Best crafts & hobbies reference books according to redditors
We found 160 Reddit comments discussing the best crafts & hobbies reference books. We ranked the 53 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
7. Le Petit Baby Book (Baby Memory Book, Baby Journal, Baby Milestone Book)
5 mentions
Chronicle Books
If you move the decimal over. This is about 1,000 in books...
(If I had to pick a few for 100 bucks: encyclopedia of country living, survival medicine, wilderness medicine, ball preservation, art of fermentation, a few mushroom and foraging books.)
Medical:
Where there is no doctor
Where there is no dentist
Emergency War Surgery
The survival medicine handbook
Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine
Special Operations Medical Handbook
Food Production
Mini Farming
encyclopedia of country living
square foot gardening
Seed Saving
Storey’s Raising Rabbits
Meat Rabbits
Aquaponics Gardening: Step By Step
Storey’s Chicken Book
Storey Dairy Goat
Storey Meat Goat
Storey Ducks
Storey’s Bees
Beekeepers Bible
bio-integrated farm
soil and water engineering
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation
Food Preservation and Cooking
Steve Rinella’s Large Game Processing
Steve Rinella’s Small Game
Ball Home Preservation
Charcuterie
Root Cellaring
Art of Natural Cheesemaking
Mastering Artesian Cheese Making
American Farmstead Cheesemaking
Joe Beef: Surviving Apocalypse
Wild Fermentation
Art of Fermentation
Nose to Tail
Artisan Sourdough
Designing Great Beers
The Joy of Home Distilling
Foraging
Southeast Foraging
Boletes
Mushrooms of Carolinas
Mushrooms of Southeastern United States
Mushrooms of the Gulf Coast
Tech
farm and workshop Welding
ultimate guide: plumbing
ultimate guide: wiring
ultimate guide: home repair
off grid solar
Woodworking
Timberframe Construction
Basic Lathework
How to Run A Lathe
Backyard Foundry
Sand Casting
Practical Casting
The Complete Metalsmith
Gears and Cutting Gears
Hardening Tempering and Heat Treatment
Machinery’s Handbook
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic
Electronics For Inventors
Basic Science
Chemistry
Organic Chem
Understanding Basic Chemistry Through Problem Solving
Ham Radio
AARL Antenna Book
General Class Manual
Tech Class Manual
MISC
Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft
Contact!
Nuclear War Survival Skills
The Knowledge: How to rebuild civilization in the aftermath of a cataclysm
Hey! I can relate exactly to where your'e coming from. I, some years ago, decided I wanted to get into building synths. I ended up getting a job at a pedal company and have spent more time learning to build and repair pedals than synths. I don't work there anymore, but it gave me a lot of perspective into the field as we also made euro-rack modules.
First up: I don't want to scare you off from this, but just want to give you a realistic perspective so that you go into this knowing what you are getting into. Making synths is hard and it's expensive. As far as electronic projects go, making a synthesizer is up there on the list. I've repaired powerplant turbine controller circuitboards that were simpler than some of the synths I've owned. This isn't to say, "don't do it!" but, expect to learn a lot of fundamental and intermediate stuff before you ever have something like a fully-featured synth that you built in your hands.
It's also expensive. A cheap synth prototype is going to cost a couple hundred bucks, easy, while a more fully-featured prototype could cost into the thousands to produce, and that's just to build one working prototype. If you want to make a run of products you're going to need money up front, and not a small amount. So, just be prepared for that inevitability.
One final note is that my perspective is broad (digital and analog) but is rooted in analog electronics because that's where I started. This isn't the only path you can take to get to where you want to go but honestly in my opinion, even if you're going to go mostly digital later, you need to understand analog.
If you have never messed with electronics much before I highly recommend the Make: Electronics book. I'm a hands-on person and this was the most effective book I found that let me study electronics fundamentals the way I wanted to; by making stuff! No matter which direction you go on (digital, analog, hybrid, DSP, SID, etc) you're going to want to know how to pick the right resistor, or how to pop an LED into a circuit, and this book will teach you that.
Solid follow-up books from there are Make: More Electronics, Practical Electronics for Inventors, How To Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic, and The Art of Electronics. All of these books are good books that touch on different concepts you will find useful, so I encourage you to look through them and decide for yourself which of these interests you.
Around this same time, I'd encourage you to start getting into kits. Honestly, before you build anything synth, I'm going to recommend you build some pedals. Effects pedals are fun and rewarding to build without being too hard. Start with a distortion circuit and work your way up from there. Once you can build a delay pedal without freaking out, move on to euro-rack kits, or other synth kits. While you're building these kits, don't just build them, play with the circuits! Try swapping components where you think you can, or adding features. One of my first kits was a distortion pedal with a single knob, but by the time I was done tweaking on it it had five knobs and two toggle switches!
