3 comments about Step-by-Step Guitar Making.

1. It's actually fairly easy to make an acoustic guitar, and any with some woodworking skills can master the rudiments with these basics plus Alex Willis' Step-by-Step Guitar Making in hand. Any collection strong in woodworking, music or crafts titles will welcome this guide, which shows how to make a steel-stringed OM cutaway model guitar with 14 frets. Full-size plans of the instrument plus discussions of both parts and how to tune and adjust them assure that musicians receive the most from a homemade effort.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. It turns out that guitar making is a complex art and there are many different ways for a beginner to approach it. The most complete book is William Cumpiano's "Guitar Making, Tradition and Technology". However, I found Willis "Step by Step Guitar Making" useful and valuable. It is shorter and clearer than Cumpiano and interestingly, a lot of the steps, sequence of operations, and jigs are different. For me, the differences between the two books help in understanding which steps are the most critical and which steps can be altered to best accomodate your particular skills, experience, and available tools. If you are serious about learning guitar building, I would recommend getting both books.



3. I have made one guitar and one ukulele, guided by Cumpiano and Natelson, so this book was the perfect follow on from that point. The photos and text are well set out and as a slightly experienced luthier, I gained much. The spanish foot approach is unusual in steel stringed guitars and Mr Willis explained it in detail, including how to construct the cutaway. I am now keen to try it. The only mild criticism I have is that I thought the section on truss rods was a little light, but apart from that, a great book, I am glad I bought it.

5 comments about Making Chair Seats from Cane, Rush and Other Natural Materials.

1. Great detail and instruction to get a beginner going



2. I have found this book very useful in guiding me through the process of weaving chair seats and backs. It is well illustrated and the instructions are clear.



3. This is the first rush weaving book I've read which has actually given the process for natural rush work, as well as how to use fiber rush. We will be using this as an adjunct to a video on rush weaving we have also bought to rerush our dining room chairs.
   
   I also appreciated the other seat-weaving techniques presented. this is a fairly straightforward book which gives out good process information.



4. This book is detailed so that a first timer could work there way through caning a seat if desired. I already do this type of craft but hope that others will try it.



5. This was a common skill for housewives to teach their daughters. My Grandmother would fix up old chairs every spring. A good book to have if you don't know how.

5 comments about Carving Found Wood: Tips, Techniques & Inspiration from the Artists.

1. This is one of the best sources for a variety of new ideas that I've come across in a while. I carve and sell quite a few woodspirit walking sticks and the excellent color photos of the many professional artists profiled inspired many of my own original ideas. Great selection for any serious woodcarver's library!



2. My husband has had the desire forever and I found a class to get him started. This is the first book he brought home from the shop. I read it today and found the illustrations worthy of framing alone. There is one very detailed how to example that takes many baby steps where you gain further skills in multiple cuts and design. VERY IMPRESSIVE.
   The different artists selected provide a bio and explanation how they came to carving, their choices in materials with the pro and cons of working within the choice.
   If I were to start wood carving from this book as inspiration the project breakdown leaves me believing it would be a success.



3. I bought this book as a present but when it arrived it definitely was not like what I expected. There is only one project design with directions. The rest of the book is just pictures of what other artists have done. Maybe this would be a good book if you are a skilled carver but for a novice it may be difficult to replicate the designs without any directions.



4. Inspiration is a good description. It really made me want to get back into carving. I have been away from it for a while but this book brought me right back. Great photos and the instructions are outstanding.



5. Anything with Vic Hood in the title and you know your eyes are in for a treat, this is a great book to have on the coffee table as well as in you carving shop.

2 comments about Jigs & Fixtures for the Table Saw & Router: Get the Most from Your Tools with Shop Projects from Woodworking's Top Experts (The Best of Woodworker's Journal series).

1. Nearly thirty projects and instructions on how to make jigs and fixtures for safer and faster woodworking are packed into Jigs & Fixtures For the Table Saw & Router, a guide which uses the experience of the editors of Woodworker's Journal for a range of innovative projects. From technical drawings and easy step-by-step instructions complete with materials lists to color photos throughout, homeowners who have a woodshop will find this an excellent - and essential - guide, as will libraries catering to home crafters and do-it-yourself patrons.



2. I am going to assume that the individual who wrote the only other review (so far) has not tried to build one of the fixtures or jigs depicted in the book. While most of the projects certainly look like great things to build for your home workshop I have found, as I build the Precision Crosscutting Jig, a bunch of inaccuracies. Measurements and dimensions given in the Technical Drawings don't match what is either pictured or what is explained in text elsewhere. In one instance "5/16" should actually read "5/8" which is quite a discrepancy. Another gives the thickness of one of the fences as 11/16" when, from the picture, it looks more like 1 1/2". One of the most blaring errors is the measurements of the placement of a hole that is WAAAAAY off. I don't even know where they came up with the numbers for that one. If I had actually drilled the hole where they told me to drill it the piece would have been ruined. Glad I double checked it.
   
