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Want to use a hand plane to take off 0.001" to fit a tenon joint together. I rate this book 4 stars because it is a starting point for people who are working with wood. I also found that there are other ways to sharpen chisels and hand plane blades other than keeping the angle with your hand, as the author recommends. The author also proves that you don't need a lot of fancy power tools or jigs to be a woodworker. I found that this book gives a great starting point on hand tools.
Ever thing of drilling larger holes from both sides to avoid tear out. Want to use tools that help you avoid wood dust hypersensitivity pneumonitis and occupational asthma. One example is to use a try square and a hand plane to mill lumber. The book does not incorporate the latest techniques and improvements of hand tools. There are some techniques given here that are very important and applicable with using power tools as well.
Start using hand planes instead of sand paper. But is that really a bad thing when starting out. However, the author comes from a time when sharpening jigs were not around, so I cannot fault him for not mentioning the sharpening jig.
The illustrations are perfectly drawn. I checked this book out from the library and now it is on my Amazon wish list, hopefully Santa Clause will put a copy in my stocking this year. This book is like a users manual for just about every common woodworking tool you would find on your Grandpa's work bench. I also recomend Country Furniture by Aldren Watson, it's a really good read if you have an interest in American woodworking history and practical application of hand tools. The language is clear and the words are sparse, just the information you need, no fluff.
Watson knows how to teach. Even if you are experienced, you'll find good tips here. The hand drawn illustrations are marvelous, the descriptions of the tools & methods of using them are superb, the projects have practical value. This is a good example of a must have book for those working with hand tools.
Most of my other woodworking books that speak of tools only touch on how to sharpen and maybe adjust but not the how it does it and how it should perform. I have read some of the chapters two-three times now and get something more each time. I love this book. As an amateur woodworker, I don't fully understand what each tool can do yet dream of outcomes that the masters create. This book heads to the top of my stack to reach for when I need some tutoring on a particular hand tool. This book explains in simple terms the what, how and what should be for each tool, be it a hand plane, chisel, hammer, etc.
This, to me, is the reason working with handtools it is such a satisfying pastime, and this book wraps up all of those experiences in a really beautiful way. This is a beautiful book, the moment I read the first chapter I was wishing I'd bought the hard copy so I could put it in pride of place on my bookshelf.I loved the illustrations, which are on almost every page and give exactly the right amount of detail in a way that photos can't. But the best part is the author's wonderful writing style, which really conveyed a sense of the timeliness and pleasure of woodworking. Top marks. Even when describing such mundane things as taking measurements, the author has a great knack of focussing on the human aspect of the process, the decisions that need to be made and the emotions that the wrong and the right decision evoke.
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