Once you're feeling somewhat comfortable with electronics, then you can dive into the holy grail of analog synth design: Make: Analog Synthesizers this amazing book was written by the brilliant Ray Wilson who recently passed away. His life's goal was to bring the art of building analog synths into the hands of anyone who wanted to learn, and there is no better place to receive his great wisdom than this book. You should also check out his website Music From Outer Space along the way, but the book covers so much more than his website.
If you make through most or all of those resources you are going to be well-equipped to take on a career in synth-building! I'm personally still on that last step (trying to find the time to tackle Make: Analog Synthesizers) but hope within the next year or two to get that under my belt and start diving in deep myself. It's been a fun journey of learning and discovery and I wouldn't trade the skills I've gained in electronics for much.
Hope this helps, good luck!
I've been taking woodworking classes from my local art center, and made these in my second class. The plans are from a Mid-Century Furniture book.
Here's how they look nested together.
Thanks for this info! I did some searching and found some more woodworking books. You can borrow up to 10 books at a time! All of these are free to borrow for Prime members!
(https://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Woodworking-Blending-Quality-Furniture-ebook/dp/B00HV0VNJY?_encoding=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=ku_mi_rw_edp)
Here's a few:
Mid-Century Modern: Interiors, Furniture, Design Details (Conran Octopus Interiors)
Making Midcentury Modern
Mid-Century Modern Furniture: Shop Drawings & Techniques for Making 29 Projects
Handcrafted Modern: At Home with Mid-century Designers
I'm new to hand tools after growing up building rough construction around a farm with power tools. So it's a challenge for me to translate my thoughts over to hand tools as well. I was recently in a hand tool workshop and asked the instructor if I could just go rip something on the table saw real quick then continue with cutting the joinery. I got a dissapointed head shake from the instructor followed by a quick lesson on ripping to the line with a sharp D8 and understanding that the ripped edge didn't need to be perfectly square for what we were doing.
With practice I'm getting better at thinking through how to accomplish tasks with hand tools, but it takes time. Every time I encounter a new mental block I learn a new way to overcome it.
If YouTube is your preferred way of digesting infromation check out Wood by Wright. If you like RWW you'll definitely like James Wright. And of course Paul Sellers and Frank Klaus are must watch material.
For me, my local library and the woodworking guild I'm a member at both have a ton of woodworking books.
There are tons of great detailed plans in them. I've been renting books then scanning the plans I'm most interested in to keep a little archive for myself.
Of the hand tool focused books I've gone through so far all of Christopher Schwarz's books are great (more books from his and his publishing company). I also really love The New Traditional Woodworker by Jim Tolpin. It's fantastic for shop project plans and also succinctly describing what tools are necessary/recommended in a hand tool shop. He simplifies things a bit more than Christopher Schwarz, which is actually kind of nice. His Toolbox Book is pretty fantastic as well for ideas and plans. After how much I've enjoyed these two books I'm definitely going to check out more of his stuff.
I also bought a book on making canoe paddles that describes how to make them with power tools, modern hand tools, or 3 simple hand tools in the Native American tradition. I'm definitely finding that the more specific the subject of the book the more detailed the instructions are.
I've been wanting to check out The Minimalist Woodworker and Tom Fidgen's books ASAP, but I have to wait until someone else returns them. Such is the downfall of relying on libraries.
But even when I'm reading books that seem focused on power tools it seems most of the plans in books basically just describe layouts and cuts and maybe suggest ways of making the cuts. With the detailed drawings and explanations you can really just use them as a guide then follow the steps with whatever tools you have. Ie. It will tell you to dovetail the sides of a box and show you a diagram. But you can cut them with a router, table saw, bandsaw, hand tools, cnc machine, or whatever else you can dream up. Most people that write plans understand that hobbyist woodworkers all own different tools and posses different skills. So they leave it open to making cuts however it works for you.
Honestly, even the hand tool based plans and videos were intimidating to me at first. I thought I would need every special chisel, joinery plane, marking tool, saw in every potential set up, etc. before I even got started. Then I went to a couple hand tool workshops and realized I could accomplish most things reasonably well with just a couple chisels, basic saws, and a plane or three. All the extra tools just increase efficiency, accuracy, and maybe give you the ability to make some shapes and designs that look nice, but aren't completely necessary. So it's up to you to adapt a plan to what tools you have available.
I highly recommend seeing if you have access to a source of free or cheap woodworking books near you. Then just look for books written by writers that have a hand tool focus. That way you'll have to do a little less mental conversion from power tool focused instructions over to hand tool use.
Also, for me it's actually nice to have physical copies of plans in front of me. That way I can really dissect the drawings and think them through at my own pace rather than constantly pausing, rewinding, and fast forwarding a video. This is especially helpful when you're having to think through and convert cuts to the tools and skills you posses.