   Here are some of my other observations/suggestions:
   -In the materials list it would be nice to know what material each item is. Hardwood? Plywood? Plastic? As it is now you have to search through the text of the article to figure it out.
   -A list of suppliers for some of the more specialized items would help as Home Depot doesn't carry a lot of what they want you to use.
   
   So, while the projects all look great and I'm looking forward to building quite a few of them I am going to have to double check and scrutinize the measurements of each item in the materials list as the inaccuracies have been so prevalent on the very first one I've tried, who knows what the rest hold?
   The publishers should really go through this book, fix the problems and re-publish. It's worth it.

1 comments about Emotions in Wood: Carving the Expressive Face.

1. There's nothing wooden at all about the emotions on these faces. "Emotions in Wood: Carving the Expressive Face" is a guide for those who partake in the craft of carving wood. Step by step instructions guide the reader to create enthralling wooden sculptures that invoke emotion. Ideal for woodworkers who are just getting started or have a little practice already, "Emotions in Wood" is a must for anyone who wants to master the expressive human face in the art of woodcarving.

5 comments about The New Scroll Saw Handbook.

1. I haven't touched my Scroll Saw since High School (10+ years). I wanted to fire it up again and do a little more than cutting letters out of plywood. I bought this book primarily because it looked pretty extensive and was recently re-published. It mostly covers technique and has no patterns for stupid schlock like owl napkin holders. This book shows you what you can do with your saw from simple to complex. If you are a beginner or looking to increase your skill, this is a must have.



2. Synopsis (quote)
   The world's leading scroll saw expert offers a masterful comprehensive reference covering the equipment, materials, and artistry, from time-honoured methods to critiques of the latest machines and accessories. A bestseller in its classic first edition for 15 years, the guide's massive technical updates and new sections make an even more valuable contribution, with simplified instructions on ways to apply the latest innovations and how to make the best projects from the past even better. Sections on current models and major parts of the scroll saw; accessories; how to select a saw; blades, speeds, & feeds; safety techniques & guidelines; patterns & layout; scroll-sawing basics; stack-cutting & cutting thick wood; sawing thin & small stock; compound sawing; inlay work; marquetry basics; fine fretwork; appliques & overlays; joinery; sawing plastics; sawing metals; segmentation & intarsia; finishing basics.
   
   The synopsis above says it all, but what it doesn't say is how readable and informative it is. I first saw the early edition of this book at my uncle's, and spent the entire evening engrossed in it, to the dismay of my wife and aunt, but delight of my uncle. Subsequently I purchased the new updated version, and was pleasantly surprised at how many of the modern saws were included and appraised. Although American, so are the majority of the designs in your major Hardware Store (even if they're actuallly produced in China or Taiwan).
   
   The history of the scroll saw is given, with plenty of pictures of the various makes, showing improvements and simplifications to the basic design. Then we get the theory and mechanics of scroll sawing and why some designs are better and/or more or less expensive than others - what you get for your money, in short.
   
   The book manages to avoid the trap of 'designs that any idiot can make', instead detailing the whole gamut of techniques, blades, jigs and materials to enable one to produce anything from the simplest to the most complex, professional-looking piece of work.
   
   Loaded with hints, tips, Dos&Dont's, this is a must-buy for all woodwork/filigree enthusiasts. *****



3. This book is very informative and a must have for all those interested in learning to use a Scroll Saw.
   I was very pleased with this book and would highly recommend it. It is very thorough and covers all the bases concerning Scroll Saws such as history of the saw, saftey tips, how the saw works and much more useful information.



4. A little long on the history of scroll saws but still very interesting. Well put together and relitively up to date on equipment. The only scrollsaw not shown is the new Delta saw. Great book for beginners but there is something in this book for everyone. Very well documented lots of how-to photos.



5. I thought I knew a little about the scroll saw and this book showed me how little really I knew. I know what projects that I want to build and this book has the answers on techniques that I need to accomplish them all.
   Referencing the scroll saw machine features from the book, I bought the Hitachi 16" Variable Speed Scroll Saw Model: CW40 from Lowes [great value: $150, including table legs, vacuum port, 45` table tilt left & right, flexible blower hose, accepts plain or pin end blades, attached work light, and with a $25 rebate/gift card] Now I feel almost totally prepared to begin trying my hand at a new skill.
   
