers that plied their craft in the past. It won't take all winter to read (170 pages or so) but it is an enjoyable read!
Contributor
I found James Krenov's "A Cabinetmaker's Notebook" inspiring.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Tolstoy's " War and Peace" will take two Buffalo winters to read.
Member
Second vote for "A Cabinetmaker's Notebook". Other inspiring options are works by Sam Maloof or Nakamichi.
Member
Not a book, although it could be, I've been working my way through Paul Sellers Blog: https://paulsellers.com/woodworking-...-sellers-blog/ starting on page 222. If you read it, be sure and at least skim through the "Comments" as there's a lot of info in them as well. Keep in mind that I'm a lifetime wood machinist, new to hand tool woodworking, so others might not get as much out of it as I have.
Jim
Moderator
A Splintered History of Wood.
Contributor
"The Intelligent Hand" by David Savage.
"The Soul of a Tree" by George Nakashima
"A Cabinetmaker's Notebook" by James Krenov
"Sam Maloof, Woodworker" by Sam Maloof
"Why we make things and why it matters: The education of a craftsman" by Peter Korn
All highly recommended.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, by Simon Winchester
Not woodworking but utterly fascinating, nonetheless.
Member
"The Woodworker: The Charles Hayward Years". Secrets of the ancients! Buy all four volumes! Available from Lost Art Press, https://lostartpress.com/products/th...ears-vols-i-ivOriginally Posted by James Spillman
In between, read "Infinite Jest", by David Foster Wallace. That should shake out any chuckles you have stuck inside you. It's very long and thorough. Yes, chuckles are like sawdust, they can be collected.
Contributor
I really like "By Hand and Eye" by Tolpin and Walker.
If you are a fly fisherman then "The River Why".
Contributor
This is def the best list of recommendations by far. I'm sure this is mentioned a lot but what really got me down this rabbit hole of woodworking what #3 on Derek's list. James Krenov "A Cabinetmaker's Notebook" is my favorite all time woodworking book. He romanticizes this trade in a way that is hard for me to put into words although he does it perfectly. After reading this book I searched out all his other books and love those as well. They are not how to books in any way and I don't particularly want to read how to woodworking books.
The only one I might add to this list is Mike Pekovich's book "The Why and How of Woodworking." That is what I'm currently reading right now and he has done a wonderful job with it. I'm a big fan of his writings and his woodworking. I don't necessarily love his style of furniture, although he does have some pieces I'd like to build off of, but his methods are perfect. He has a wonderful mind and teaches his methods in extremely easy to understand steps.
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