This bench is a poor choice for hand tools--it more of a workbench for a homeowner who needs to organize maintenance supplies, or someone who primarily uses power tools
For hand tools, really want something more traditional. Something that weighs at least 300lbs. Something with tree-trunks for legs that won't rack or walk all over the room when you put some oomph behind a jointer plane. Something that doesn't have a bunch of crud hanging above your head that will fall on you when you are putting your muscle into something.
This DVD from Mike Siemsen walks you through how to build a workbench for very, very limited money--$150-175 is feasible. It's an English design that doesn't require vises for work holding.
This video series from Paul Sellers walks you through building a reasonable workbench with a very limited set of hand tools and inexpensive materials. This is also an under-$200 bench.
This book, and also this one by Chris Schwarz represent a deep dive into workbench design. The books include plans for ten or so different benches, all of which are excellent for hand tool work. I built my bench based on plans in the second book. Schwarz also has a blog which, if you go through past years, contains hundreds of posts on workbench design.
Workbenches don't have to be expensive. You can use 2x8s or 2x10s from the home center and limited tools to build them. The first two benches I linked come in at under $200. Schwarz's have a bit more of a range. In general, if you chose inexpensive lumber and hardware, your bench shouldn't cost more than a few hundred bucks.
One last thing: if you're doing it by hand, use a softwood. One of the stiffer/harder/heavier ones like Douglas-Fir or Southern Yellow Pine. Avoid the mystery SPF/whitewood. Not saying you can't make a hardwood bench completely by hand, but it's a lot more sweat, time, and money, and the bench doesn't really work any better once it's done.
I don't know what his lineup is like, so I can't comment on specific knives or sharpening tools, because he might have them already. But, I've discussed Cliff Stamp's work with him before, and Cliff himself has recommended this book very often:
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259
He obviously knows how to sharpen already, but he might still like a copy of this book just for reference, and since it's such an exhaustive guide to all things sharpening, he may find something new in it. The author, Leonard Lee, is extremely knowledgeable in the world of all things sharp, and is cited pretty often by people across multiple fields.
In fact, the first time I had heard of him was from a guy I worked with who sharpened surgical equipment. He literally sharpened things for a living, and he was incredible at it, but still kept a signed copy of this book in his office and spoke of Lee very very highly.
If you are lookin' to do some book learnin', I recommend "The Complete Guide To Sharpening", by Leonard Lee.
Most decent lumber yards should have a large selection of hardwoods and plywoods. Looking up Dallas Lumberyards I found Craddock Lumber that looks promising as well as Central Hardwoods.
Remember that lumber yards price by the board foot. You can find board foot calculators online, but in pricing lists you'll see something like 5/4 (pronounced five-quarter) lumber. That means that wood is 1.25" thick. Most lumber will need to be milled from the lumberyard (called roughsawn) so that 5/4 wood will probably wind up being around 4/4 (or 1" thick) after jointing and planing. If you don't have those tools some lumber yards will plane there for you.
I'd suggest checking out Hybrid Woodworking for an excellent crash course in merging hand tools with power tools to achieve excellent final results.
Others have recommended Steve Ramsey and he's a great resource. Matt Cremona is a pretty cool follow as well as Matt Estlea. April Wilkerson does some decent beginner projects that serve a utility around the home. And I highly recommend the Wood Whisperer (particularly his earlier projects) since he's very thorough and a great teacher.
Good luck!
Mike Siemsen has a DVD out called The Naked Woodworking that addresses starting with nothing and building out a Nicholson style bench. It's doable in a weekend (ish).
He also built a knockdown version
It all comes down to what you want to do as well. There's nothing wrong with buying a bench, though I've never met a Sjoberg bench I've liked.
If you are willing to put the time into building one, you'll be able to build the perfect bench for your needs, I'd pick up Chris Schwarz's second bench book. Actually I'd recommend that either way as it will give you a better understanding of what a bench should do for you.
Mine was the Encyclopedia of Furniture Making
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Furniture-Making-Ernest-Joyce/dp/0806971428
For that particular class, I believe the assigned reading was:
>* Wastelands - John Joseph Adams
I also took a class on dystopian literature, which included:
>* The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Others I could recommend:
>* Lost Horizon - James Hilton
This!
There is a book series called, 'The Workshop Practice Series', one of the editions is about tool and cutter sharpening. Highly recommended.
There are a lot of books out there for sharpening knives and woodworking tools. Not directly applicable to metal tooling, but they tend to have sections about the science and physics of cutting and edge geometry that are useful and relatively universal.
Machinery's handbook also has good sections on tool and cutter geometry.
Ill see if I can get you some direct links.
Edit:
Article on drill point geometry
Tool and cutter sharpening book
Machinery's handbook
Other sharpening books:
Razor Edge book of sharpening
complete guide to sharpening
Quick searches for variations on 'tool and cutter sharpening' pulls up a lot of other books that look useful.
Bill Bryson wrote a shorter version of his book that is aimed at kids. I did not read it, but I read his other work and it is fantastic, and the amazon reviews are very positive.
