The Worst book in my collection.

[graduate_owner]

Hi everyone,
I have just read a forum entry from someone in Oz asking for peoples' top 10 books on furniture making. Well I don't have any suggestions for him, but it prompted me to start a new thread on the WORST book I have. It is entitled:

'Ingenious Shop Aids and Jigs'

I had better not give more details such as author or publisher as I don't want to get anyone in the Forum into trouble, but if you get the chance to buy this (even at a big discount as I had) then save your money.

It is set out in alphabetical order, with a really helpful!! photo beside each tip. So, for example, when we are told to make use of a rainy day by sorting out those tins of mixed up bolts, screws etc, we get a photo of a bowl with screws in!!
And the tip about removing sticky labels residues using WD40 is included twice (yep - there's a pic of a can of WD40 in each case).

There are some really useful tips in there, but you have to search for them as they are way outnumbered by the dross (very well known, blatantly obvious or downright banal as in sorting out screws).

I find it really annoying when publishers brag up their offerings, and when you get them through the mail you find they are such poor quality.

K

 

[custard]

Great post!

Many of the Fine Woodworking volumes disappoint. Lots of luscious photographs but precious little useable content.

Do we really need yet another article on building a router table...especially when so much of woodworking is still inadequately documented? I'd like to learn more about making drawer pulls or water gilding or the finer points of vacuum veneering. But you have to wade through an awful lot of rubbish before you find useful books on lesser visited aspects of the craft.

My wife works in publishing and no doubt would tell me that's what the market wants...but sometimes the market can be plain wrong!

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Ok this is the exact opposite of the thread but custard said he would like a good book on water gilding. You wont go far wrong with
'Practical Gilding by Peter Mactaggart and Ann Mactaggart' No photos, lots of line drawings and very good explanations, I have used it as a guide for twenty years and now consider myself to be a fairly competent gilder thanks largely to this book.