   There is a lot of info in there, almost too much in some chapters like machine history, but it is very much worth the USED LIKE NEW book price.

1 comments about The Shaper Book.

1. I recently bought a shaper and quickly realized that a large panel cutter spinning at 7,000 rpms could put one's body parts in harm's way. The overall theme of this book is "safety first". After introducing the reader to basic shaper operation and cutter setup, the author successfully discusses the construction and use of various jigs that are used to enhance the safe operation of any shaper. As I read through the book, it became obvious that I wanted to build several of the jigs listed in the various chapters. As with any reference book, the true test comes in it's ability to provide useful information. This book will continue to provide me with tips and techniques each time I use my shaper. I highly recommend this book.

3 comments about The Eames Lounge Chair: An Icon of Modern Design.

1. At last a book about THAT chair. Thomas Hine, one of the contributors to this interesting book, writes a chapter about the way the chair kept popping up in all the right media and this probably helped it along to its iconic status. I was aware of the chair many years ago and kept seeing it in interior design photos, adverts, and anywhere that visually needed to project an upmarket ambience. Strangely I never saw anyone sitting in these chairs and I was surprised to find, when I bought one, that the back does not support one's head. A 1956 photo used in a Herman Miller ad shows a stockbroker friend of Charles Eames clearly with his head on the back, he was either a short guy or had moved well forward in the chair.
   
   The book is a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the chair by five contributors with over two hundred illustrations. I thought Pat Kirkham's chapter on the chair's development the most interesting. There is a 1946 photo of a chair that is clearly a prototype for the final 1956 version. Another photo, from 1950 shows Billy Wilder sitting in this '46 version. Although Charles Eames designed the chair there was a huge technical input from Don Albinson who worked in the Eames Office.
   
   The book is a handsome production, well thought out editorially and nicely designed and printed though there is a bit of unnecessary design whimsy with the chapter titled 'The Lounge Chair: idea to icon'. It has seventy-seven pages of photos and graphics with no page numbers, the captions are on three following pages where the illustrations are repeated as thumbnails with the relevant text, in fact the seventy-seven pages had enough space for these captions. Also I would have liked to have seen a technical drawing of the chair and ottoman with dimensions.
   
   Despite a rather high list price I thought this book was a super reminder of a brilliant example of product design. The chair's status is surely growing because by 2004 over one hundred thousand had been sold and that most likely includes mine.
   
   ***FOR AN LOOK INSIDE click 'customer images' under the cover.
   
   



2. A great resource for anyone that has one of these iconic chairs or is interested in its history.



3. Recently we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Eames Lounge Chair and what better tribute to that milestone than this commemorative book. I have it and I love t. There is also a poster of the cover that you must get too.
   
   Hats off to Herman Milller for keeping the Eames style relevant and as fresh as ever!

5 comments about Woodshop for Kids.

1. As the director of a hands-on museum in Bellingham, Washington, and being the one responsible for selecting books to put on the shelves of our library area, I was immediately attracted to this offering by Jack McKee. I'm always on the lookout for this sort of material, since I like to include information in our library that's in keeping with one of our missions, fostering closer relationships between youngsters and adults. Not only does this book fit well with that aim, but it's a highly useful guide to getting started on building entertaining and useful things out of wood and other common household materials.
   
   *Woodshop for Kids* contains information that any parent who understands the importance of teaching manual skills to youngsters will find essential, especially if unaccustomed to teaching. As an adult, it's easy to assume that certain aspects of building things out of wood are intuitively obvious. For example, if you've done a little woodworking yourself, you probably believe that using a saw or pounding a nail is such an obvious act that a child, or even an uninitiated adult, should be able to do it without instruction. Such is rarely the case, especially nowadays when kids start their lives immersed in television and computers, and schools have eliminated such "unnecessary" subjects as "shop" from their curriculums. In America, the old "do-it-yourself" days have vanished in the mists of time. We buy everything, including toys for our children, and we are much the poorer for it.
   
   Whether you're an experienced craftsman who wants to teach youngsters how to use tools, or a rank beginner desiring to learn something useful yourself while having some fun with your kids, this is a great book. I've actually recommended that my own staff members read it as a guide to mentoring youngsters or non mechanically-handy adults in workshop practices. The initial four chapters provide an unusually clear discussion of simple woodworking tools, materials, and skills. Simultaneously, it sets a fine example regarding how to present this sort of material to a student, whether child or inexperienced adult.
   