[A Really Short History of Nearly Everything](http://www.amazon.com/Really-Short-History-Nearly Everything/dp/0385738102/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1290524524&sr=1-1)
I would also recommend a simple children's encyclopedia like:
DK's First Encyclopedia
Scholastic Children's Encyclopedia
Although what I recommend is you get a nice little experiments book, and do experiments with him, that is simply the best and the most fun way to get a kid hooked on science. I suggest a chem kit, and you help him out and do experiments with him. Examples:
The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science
Theo Gray's Mad Science(WARNING:SERIOUSLY dangerous but really cool)
You can also look at this website and do experiments with him. I highly recommend this:
The Naked Scientists Kitchen Science
https://www.amazon.com/Workbench-Design-Book-Philosophy-Building/dp/1440310408
Very helpful to me
I'd also highly recommend Tage Frid teaches Woodworking. Vol 1 goes over joinery- it can get expensive for the first editions online, but libraries- especially ones in a college with a design program- might have a copy. I got mine for $2 used. Additionally this is a durable book that I keep in the toolbox for quick reference in the shop
I also have a PDF link for 'basic' Japanese timber framing techniques kickin' around, but it's definitely not simple, lol.
Well, /r/Workbenches/ of course!
Several books out there have a variety of workbench plans in them; this one is popular and has some not-as-fancy benches as well as some fancy ones: http://www.amazon.com/The-Workbench-Design-Book-Philosophy/dp/1440310408/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398431015&sr=8-2&keywords=schwarz+workbench
I picked this book up a while ago and it was really informative for a newbie woodworker like myself.
Here’s a great book for joinery. I use it constantly
Yes! That describes the feeling perfectly!
This book was chock full of forgotten words and terms for skills of bygone days. So enjoyable. Poultry breeds have some intriguing words as well--how could you not want to see what a Buff Orpington looked like, or a Speckled Sussex? a Dorking? Such fun. We bought four silver Appleyard ducklings last year, just because I loved the name, though they have turned out to be lovley ducks, as well :)
Futtock...snicker :)
Also consider getting (or borrowing) Chris Schwarz's two books on workbenches: The Workbench Design Book and Workbenches: From Design and Theory to Construction and Use
My favorite is probably The Forgotten Arts and Crafts by John Seymore. It's a cross between a how-to guide and a history of various crafts which have largely been replaced by mass production, so it may be more of a book on historical arts and crafts than a book about the history of modern arts and crafts, but it's very good and may be close to what you're looking for.
Here's the amazon link. I loved how sturdy the book was, gender neutral, and so sweetly decorated.
The joint book is what your looking for. I just picked it up and am itching for chisels so I can start to play.
I don't have a guide to go off of unfortunately. it was more a compilation of what I could find online.
/u/joelav's guide on tuning an out of box kanna
sumokun has some very useful youtube videos about kannas and their blades.
Leanord Lee's complete guide to sharpening helped me understand some of the factors that do and don't make a plane blade cut
This guy has a guide and i'm not sure what to make of it since there is only illustrations
The Art of Electronics - The EE bible
ARRL Handbook - Great for analog and RF circuit knowledge, but tons of general stuff too.
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic - For hands on, real world circuit diagnosis. I've been doing this a long time and I still learned a lot from this book. This book will save you a lot of magic smoke.
Different types of benches lend themselves to different types of work. A really good book that talks about the way you go about deciding what sort of bench you want to build is Chris Schwarz's "The Workbench Design Book: The Art and Philosophy of Building Better Benches".
http://www.amazon.com/The-Workbench-Design-Book-Philosophy/dp/1440310408
For eye-candy and inspiration (and some instruction), there's the classic, "The Workbench Book", by Scott Landis.
I have a book titled "The Joint Book" that includes a really useful table of what glues can do what.
Amazon lets you preview that exact page. Just click on the image and find page 20.
I chose Southern Pine at the advice of Christopher Schwarz's book "Workbenches: from Design & Theory to Construction and Use" (amazon), which is an immensely useful text for anyone looking to build their own bench.
Southern Pine has a relatively straight grain and it's rather dense for a softwood (modulus of elasticity is 1.93, compared to Hickory at 2.16 and Doug Fir at 1.95). It can tend to be a little knotty, so buying 2x8 or wider and resawing has big advantages.
Schwarz also wrote "The Workbench Design Book: The Art & Philosophy of Building Better Benches" (amazon), which has designs and plans for several distinct styles of bench.
For anyone thinking to build their own workbench (especially people who are new to furniture building), I highly recommend getting both books. They complement each other quite well with tips and feature descriptions all the way to plans and cut lists. One of the more useful parts of the first book (for me anyway) is the chapter on matching features to functions. Even a novice can build a bench they know will have useful features for the type of work they want to use it for.
