reference books

[Terry Vacha]

I am new to woodworking and have only been at this on and off for about a year and a half. I have a table saw, router and table, and drill press and some hand power tools, workmate, etc. Please give me some suggestions for reference material to help with tool upkeep, useful jigs, table saw, router, drill press techniques, fittings and tools available, sources of plans, and sources of reasonably priced supplies. In other words, general things that I should know.

I've been to Borders and seen the scores of books there. I was wondering if you folks have some favorite reference materials and favorite websites. Most of you probably are well beyond the stage I'm at, but if you can think of some preferred references, please pass them along.

Terry

[George]

Used it for years.

's John Fierer's _Furniture and Cabinetmaking_ , a bit dated in the pictures, but up-to-date in processes.

Then there's

's _Encyclopedia of Furniture Making _ .

After that, go with books specific to the tool or project type, or tape Norm.

[Never Enough Money]

Do a search in this group. You question is common and it's been answered several times in the last year......

[J T]

Wed, Jan 12, 2005, 7:06am [e-mail] (Terry=A0Vacha) burbled: if you can think of some preferred references, please pass them along.

What is it, people today, get out of school and forget how to read?

Library, library, library. Then check your local library.

JOAT Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.

- =A0Dale Carnegie

[Andy Dingley]

But which book should I look for ?

Secondly, some libraries are better than others. There are several woodworking books on my own shelves that I first read in one small but well-stocked library (Carrickfergus, where my ex-wife lives) and then had to buy my own copy because I've no chance of seeing them in my own local libraries, despite living in a large city.

[patrick conroy]

Grab the new Fine Woodworking. I believe there's a section in there with a score of books deteremined to be "must reads" for woodworkers by their staff.

[J T]

Wed, Jan 12, 2005, 4:49pm (EST+5) [e-mail] (Andy=A0Dingley) mumbles: But which book should I look for ? Secondly, some libraries are better than others. There are several woodworking books on my own shelves that I first read in one small but well-stocked library (Carrickfergus, where my ex-wife lives) and then had to buy my own copy because I've no chance of seeing them in my own local libraries, despite living in a large city.

Duh. Ya looks for all fhem.

Then you goes out and buys copies of the ones you likes.

JOAT Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.

- =A0Dale Carnegie

[Dave Jackson]

(snip) Grab the new Fine Woodworking. I believe there's a section in there with a

I'll second that. Also, I really liked Lonnie Bird's "Shaping Wood". I got this book for christmas. Although i've been a woodworker for quite a while now, i still found some interesting things in the book. If i were new to wood working, the book would have broadened my horizons greatly. IMO, as a newbie, the book will give you some good ideas and techniques. From there, you may want to pick up some other books more focused on the types of projects you are interested in creating, like shaker, mission, etc.. --dave

[patrick conroy]

What it is - is libraries are becoming as rare as 12/4 walnut... Attend any growing communities Zoning / Planning meetings and you'll see Recreation Centers high on their to-do list and libraries low.

I grew up in "pretty rural" Wisconsin and still had 4 excellent, albeit small, libraries within 15 minutes. Our town of 1400 people had an excellent one.

Times are changing.

[Larry Blanchard]

If they're changing that much, I'm glad I'm an old man.

We just had a local dogfight as to whether the newly incorporated city (by, of, and for developers) would pay for the pre-existing library services. If not, those services would shut down. There was a considerable public outcry and the city caved - our libraries are safe, at least in the near future.

[d.kessell]

First--learn how to use the card file (most libraries today have their card file on computer: type in a category, it spits back a list of books on hand).

Second--ask a librarian: they can point you in the right direction for the category of book/Dewey decimal number/etc.

Third--DAGS this group for "books", or some such search. You'll find a wealth of suggestions.

Dan

[George]

Midwest benefited a bunch from the largess of Andrew Carnegie. Think folks then were as ungrateful, demanding even more from "the rich" as they do now?

[Charlie Self]

George responds:

Dunno what anyone demands from the rich. Most of the very few really rich people I've known were quite generous, though. To their own families. Carnegie was a notable exception, and as a child--not in the midwest--I benefited largely from his largesse in libraries in New York.

As far as libraries go, Bedford County over the past five years has built about five if we include the over-priced remodel of the in-town main branch. Actually, they were all over-priced because someone with delusions of grandeur decided they should resemble Jefferson's Monticello. Floor to ceiling windows, domes, etc.

They did the building job so well it was four years before they could afford to fully stock the units with books and videos and CDs. All of this is most definitely not from the wealthy pocketbooks around here, or at least not at a higher percentage than is taken from any property owner's wallet. Taxes and bonds.

Charlie Self "One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected." George W. Bush

[Bob G.]

================ Guess the times are in fact changing.... Like you I frequented the local Libraries when I was young....

However I am now in my 60's ...retired...and I read on average about 2 to 3 books each week... . The clerks at the local bookstores and used book stores know me my name...but I could not even tell you the last time I walked into a Library...

Think I'll wander down to the local Library some day this week...who knows the librarian my be cute... lol

Bob Griffiths

[gregg]

I recommend "The Complete Woodworker" edited by Jones. Written around the turn of the 20th century (~1900) but there's a great deal of information on woodworking lore, joints etc.

Libraries are good. Certainly a good idea to go there first to see what they have before you spend money on books.

I was at mine yesterday to get a couple books Charlie Self recommended in another thread. Two routah books - Warner and Reed. They were there. There was one Krenov book. No Tage Frid.

Ours is a small town library. So there's no way they can keep up with new books let alone hold all the old good ones. However they do have an internet scheme that allows yuo to search for books in other libraries in the areas, and have them delivered to the local library. This is a great thing.

That makes libraries more of a temp book shelf than a long term holding place.

[patrick conroy]

True. One library wore his name. 'Course, Wisconsin ain't cheap when it comes to taxes. But we had great roads, libraries, good schools...

I've got young'uns and am dealing with school issues my parents never dreamed about.

[Nate Perkins]

"Terry Vacha" wrote in news:YeGdnQxVn [e-mail]:

The best single overall book I can recommend is "Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking vols 1 and 2" (paperback edition).

For Father's Day, my kids renew my subscription to the woodworking magazine of my choice (personally, I like Fine Woodworking; Wood and Popular Woodworking are also pretty good). For jigs and beginning techniques, Woodsmith is useful.

As JOAT says, an afternoon at the local library is cheap.

[Nate Perkins]

"George" wrote in news:41e668fe [e-mail]:

...

Or, to look at the flip side: How do you think that Carnegie would regard "the rich" of today ... how do they measure up to his philosophies?

"There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else. Money can only be the useful drudge of things immesurably higher than itself." - A. Carnegie

[Andy Dingley]

Many of them still have similar philanthropic goals - even Bill Gates.

Carnegie wasn't rich, he was super-duper-rich. Don't judge the behaviour of the _really_ rich by that of some bling-merchant with a paltry few million freshly acquired.

[Nate Perkins]

Andy Dingley wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Yes, I agree that Gates is an exception in this respect.

Carnegie had remarkable philanthopic and social philosophies that were expressed very politically. Today in America it is not vogue to have a such a viewpoint, and if Carnegie were alive today he would not be on the winning political side.