Customer Reviews

Setting Up Your Own Woodworking Shop

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

 

 

I recently read this book and was pleased with its content. It covers all of the basic decisions one must make in setting up a woodworking shop. I particularly liked the way the photos depicted both store-bought items as well as woodworker-created ones. This trend allows one to see fancy expensive benches made in Europe as well as fully functional, creatively constructed benches built on a budget! The only real downside to this book is that its 1993 publication date means that it is starting to look a bit dated. While the photos are of excellent quality, they are all black and white. The tools in the photos were all top of the line in their day, but many are very dated now. All in all though, this is still a viable source of information for the beginning woodworker, or anyone who is looking to outfit a woodworking shop for the first time.

Although I have not completed the book I've gotten to the first 7 chapters and I have not found it that enlightening. Most of the referenced shops are old and out of date. The depth of discussion is common sense at best. For example there is a chapter devoted to dust collection but no information on how to determine which size of collector is needed. Nothing on ducting size, determining static pressure loss, length of run, grounding techniques, etc. All very important in deciding how big a collector to buy and how to install. Yet the title implies it is a how to guide. Again very superficial on most topics covered. No guidance is supplied.

I found this book very helpful for me in setting up my woodshop for the first time. It is well organized, easy to read, and I find that as my range of skills increase, I go back to it again and again looking for new ideas. It offers both in price and function, a wide variety of examples of workbenches, shop layouts, storage alternatives, and shop equipment. I found the many pictures throughout the book, enlightening, interesting, and instructive. If you are just getting started and don't have a good idea on where to begin, this book is a great choice and an excellent value.

Not the best book in the world. I got this as a gift a while ago. I've just recently set up my shop, but this book didn't help at all. He has a few good ideas for jigs toward the end, but the rest is, as someone else reviewed, common sense at best. He really does gloss over a lot of details that should be covered in a good book on this topic. And he spends a LOT of time explaining what I, at least, think are simple things (types of table saws, brands and models (many outdated, as far as I can tell) of many different machines, etc. I have other much, much better books on woodworking. I would not say that this is anywhere near the best of them.

This author has a wonderful writing style - provides information with style and humor. Diagrams, photos, drawings and a superb depth of knowledge from Bill Stankus made this book a great resource. Highly recommend.

This book tries to cover areas that are best left to magazine articles. I was looking for a book on the shop space itself, but this one pays a lot of attention to the tools in a workshop instead. Brands of tools, accessories, and machine-specific set-ups become quickly dated and are not useful to everyone picking up the book. Most woodworker's don't go out, buy all their equipment, clear out the basement, and then start on projects. Unfortunately, this is the assumption the author works under, and it hurts the book's usefulness. The pictures should add something to the text, but many of the pictures take up space (5 pics of one commercial vice?), advertise a specific item, or don't add value (we all know what flexible hose is). A lot of time is spent on the author's personal shop, which isn't particularly innovative or different. I can see lots of shop tours online. Nagyszalanczy's book is a far superior alternative.