Saw this one as well that looked interesting - http://www.amazon.com/New-Traditional-Woodworker-Popular-Woodworking/dp/1440304289/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397005210&sr=1-4&keywords=without+power+tools
The Joint Book has great images and techniques.
I've enjoyed Woodworking Basics - Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship - An Integrated Approach With Hand and Power tools. I've also heard great reviews The Complete Manual of Woodworking: A Detailed Guide to Design, Techniques, and Tools for the Beginner and Expert and The Joint Book: The Complete Guide to Wood Joinery.
As for tools, I would hold off buying tools for him until he knows he wants to really get into. From personal experience, I know when it comes to buying gifts for people just starting out with a new hobby, there is always the off chance that they might not continue with it.
The Le Petit one on Amazon is so stinking cute and the quality is great!
Le Petit Baby Book https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452152004/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5g5XBbY8DSQKM
Wound up being this one, thanks!
https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Arts-Crafts-John-Seymour/dp/0789458470/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0789458470&pd_rd_r=03M0NNVN59K2W4125SQD&pd_rd_w=qhzDF&pd_rd_wg=hlRcV&psc=1&refRID=03M0NNVN59K2W4125SQD
Woodworking with power tools revolves around the table saw. If you go that path, get the best one you possibly can. But used so your money goes father.
Woodworking with hand tools needs a few things:
I'm a big believer in starting small and cheap and working my way up. With a few hand tools, you can get started for under $200 and have everything you need to make good quality stuff. The skills you learn with those tools will transfer to every project in the future, no matter how big. Fine joinery is the same, whether the boards are cut with a hand saw or a table saw, and you will never learn to read wood with a power jointer, planer and table saw like you will with a handsaw and bench plane.
As you reach competency with these tools, you can decide how you want to expand your tools to achieve more. That may be more hand tools like a dovetail saw, additional planes, cabinet scrapers, etc, or it may be power tools with a table saw, band saw, dust collector, etc. Or it may be somewhere in the middle.
Personally, I do this for relaxation, so a quiet shop and a face free of respirators and face shields is much better to me. Since I am in no hurry to finish projects, I use primarily hands tools (I have a few power tools from a previous life that I'll pull out on very rare occasions. I think often about selling them).
If getting stuff done drives you, though, power tools are a great way to do that. It changes woodworking a little because it becomes a skill of setting machines up correctly (not a trivial skill!) to get the correct cut.
The Wood Whisperer, who coined the phrase and, literally, wrote the book, Hybrid Woodworking, does a pretty good job blending hand and power tools. If I cared more about getting things done (and had the space and money to devote to it), that would be the path I would follow.
check out Marc's book Hybrid Woodworking, it's an excellent resource for the best combination of hand tools for precision and power tools for the hard work.
I am a huge fan of this book, which includes plans for a number of different furniture projects.
http://smile.amazon.com/Woodwork-Step---Step-Photographic-Woodworking/dp/0756643066/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417480379&sr=8-1&keywords=wood+work
Schwarz has two workbench books and I have only read this one cover to cover and it has quite a few benches in there so it is quite possible that one of them had laminated dimensional lumber. The bench he feels is best suited for hand work is the Roubo that is featured on the cover and the legs for it are made from 6x6's that he found in the back of a big box store. I am in no way saying that you can't rip down 2x8's or 2x12's and laminate them together I am simply suggesting that buying lumber as close as you can to the proper dimensions for the legs and top ect. the less work it is, and imho makes for a better looking bench if not a more stable bench.
It took my a while to get back to my desk, but I wanted to give a thorough answer!
There was also a lot of other miscellaneous videos and forum posts that proved to be helpful, but that was mostly found on a "problem seeking solution" basis rather than when I was trying to get my feet under me, so I don't have a great record of them. I hope this helps!
This book might be of interest. I bought it when I first moved to Washington and was considering getting into the business.
You might consider "How to Diagnose and Fix Anything Electronic", by Michael Jay Geier. Gives a comprehensive overview of tools, testing and troubleshooting approaches, how components fail, etc.
I've got to chip away at the book myself. If you're motivated, though, it might help you step up your game and get some traction on this project.
There definitely won't be a single best book, but I don't think The Joint Book would be money wasted.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785822275/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_F5.wybN6CVPXM
Congrats on your first piece! The process of learning is a little daunting (I am still learning)--but if you have any interest in other joinery methods you should give this book a read: Joint Book: The Complete Guide to Wood Joinery https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785822275/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awd_wx-JwbT9T23NP
I highly recommend "The Workbench Design Book: The Art & Philosophy of Building Better Benches". It's a really fun and enjoyable read, even if you're not particularly interested in building a workbench. He's such an interesting thinker and researcher and this is probably his best work so far.
