Reddit reviews Woodworking Basics - Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship - An Integrated Approach With Hand and Power tools

This is a good start. Woodworking is one of those things where there is so much information our there that it can be hard to process it all and find what is applicable to your situation.

Desks and shelves are totally fine to start with! Just draw up your plans and get started, you'll start finding out what you need to know. For example, on both, you'll have to learn how to flatten and square your lumber on the jointer and planer, or using hand planes, and for a desk, you'll need to edge glue some lumber together to form a panel. Just jump in & start asking questions, you'll get a lot more out of having a specific problem that needs solving and therefore having a specific question to ask than all of this vague "where should I start" kind of stuff. You start by starting. That being said, I got a lot out of these books when I started:

https://www.amazon.com/Woodworking-Basics-Essentials-Craftsmanship-Integrated/dp/156158620X

https://www.amazon.com/Tage-Teaches-Woodworking-Step-Step/dp/1561588261

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Solutions-Strategies-Essentials-Woodworking/dp/1561583448

This third one I linked was especially helpful. I liked it because it discusses things in terms of general considerations, like here are the various ways you can attach a tabletop to a base and allow for wood movement, here are the space considerations in designing a table so everyone has enough elbow room, and therefore gets in you the mindset of thinking things through and drawing your own plans.

Start with this book: [Woodworking Basics - Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship] (http://www.amazon.com/Woodworking-Basics-Essentials-Craftsmanship-Integrated/dp/156158620X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398568760&sr=8-2&keywords=beginner%27s+woodworking) and read it cover to cover. Learning about the properties of wood is a good start. It will prevent common mistakes such as using the wood in a weak (cross grain) direction for structural components.

Once you've made a few tables and bookshelves, make some of the joints in this book: [Handbook of Joinery] (http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Joinery-Woodworking-Pierre-Home-Douglas/dp/080949941X/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1398568624&sr=8-13&keywords=time+life+books+woodworking)

Point well taken. I'm in a somewhat similar situation.

Since I'm enrolled in another supervised shop class, I will have a place (once a week) to work on real benches. My plan was to work on cheap wood and get some basic joints down, then tackle the bench project in Basic Woodworking. This is a small bench with mortise and tenon, wedged mortise and tenon, and dovetail joints. If that comes out alright I think I'll feel comfortable to move ahead with making my own bench.

Try Woodworking Basics, which is basically a brief course in a book or Small Projects which are all handtool projects ranging from simple to advanced.

A.) why are they dropping this on you?
B.) Safety! Safety! Safety! Before you do anything, you need to brush up on safety in both a shop setting and when it comes to tools. Both Hand and Power.
C.) Boxes. Learn how to make boxes. 95% of all woodworking is making a box. Picture Frame??? It's a box without a top or bottom. Dresser??? A box with smaller boxes in it. Well, maybe not 95% but learning to make a box is a pretty good step in being able to take different projects.
D.) Safety
E.) Do you know what kind of tools you will have access too, space to work, how much time these kids are going to have?


You may check out the following Youtube Channels:

• Stumpy Nub
  
• Woodworking for Mere Mortals
  
• Paul Sellers
  
  Some books that might be handy as well:
  
  
• Woodworking Basics - Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship - An Integrated Approach With Hand and Power tools
  
• The Complete Manual of Woodworking: A Detailed Guide to Design, Techniques, and Tools for the Beginner and Expert
  
• The Joint Book: The Complete Guide to Wood Joinery
  
• One-Board Woodworking Projects
  
• The Big Book of Weekend Woodworking Projects

You'll probably mess up (from what I've heard, everyone does), so just plan on trying again right away :)

I decided I wanted to learn, and I figured trying it was the only way to get there. It was a little intimidating at first, but I just accepted that I would make mistakes, and took it slow. For these, I followed the steps in [this book] (http://amzn.com/156158620X) and a Paul Sellers video.

I messed up by following the book literally, and only made the dovetails 5/8" deep, but the finished poplar I used was 3/4". So, I just buried my frustration, extended the lines, and cut/chiseled another 1/8".

I bought this book on a recommendation from a blog that I read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156158620X/ref=oh_details_o00_s02_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

YouTube is a great place to learn just about anything.

Agree wholeheartedly with u/Joyrenee22. Woodworking for Mere Mortals is a must.

Also check out King's Fine Woodworking. He and his daughters have some great videos including a free woodworking course that just started. I don't know how many videos there are yet but the first few have been about shop tools, what they do, how to use them, tips/tricks, etc.

A few more good channels: Crafted Workshop, Jon Peters, The Wood Whisperer, Jays Custom Creations, and April Wilkerson. There are a ton more but I can't think of anymore off the top of my head.

Don't underestimate books for learning woodworking. My wife got me a few last Christmas that I've really enjoyed.

Woodworking Basics - Peter Korn

Good Clean Fun - Nick Offerman (bonus, this book is full of light hearted humor)

Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking. This is technically three books and a DVD. They're thick and dense (content wise) so this may not be the funnest to run through. Some of the illustrations in the book aren't that great either.

Good luck!

Here's one.

And another.

I could suggest a few tools, but this one might be an even better tool for him especially if he's just getting into it.

For me, it's been as much of a challenge as any joinery so far. I used this book extensively. Great step-by-step instructions using hand tools or power tools or both!