Whats your Top 3-5 UK WoodWorking Books?

[joez71]

Hi All,

Working fulltime and being way too old for an appreniceship I tend to get all my knowledge from books/dvds. To date pretty much all of them have be sourced from US sources (I am in Australia).

I really want to broaden my knowledge base so I was hoping other formites might be able to recommend some good books for me to read. My interests are in period furniture rather than more contemporary works.

So what are your top 3-5 books? Thanks in advance...

joez

 

[marcus]

The Technique of Furniture Making - by Ernest Joyce. Almost all you'll ever need.

 

[AndyT]

Books by Charles Hayward are indispensable for hand techniques, IMHO. Especially good is Woodwork Joints - it doesn't just show you a diagram, it steps through measurement, layout and then cutting. You might also like his English Period Furniture - a historical survey covering how stuff was made, not just what it looked like. Tools for Woodwork is good too.

Some of these have been noticed by US authors and bloggers so secondhand prices are edging up, but they are all fairly easy to find.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Almost anything from the Lost Art Press shelves, almost anything by Robert Wearing (especially 'The Essential Woodworker' and 'The Resourceful Woodwoker'), anything by Alan Peters (Cabinetmaking; The Professional Approach). Also 'Modern Cabinet Work' by Wells and Hooper (the 1922 3rd edition is reckoned the best, and has recently been republished. Later editions became very production orientated.) The works of V.J.Taylor may be worth seeking out as well; for example, 'Construction of Period Country Furniture'.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

+1 for Wearing and Joyce.

 

[custard]

David Charlesworth's trilogy of books is the best collection of English language woodworking articles that has ever been written.

Unfortunately "the best" isn't the same thing as "perfect", and it suffers from being an anthology of re-printed magazine articles. But if you're prepared to invest the time to follow a theme across several articles and volumes, then you'll be rewarded with a rock solid education.

 

[DIY Stew]

The Technique of Furniture Making - by Ernest Joyce. Almost all you'll ever need.

+1

Stew

 

[Racers]

Hi,

The Technique of Furniture Making - by Ernest Joyce.
The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking by James Krenov
Japinese Woodworking Tools (Their Tradition Sprit and Use) Toshio Odate

They will expand your mind if read in that order!

David Charlsworth books are very good.

Just beware of all the woodworking books that are half full of tool discriptions and pictures and a few crappy projects.

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Joyce yes.
This is marvellous http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21531/21 ... 1531-h.htm
Paul Sellers's is far and away the best beginner's book http://paulsellers.com/working-wood/ and is a breath of fresh air in many ways - almost inspired - he kicks off with free shapes done with spokeshave etc - really gets you hands on with wood; no obsessing about tool fettling, bevel angles, flatness and similar ballox.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Jacob

You seem to have a schoolboy crush on that Sellers chap :shock:

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Hi, Jacob

You seem to have a schoolboy crush on that Sellers chap :shock:

Pete

Not at all. Just being realisitic. His designs are crarp (except for his brilliant but completely ordinary bench) but his techniques, approach to teaching, "philosophy" (real woodworking?) are good IMHO.
Tell you what though - unlike almost everybody else I certainly don't have a crush on Krenov, Wearing, Charlesworth!
Some of Wearing's stuff is just plain wrong (having just had a quick browse). Krenov is a dead end (no pun intended!)

 

[Argus]

.

For the occasional chairmaker and a very thoughtful read, John Brown's only book, "Welsh Stick Chairs" .

Salaman's Dictionary of Tools.

"Oak Furniture - The British Tradition" by Victor Chinnery

.

 

[joez71]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations, I have just ordered a couple more books for my library


joez

 

[Eric The Viking]

+1 for Joyce (mine's the Alan Peters edition).

One that was serendipity was:
"Illustrated Cabinetmaking, How to design and construct furniture that works"
Bill Hylton, Pub. American Woodworker (Fox Chapel) ISBN: 978-1-56523-369-0
I can't remember why I bought it - I think it was cheap! Anyway, it's got lots of classic designs de-constructed and explained very nicely and is an ideal companion to Joyce, as it offers a slightly different take on things.
I think I got it in an Axminster book sale but they don't seem to stock it any more :-(.

In a completely different vein, Axy do stock "Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets" by Jim Tolpin. It's all about face frame construction, obviously by someone who's built a business up over a lifetime. The big thing for me was his explanation of story sticks (please don't snigger, Jacob!), which previously I just couldn't get my head around. We don't do things that way roun'ere in Youropp, thanks to Blum, but never mind, I really like his style of writing and I learned a lot that applies to all sorts of other built-in stuff, etc.

Have fun. My single "Desert Island" choice would probably be Illustrated Cabinetmaking, as it's a slightly easier read than my edition of Joyce (albeit with a lot less detail), and the illustrations are brilliant.

E.

PS: "Rodale's Illustrated Cabinetmaking" (an earlier edition, I think) is on Scribd, but you really want a printed version, I think, unless you've got a tablet to view it on.

 

[bugbear]

"The Junior Woodworker", Charles Hayward. An exemplar of distilled knowledge, expressed in straightforward language.

BugBear

 

[TheDudester]

Here are my recommendations in no particular order.

• a) +1 The Technique of Furniture Making by Ernest Joyce

• b) Woodworking with the Router by Bill Hylton & Fred Matlack - the most comprehensive router book I have come across

• c) Furniture by Fine Woodworking - a variety of different pieces with detailed diagrams and explanation of design techniques.

• d) Any of the four books by James Krenov. I own 3 out of the 4; A Cabinetmaker's Notebook; The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking; and The Impractical Cabinetmaker. I would like to obtain the 4th, Worker in Wood but haven't been able to track down a copy. It is hard to describe the impact these books have had.

D.

 

[LynnJ]

Dudester

There are 6 copies of "Worker in Wood" for sale on Amazon ranging in price from £46 to £1456!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0442263368/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[Ollie78]

Joyce is the best one, second is Tage Frid (well that`s actually 3 books) But I also recommend The complete Japanese Joinery (Hartley and Marks) Just for its mind blowing variety of joints . Its quite inspiring and also slightly demoralising when you realize how much more there is to learn.

Ollie