This is a great book on how to sharpen tools. It's written by Leonard Lee, of Lee Valley Tools.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451121133&sr=1-2&keywords=how+to+sharpen
Drop some knowledge on him:
Hybrid Woodworking
Anarchists Tool Chest
Understanding Wood
If you're interested in more ways to combine hand tools and power tools, check out this book by The Wood Whisperer: https://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Woodworking-Blending-Quality-Furniture/dp/1440329605
Schwarz's book is good (note there's no T in his name). Also good is Tolpin's New Traditional Woodworker http://www.amazon.com/dp/1440304289/
I just ordered this book which looks like it might be helpful.... It hasn't come yet, thought, so I can't say for sure.
I bought this one and really like it so far! I don’t think it has the tooth map you are describing but you may be able to print that and paste it in somewhere.
I haven't really looked into this one, but it has pretty solid reviews.
I didn't really follow plans, per se, but I did read Workbenches: From Design And Theory To Construction And Use and The Workbench Design Book Both by Christopher Schwarz. After studying these, I had all the design elements in mind and worked it out as I went along...which worked out for the most part, but I had a few hiccups due to lack of planning along the way.
The hardware is Benchcrafted, and they have plans too, which are popular, but I didn't use them.
Some basic information on joinery types. Most common for furniture building would probably be mitered joints, mortise and tenon, dovetailing, and dadoes - depending on the type of furniture.
If you wanted to learn more about joinery, I found this book to be good for beginners. Another good beginner book for all things woodworking, not just joinery, is this one
I just started making a few things last summer and getting some of the more expensive power tools. Feeling like you need to learn everything all at once can be intimidating - even for a med student, I imagine - but if you just look at each step individually it is much less daunting.
One more thing to help out a fellow beginner - this is the website of an awesome woodworking TV show that has free to download step by step plans. The show itself may or may not be available where you are at - I lucked out in that it is based in the town I live in - but the plans themselves are very helpful (and there is a modular bookcase plan you can alter to fit your needs).
edit - I forgot to answer your first question. More advanced woodworker do tend to avoid using nails or screws when avoidable because it joinery techniques are usually both stronger and more appealing to the eye. But, when just starting out, do what you can. To generalize, screws > nails in most (but not all) circumstances.
This is an excellent book.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393686102&sr=1-1&keywords=sharpening
The thing about fixing old stuff is that at some point you have to understand how the thing works in order to test what's broken and fix it. You can't learn that just by taking stuff apart unfortunately.
Having said that, this is still a fun book for learners. https://www.amazon.com/How-Diagnose-Everything-Electronic-Second/dp/0071848290
I have this book and love it. If he does other woodworking besides tables, he might like this too.
Wow, how serendipitous! I only just discovered your site and YouTube channel yesterday (thanks to this mental_floss article), and here I see I just missed your AMA on the same day. You've definitely found a new fan :)
In the off-chance you're still watching this thread:
I noticed quite a few woodworking books in your bookshelf video. Are there any particularly great books you'd recommend for budding wood workers?
By pausing the video I was able to identify these 3:
PS, I'm a WordPress developer by day. If you'd ever like a hand with your site I'd love to help :)
EDIT: Formatting
3 coats Danish Oil, 3 coats wipe-on Poly.
Plans came from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Woodwork-Step-Step-Photographic-Woodworking/dp/0756643066
> The big question is, what happens when there are (almost) no more jobs for people? Will the power be in the hands of the few running the AI companies? What will the economy look like? Will we still be able to make money, and should we still have money since at that point everyone is pretty much obsolete.
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin doesn't exactly answer your question, but it sounds like you would enjoy it nonetheless.
I see from the comments that you are already aware of laver.
Other traditional UK seaweed harvesting has been making something of a comeback as people get interested in old-timey crafts. Plenty of articles about that online, here's one and another one and here are some official guidelines and advice(pdf). If you can find a copy of this book, I remember it having a section that outlines some of the other areas where seaweed was commonly gathered and what is was made into.
So, my wife bought Le Petit Baby Book. I had a little leaf through it when it arrived, and it looks pretty neat. Not sure if she's spent much time actually filling it in yet, though, it looked to be more focused on post-birth?
I didn't get a guided journal. Just bought a nice leather-bound blank journal, not long after the first positive pregnancy test. I've been adding to it, oh, maybe once or twice a week. So far it's been a record of important milestones, like my wife telling me she was pregnant, the look the sonographer gave me when I cried at the 8 week ultrasound, how we broke the news to our families, the arguments that we've had about weird things, and her pregnancy cravings. I also write about what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling about impending dadhood, how I want to bring my kid up. And to some extent it's become a small look at what our lives were like before we became parents.
A while ago I also bought an instant camera, so the journal is starting to bulk out with photos taped to pages, as well as other mementos like cards and ticket stubs. Basically it's a hot mess, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
We registered for this one: https://www.amazon.com/Petit-Baby-Book-Claire-Laude/dp/1452152004
I've also seen the moms one line a day book for random notes/milestones. https://www.amazon.com/Moms-One-Line-Day-Five-Year/dp/0811874907
Edited the post above so that you can see exactly what I was talking about.
