Customer Reviews

Getting Started in Woodworking: Skill-Building Projects That Teach the Basics

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

-----UPDATE----

There, as others have pointed out, a miscut in the first project. As a result I had a bottom way too big for the box. BUT I guess this was a good experience as I had to cut it down to size. Maybe she teaches us a lesson? Ha ha. Don't let the first project ruin the book for you, the rest of the projects are great!




I have an interest in woodworking as a hobby. I am coming from *zero* experience with woodworking and I really wanted a book that would hold my hand. The beginning of the book starts you pretty easily down the path explaining the layout of your shop and talking about workbenches and the various features you should look for. Then there is a large section on tools, what they are and what they do. Then it talks about wood. After reading these sections I feel like I have a good working knowledge of what I am in for. This is A+.

I haven't started the first project yet. I need to get some more tools and what not. This hobby can be very expensive.

The projects are laid out in a progressive order. You start out making a simple box and then each of the 5 projects gets more and more complex.

I really like how well this book is laid out. The projects have very clear illustrations and shopping lists. Each section has a "skill builder" of excercises you can practice on scrapwood when any new skill is introduced. This will help you a lot in reducing mistakes along the way.

I will edit my review again after I finish the first project.
----EDIT----
Finished the first project. The directions were confusing in, but overall we easily produced a great end result. Can't wait to start on the adirondak chairs

I was very excited to get my hands on this book after reading some of the material covered. I have a woodworking background from a long, long time ago, but wanted a good refresher since so much has changed since the last time I held a block plane in my hand. I am currently finishing up the first project and am extremely disappointed in this book. The errors contained in the first few steps didn't become apparent until several steps later, causing me to basically toss aside my first few pieces of work. This is never a good way to start for a "beginner" like myself. I am going to have to draw up my own plans and do all of the calculating and measuring myself, since the author and editor can't provide it.

First example: Step 1 of the box project tells you to cut your 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece of wood into two 16" long pieces. Easy enough, as this was later chopped down to two 4 1/2" and two 10 1/2" pieces to make the sides of the box. WRONG!!!! The actual wood that should be used to make the sides of the box is the 1/2" x 2 1/2". First step already a mis-step, as the finger joints to be cut was specified to be 1 1/4" (which is correct for 2 1/2" tall side pieces). Fortunately, I recognized this mistype early and cut my finger joints at 1 3/4". I did have enough material to build 3 boxes when I first started - now I am going to be lucky to be able to build one, as a majority of my 1" x 4" (nominal) wood was mis-used. Frustrating. . . .

Second example: When you later cut the bottom and top of the box to begin working on the finger joints, you realize that the 4 1/2" pieces that you cut for the sides (and the 10 1/2" pieces as well) are too short, as the author tells you to buy 1" x 4" and 1" x 3" wood, but her actual measurements assume your wood is 1/2" thick, not the 3/4" thick that 1" nominal actually yields. Now the pieces that were cut from the wrong wood to begin with are useless as they are too short to form the joints. I suppose that you could cut the top and bottom pieces down further to fit, but then your box is too small to do much with other than admire. I began at this point to question my sanity as to getting back into woodworking, but as I have already squandered nearly $1000 in equipment, I decided to forge ahead.

Third example: The pictures are best ignored, save for the final project. They aren't presented with the text that they represent, so they can be more confusing than helpful. The author likes to use terms that I have either forgotten or never knew when referring to parts of tools, so I find myself re-reading and studying pictures until the concept of the written text dawns on me. I have small children, so my workshop time is limited to late at night - not the best time to decipher this text.

If you buy this book, be sure to buy some Post-It notes or book marks or tape flags, as you will be flipping back and forth continuously. The skill builder sections are nicely done, but appear in very strange places in the book. I would have put them all either before the projects or in an appendix. As it is, the first project refers you to several skill builders that are scattered throughout the pages of the first project (never on the facing page or the same page). This breaks the project text and pictures up too much.

The best thing that can be said for the first 1/2 of this book is that the projects look really neat, if you can survive the errors. I am now taking the approach to study the end product, draw my own plans, and learn the hard way (always a dangerous prospect when using sharp tools). If I could get a refund, I would - then spend the money on a different book.

I bought this book since I am relatively new to woodworking and was looking for a book with some different woodworking furniture construction projects that would be fun to build and develop my skills. This book has about 5 different interesting projects ranging from simple box construction, adirondack style chair, bookcase, coffee table, and low file cabinet. All the projects will result in fairly simple yet attractive projects which are well worth the time spent working through. In the process of each project Fraser walks the reader through increasingly difficult woodworking skill building exercises.

Now for the bad news, as touched on buy several of the other reviewers there are numerous typos and innacuracies which I think are inexcusable being that this book is written by a former editor of a very fine woodworking magazine, and it is directed towards beginners which don't need the additional challenge of catching and working around type errors.

Because I liked the project, I skipped directly to the last project, the low file cabinet. The project starts out with an explanation of dimensions for the project, but for some reason leaves out a few of the key dimensions on the drawings. Then the text references photographs, but for some reason the photos don't match the text, or are not sequenced in the right order. Also, a few of the dimensions in the text are simply not correct, and unless you carefully study the provided dimensions in the drawings and make some visual scale estimates on the photos, you will end up with an incorrectly designed project. In spite of the inaccuracies I was able to successfully build the project, but it is imperative you check the drawings, photos, and text carefully and pick the source which provides the most accurate information to complete the project correctly. Not really something a novice woodworker should have to deal with. So I give this book 3 stars, a 4 for concept and a 2 for execution.

