The Joint Book: The Complete Guide to Wood Joinery

• The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery
• Woodworking the Right Technique: Three Practical Ways to Do Every Job-and How to Choose the One That's Right for You (Reader's Digest Woodworking)
• The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction
• The Complete Japanese Joinery
• Woodworking Basics: Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship

An introductory section details the factors that determine proper joint selection, including the characteristics of various types of woods, joints and adhesives. It then breaks down basic joints into five chapters featuring complete instructions for crafting:

Edge and scarf joints Lapped and housed joints Mortise and tenon joints Mitres and bevels Dovetails

This guide also includes a quick-reference Joint Selector guide, and instructions for working with hand tools as well as power tools to achieve each type of joint.

This is an example of the "if you are going to have one book on.", then get this one. If you just want to find a way to put two boards together for a project - look no further. Very thorough treatment of joinery without laboriously going into too much detail.

What a great book. Glad I bought it. Highly detailed yet to the point. Great photos and descriptions.

This is a great little (small in size) reference book for nearly every type of joint you will ever need (and some you never will). It should hold up to years of shop abuse as it is spiral bound with a durable cover. No fluff, just reference, instruction and pictures.

A very nice book. Since the book is ring bound it will lay flat making it easy to consult while wood working.I agree with the other reviews that this is a five star book. Shows you all kinds of joinery and when to use them and how to make them.I am very pleased with this book. The book is small but easy to read and has clear diagrams.

This section makes it easy to visually identify a particular joinery type and then get more info on how to create it, etc.Also has nice sections on common joinery tools (squares, clamps, etc)., how to select the proper joinery for a particular project, how to properly glue and clamp a joint -- including a comparison chart explaining the different types of wood glues, a discussion of various hardware used in some joinery types, a glossary of terms, and a thorough index. Many good illustrations and photos. Reinforced spiral binding allows book to lie flat for easy reference on workbench, etc. A great little reference book for any woodworker. Joint Selector section at back of book shows thumbnail illustrations of all joints in the book, with corresponding page numbers to the detailed instructions.