Bob Wearing book

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Jacob

Pint of bass, porkpie, and packet of crisps please
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Just been reading "The Essential Woodworker" by Wearing. This book is widely recommended as a classic must have.
I don't rate it myself. The basic idea is good - step by step instructions for making a simple item with legs, door, drawer, so covering most basics. But some very basic stuff he just gets wrong. Marking up being the worst. He has obviously never heard of "the rod" and has no idea.
His drawer details are also dodgy - derived from the Barnsley tradition as though never having looked at proper trad construction! Dovetails all "Barnsley" and that really naff drawer bottom detail with a screw into the back. The "tapered drawer" idea (you can't pull it all the way out as it gets too tight, so you can't accidentally drop it on your toes) seems insane. It'd work like a weather device - on humid days the drawers would only come out half way - on dry days they'd come right out! If you were lucky. Most likely just to be a PITA all the time.
I was quite surprised.
The more I read about the Cotswold school and it's effects the less I like it. Some very nice stuff was made - but more by accident than design IMHO. An eccentric closed world of tweedy, pipe smoking, very english chaps :roll:
 
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