   The long fifth chapter of McKee's book devotes itself to a whole list of projects that kids can build or you can build with (or without!) them. They include puzzles, musical instruments, toys, simple scientific demonstrations, and many other interesting things. An appendix includes a tool list, possible sources for them, and how to build a couple useful tools yourself.
   
   Instead of buying plastic gadgets that run on batteries for your kids, consider using this book as a guide for working with them to help them learn how they can delight themselves with what they can create with their own two hands. McKee has taught woodworking to youngsters, including his own, for many years. His book is a compilation of his own long experience in the field, and you won't find a better guide to the subject than this one.



2. Written by Jack McKee and illustrated by Rusty Keeler, Woodshop For Kids: 52 Woodworking Projects Kids Can Build is a thoroughly "user friendly" guidebook of creative and entertaining woodworking projects that young people can create, given age-appropriate adult supervision and guidance. Individual chapters include detailed instructions for 52 different projects, from a marble roll to a sailboat letter holder to a step stool; tips on how to find free wood and use woodworking tools safely; advice on acquiring and woodworking tools appropriate for kids; and much more. 179 black-and-white photos and illustrations round out this helpful and constructive guide to a stimulating, family-friendly activity.



3. This book has laid out a plan of activities to make it fun to work/play with your kids in the workshop. Great book. My 8 and 9 year olds really liked it.



4. I would highly recommend Woodshop for Kids. It not only gives projects that children can do, some with the help of an adult, but it covers what the tools are, what they do and how to care for them. Important information for all budding woodworkers to know.



5. Jack McKee has written two nonfiction books about ways to teach manual skills to children through building projects: Woodshop for Kids and Builderboards. I proofread his second book and I was stunned by the importance of the book because what he's really offering (along with woodworking projects) is a model for offering respect to children and a way to give them power through safety rules and permission to play. It's a wonderful book. I sent a copy to my grandson, who sleeps with it under his pillow.
   
   Janey Bennett,
   author, The Pale Surface of Things

5 comments about Measure Twice, Cut Once: Lessons from a Master Carpenter.

1. Norm Abram is the much admired and even beloved host of the PBS show New Yankee Workshop and a longtime fixture on This Old House. In Measure Twice, Cut Once, we get a peek inside Norm's extensive toolbox, as Norm simply talks tools -- his likes, his dislikes, and, of course, more than a few helpful tips.
   
   Norm has a reputation for loving power tools but in Measure Twice, Cut Once he focuses on his favorite hand tools. His knowledge is impressive as he covers a wide spectrum of hand tools -- folding rules, tape measures, chalk boxes, squares, levels, plumb bobs, saws, planes, knives, screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, hammers, crowbars and chisels. Norm's favorite tool is the right tool, be it a power tool or a hand tool -- whatever is best for the job at hand.
   
   I read somewhere that Norm wrote most of this book by dictating it into a recorder as he drove to and from various job sites. It shows -- the book is loose and conversational and Norm even gets a little personal. He talks a great deal about his father, who died shortly after this book was finished. The connection between Norm and his father through carpentry is heartfelt and it's nice to see this personal side of Norm.
   
   Norm knows that carpenters are taught some skills and that they learn other skills through personal experience, but he believes that all of it should be passed on to others, just as he learned from his father. The craft and skill of carpentry naturally passes from one generation to the next and so on. That's what Norm tries to do through his TV shows and through books like Measure Twice, Cut Once. He isn't trying to impress you or overwhelm you. He just wants you to put this knowledge to work.



2. I originally bought this book just because Norm Abrams wrote it and I am a big fan of THIS OLD HOUSE and THE NEW YANKEE WORKSHOP.But, it is an engaging read and one I find myself going..."ahhhhhhhhhh" or "ahhhhhhhh, hahhhhhhhhhh!" to. Add it to your "toolbox." It will help you be better at whatever you do.
   
   Makes a great gift too to recognize members of your workgroup, fellow fans of Norm, and those you would like to gently influence.



3. This book is a blend of personal insights and techniques that shows not just what it takes to be a master carpenter, but the path this particular one took to get there. The book reads like a cross between tips and tricks of the trade and a diary.



4. I really enjoyed this book. Norm always comes off on TV as a really congenial and down to earth kind of guy. This terrific little book is that "in spades".
   
   I especially appreciated the way he tells the reader how he puts each tool to use, not just a technical review of the tool. His periodic reference to how he worked with and learned from his father adds even more value to the book.
   
   Most woodworking books never mention the basics that Norm covers for using carpentry tools. A really great addition to my woodworking library.



5. This is a wonderful collection of insights, anecdotes and wisdom as Norm takes the reader through a Carpenters Toolbox.