Some of the other stuff I didn't mention will be listed below.
Tried this as my marking knife , rather than the narex at first. Didn't sharpen easily for me, so I got the Narex Marking Knife.
Needed a coping saw so I could start doing dovetails easier. This is the one I have chosen. Does the job well enough, nothing to write home about.
The Glu-bot Sure you could use a mustard bottle, but I'll be damned if this little thing wasn't a bit useful. Being able to squeeze glue in any direction is very useful. This is one of those 'you mock the crap out of it until you try it yourself' items. Remember 6 of these gives you 96 oz of glue, but is the same cost as a full gallon and the cost of the gluebot together.
For sharpening: use one of these. Yes, freehand sharpening is fairly easy and quick. But at first using training wheels is both easy and convenient. It gets you a sharp blade everytime because it takes that pesky human error out of the equation.
After I did a long bit of youtube videos and making my own projects, i ran into this book. It solidified my understanding of a lot of woodworking knowledge. I don't know if it is a beginner type resource, but it definitely helped me out.
I recommend you cross-post this to r/CannabisExtracts. They have a large knowledge base, but it may take time to get responses.
The ebook of Rosenthal's Beyond Buds is about $8. You might take a look through Amazon's book catalog for books on cannabis concentrates. As legalization progresses and there's less censorship around the subject, a lot of information is becoming available.
Everything you need to know about workbenches.
https://www.amazon.com/Workbench-Design-Book-Philosophy-Building/dp/1440310408
That sounds like it was a lot of fun and learned a few things or two. I have watch the English Wood workers videos on plane making but I didn't think to check out to see if he had anything on work benchs. mostly I have been looking at Christopher Swartz's book on workbenches.
Absofuckinlutely!!!
Has anyone bought the new book - http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Buds-Marijuana-Extracts-Medicines/dp/1936807238
I have but haven't managed to read it yet.
I used this book it doesnt have any plans but lays out rough guidlines and was a good read
From the handy-dandy FAQ in the sidebar https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/wiki/index#wiki_sharpening_hand_tools
search for "how to sharpen chisels" and "how to sharpen planes" for many, many how-tos.
If dead trees are your thing, 'The complete Guide to Sharpening' is useful, too. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sharpening-Leonard-Lee/dp/1561581259/
this perfect day / A perfect day
I just finished it, and i was like totally stunned by the story, the plot, the ending... EVERYTHING. I couldn't leave the book for a minute.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/This-Perfect-Day-Ira-Levin/dp/160598129X
Do the knives you sharpen cut things the way you want them to? If so, you're doing it right. The ultimate test is that it can cut food cleanly without much effort.
The guy who owns Lee Valley tools has a book on sharpening that Taunton published. Leonard Lee wrote it. It's good.
However, you can own the most elaborate jigs or the most expensive Japanese water stones or the rarest of all Arkansas stones and even reams of Norton Champagne Magnum sandpaper but it won't be worth a hill of beans if it's so inconvenient to use that you never sharpen your knives.
I know how to use all of those methods but for every day kitchen use I use this guy along with a really nice diamond steel. If you are using the acusharp for the first time, I recommend that you start off with a really crappy knife just in case you use too much pressure and take a chunk out of the blade. Use it enough and practice enough with it and you can get a razor sharp edge on your chef's knife in really short order. No oil, no adhesives, no jigs -- it fits in a drawer and it works.
I save the stones and sandpaper for my woodworking tools and chisels where I actually schedule time to sharpen them. I don't have that luxury if I get home and have to churn out a meal in 30 minutes.
On another note: who here was equally hesitant to click on that keyword search for "blade" in the SFgate site?
Generally timber (whole trees) is rough cut into 1 or 1-1/2 inch thick pieces of lumber, 5 or 10 feet long, and as wide as the actual timber. It is stacked flat, the individual pieces separated by small spacers of wood (called stickers), and allowed to dry for 6 months to a year. Then it is planed into dimensional lumber, like the boards you see at Home Depot.
Just guessing, but TheSlightestGinge's grandfather probably had a custom timber-cutting crew come to his yard, rough-saw the fallen tree, and stack it near his woodshop. That's what I would do. Rough-cutting timber takes different equipment than typical woodshop gear--think sawmill-type machinery.
An excellent reference is Earnest Joyce's Encyclopedia of Furniture Making.
I picked up Box-Making Basics 8 or 9 years ago. I keep it around as a reference all the time and have done probably half of the projects out of it, probably the most used book I've got on woodworking.
Woodcraft link in case you want it today, my local store usually has a few on the shelf.
Amazon link is a bit cheaper.
I'm starting to get in to hand tools and ordered the wood whisperers book.