The book contains good explanations of terms and techniques but there are a lot of errors in it. Errors in a book for beginners is unacceptable. It's hard enough to figure out the difference between a dado and a rabbet without being given wrong directions. Take the first project for instance. The first step in the project tell you to cut the wrong piece of wood. The author tells you to buy 1x3, 1x4, etc. wood. The dimensions given for the cuts, however, are for wood that is 1/2" thick. 1x wood is actually 3/4" thick. Additionally, some of the pictures in the introduction to tools section are mislabeled. I haven't tried any projects after the first one. I'm gunshy now.

I'm just getting into woodworking, and this book was a very timely release. The book's greatest strength is its method of teaching. Unlike most woodworking books I've seen which just throw common techniques for cutting and making joints at you, this book couples that with actually using those techniques. In addition to learning such techniques, other very important skills are taught that you might normally have to look for elsewhere, such as sharpening tools and finishing projects. The progressive projects in the book are ideal, in that you start off very simply and continually build on what you've learned. The book also shows you that you don't need a shop full of high priced tools to build something.

The writing style of Aime is also excellent and very conversational. She seems to be an excellent teacher. I'd give it more stars if I could.

Getting started in woodworking is the ideal book for an introduction to woodworking. The book is written in a concise and clear manner with many helpful color illustrations. The first chapter reviews tools needed for projects in the book (the author does a good job of keeping your initial tool purchases to a minimum) and the second chapter discusses wood related topics. The remainder of the book is hands on project construction. A nice feature is that at the start of each project there is a complete list of tools and wood needed to complete the project. Within each project are skill builder sections that teach skills needed on the project. Skills such as planing, clamping, routing. I can't imagine a better intro to woodworking book exists or that any future book will be better than this one. Lets all hope that volume 2 is in the works!

This is a superb book. In reading it, one gets the feeling of traveling with some one who is comfortable with what they are saying because they know it well. It inspires confidence and trust. It feels like it is coming from some one who is in tune with the material, and delivers the essence simply, directly and concisely. The intent comes through without volume of words or drama. It brings woodworking within the reach of the inexperienced and untrained.
It was only when I was well into the book that I realized that the visuals and the text are so conveniently laid out that I did not even notice the elegance of the flow of thoughts, since it just seemed so natural.
I wish this book had been written earlier because it would have made my woodworking more relaxed and enjoyable. I would probably have focused more on making wood dust and shavings, and on understanding wood, and less on accumulating tools (of dubious utility). I would also have passed on books I have acquired on sub-topics of woodworking that I never seem to make it through.
To the title "Getting Started in Woodworking" it would be appropriate to add "...and catching up with the things you missed out on learning"!

This book is wonderfully accessible to someone who knows very little about woodworking. I have had trouble finding a book that I can actually understand and use. This one has helped me with fundamentals and I was able to complete the box project for a mother's day gift for my mother. It's nice to see that a company like Taunton Press respects the idea of women doing woodworking and is publishing a book like this.

I really like this book. The projects build skills used in later projects. The reason I did not give it 5 stars was the descriptions for some of the steps in project making. I found them hard to follow, requiring several readings. I also think that there is a typo on step one on page 65.

The skill building sections, however, were first rate. I liked the section on hand tool sharpening.

All in all a good book

Mark

I first got this from the library and then after studying it realized I needed to own a copy of my own.

I am a pretty big fan of this book. The author starts out by telling you the ins and outs of the various tools you need to have around the shop; why one tool might be better than another; what sizes of what kinds of chisels to buy and when to buy things as a set; which tools you should spend the money for and which you shouldn't bother with. (Hint: a router features heavily in the last couple projects, but a table saw doesn't make it into any.) In each class of tool she tells you which size and style she finds herself reaching for most often, which when distilled can make a kind of skeleton shopping list for those newbies (such as myself) with a naked workshop.

Once she's introduced you clearly to the tools and basic methods involved in using them successfully, she plunges into projects. First is the simple handmade box, next an Adirondack chair, then later comes a table, a bookshelf, and a drawered cabinet. Each project introduces a simple set of new skills and builds on the skills learned in the preceding projects; it's very like a textbook in that way. In fact the author did teach woodworking classes for many years and it shows.

I bought it because these projects are actually useful; my daughter needs a toybox, which could be an upscaled version of the handmade box once I've made them. We don't have any pool chairs, so the Adirondack chairs will be perfect. The plans for the coffee table, she claims, are easy to upscale if you'd rather have a dining table. Guess what - we have no dining table at the moment. And the bookcases... well, it's my dream to turn my family room into a Craftsman-style library some day.

The book isn't perfect - I think whoever edited it was not a woodworker. I've already found a few disappointing mistakes. In the first instruction ever given, she instructs you to cut the wrong size board (the 3.5' board, when it should have been the 5.5' board), as previously noted in some reviews. In one of the skill-builders (which are strangely inserted randomly throughout the project, instead of being placed handily right before you're going to need them to complete the next step) she instructs you on how to polish your chisels by asking you to buy 8 ascending grits of wet-dry sandpaper and gluing them, one sheet to a side, onto two sheets of glass (you do the math.) Second, because she's been a woodworker for so long she tends to call for fairly specialized tools.... or maybe my local Lowe's is just particularly crappy. (I couldn't find a Japanese backsaw, or panel clamps, or a honing guide for sharpening my chisels.)

Regardless, it is way better than the book that I bought along with it, Woodworking for Dummies, which already assumes that you own all the high-end power tools (such as a planer, etc). I think the errors are easy to work around if you don't trust her blindly, and the step-by-step instruction throughout various skill levels is invaluable. This book is well worth the money spent and I'm glad I stumbled across it.