Honestly a book would probably be best for a beginner. It is great for reference later on down the road as it is all kept nice and neat in one central location rather than bookmarking things and/or printing them out. I have this book and it is awesome. It has everything you want and even stuff you didn't know you wanted. Only 16 bucks NEW or even cheaper used. Then if you want JOINTS this one is pretty good.
NINJA EDIT: But yes, as noclevernickname said, the FAQ is a great place to start for those things as well!
I would start by reading this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Workbench-Design-Book-Philosophy-Building/dp/1440310408
You might change your mind on your needs after reading it.
Also, if it was me, I would build one, but not be afraid to build another one after you try it out.
I would suggest investing in field guides and outdoor survival books, which I am in the process of doing as well cause this is a genuine fear of mine too. That said, I have one of the greatest books ever, the Reader's Digest Back to Basics - How to learn and enjoy traditional american skills. I've got the version that was published in the late 70's, they've come out with a couple editions since then but the first one is the best, although hard to come by. My dad gave it to me and told me he has referred to it hundreds of times over the years. If shit were to go south, that's the first thing I'd want with me!
> Steeling and honing are the same thing.
No. Honing an edge has a quite precise definition, which is basically polishing it after sharpening. It is done to remove the burr and microserrations left after a fine stone (800-1200x).
For that, you use either a very fine stone (4000-8000x) or honing paste and leather strop or a buffer wheel.
You may hone the primary edge, or just a microbevel edge. The standard reference here is Leonard Lee.
Steeling, in its purest form, does not remove metal, which is the difference with honing. 'Steels' made of ceramic blur the distinction.
Again, there's nothing magical with expensive knives. A knife cuts just by edge geometry. That means the included angle of the sides, and its interaction with the grind. Depends on the knife use -a cleaver will have a larger angle than a filleting knife.
You can have a convex grind, a plain grind, or a hollow ground grind. By far, the easiest to sharpen and to keep sharp is a hollow grind. The most resistent is a convex grind.
If you know how and when to use them, the final result will cut as well out of the grinder as a Wusthof. For example, I'd sharpen the cleaver above with a convex grind, and a 30º included angle - the fillet with a hollow[1] grind, and 15-20º depending on the steel quality. After a session, edge retention and steel hardness will guide your time between sharpenings.
And a USD10 knife lets you play to your heart's content - you are not scared of ruining your expensive status symbol, nor you have to sent it away for a 'professional' to sharpen it. I'm of the school that's it's better to be a master of your tools.
[1] A belt sander with a slack belt is wonderful for this.
>document book
What is this?
Assuming you just mean a furniture construction book then I would suggest Earnest Joyce's Encyclopedia of Furniture Making. It's my Bible and I consult it before doing any project, the only thing is that it's fine furniture so most of it is really only relevant to that.
Thanks for the quick response. I have looked through that site, they have some great info. I did see this book and they have it at my local store so I might have to check it out.
Just a regular schmoe with this book, wellread many times http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Arts-Crafts-John-Seymour/dp/0789458470
If you're looking for designs this book may help.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Traditional-Woodworker-Popular-Woodworking/dp/1440304289
-Just got this one and it covers a lot of fundamental's with a few projects for jigs etc.
and Made by Hand http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/made-by-hand/the-book
-Similar theory but the projects are a little more advanced and interesting.
Last week I picked up "Working Wood 1 & 2" and am extremely impressed with the quality and clarity throughout. I respect Sellers and his work immensely, and do not hesitate to recommend the book.
I also recommend:
The New Traditional Woodworker by Jim Tolpin
The Foundations of Better Woodworking by Jeff Miller.
I recently got a new job that has allowed me the income to begin woodworking, and I've been beefing up my library (and tools). The first book I mentioned (New Traditional) is included in the Getting Started in Handtools Value Pack which includes many books/ebooks, as well as some DVDs from Chris Schwarz (among others):
Mastering Handtools
Sawing Fundamentals
both of which I heartily recommend, even if you don't opt for that value pack.
A couple of very good reference books:
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Furniture-Making-Ernest-Joyce/dp/0806971428/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347978422&sr=1-1&keywords=ernest+joyce%27s+encyclopedia+of+furniture+making
http://www.amazon.com/Wood-Joiners-Handbook-Sam-Allen/dp/0806969997/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347978534&sr=1-1&keywords=sam+allen+wood+joiner%27s+handbook
If you've never done M&T joints before, you probably want to start with a project that is all 90˚.
I'm a big fan of this book. Covers a lot of topics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0895779390
As far as literature is concerned, I recently ordered Ed Rosenthal's book on extracts and such. Any other recommendations?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1561581259
Just found this on BoingBoing, might be worth a read
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579127916?ie=UTF8&tag=boingboing06-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1579127916
I'd pick up a copy of Back to Basics
Hard to say when you'll need any of the stuff specifically, but I feel like the book contains how to do just about everything my parents know how to do, but I never bothered to learn.