Customer Reviews

Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: A Step-By-Step Guide to Essential Woodworking Techniques (Bk. 1 & 2)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently starte re-reading this book and I was surprised at how much I picked up from a 2nd reading. The book is full of practical advice on the use of both power tool and hand tools. There's a lot of gems of information in there. And it's a joy to find them.

Of course, a book can only describe how to do something. You'll need to put in the practice required to actually learn the technique. For example, this book has excellent descriptions of how to make full dovetails, half blind dovetails, and full blind dovetails all by hand. But you'll need to put in quite a few hours of practice time before your dovetails look as good as his (I'm still working on mine). I once heard Frank Klaus lecture that we should all take 4 boards 4 feet long and dovetail them together. They'll look terrible on our first try so saw off the ends and dovetail them again, and again, and again. By the time you really know how to make dovetails you'll have a nice little box to hold your shoe polish.

Overall this is an excellent overview of woodworking. My only warning would be to think twice about his power tool advice. There are several pictures which show him doing what I consider to be potentially dangerous things on his table saw. In the chapter about sharpening a hand saw he demonstrates how to build a jig for that purpose. This picture of him "squaring up a seam" on his table saw while holding the piece with his hand scares the hell out of me.

But even with that caveat, I still think that every woodworker should own this book.

Master Tage Frid has put in these books all anyone would ever need to become a very competent woodworker.

Although I had been doing a lot of work before, once I got his books my level of confidence went to the stratosphere. I now tackle very complex projects using mostly hand tools without the slightest problem.

He not only provides excellent advice but also does so in a manner that is easy to understand and makes a lot of sense.
Best text on general woodworking I've ever seen. And I've read most of them, even the very old ones.

I recently found myself getting interested in woodworking with the purchase of a new table saw and bought a couple of books, including this title. It's impressive and an extremely good book for a beginner to purchase.

The first section (3/4 of the book) shows you not only every way to join two pieces of wood, but shows you how to do each joint with different tools. So if you have a table saw but not a router, you can still make each of the joints. This book also has some great (and very simple) jigs to help get started. The second part is a combination of information about bending wood, finishing, etc. Although not as comprehensive as the first section, it still has some valuable information.

Highly recommended to anyone.

This book was suggested to me with the words "Anyone who wants to be a woodworker instead of a hobbiest needs this book". That's a pretty strong recommendation, but the quality of this book can back it up. It's a plain looking book, it's full of useful information instead of pretty pictures, but Tage's descriptions of woodworking task paint their own picture. For everything from "how to hand cut a full blind dovetail" to "how tosharpen your saw" you'll come back to this book again and again.

I am a sort of begginner ive been in shop class, but i never really knew anything about real woodworking and fine joinery... this book taught me all that and more.... it is seriously the best ... i have ever spent, the book might be aged, but it doesnt matter, everything is explained very clearly, the diagrams are real nice, and as for the pictures, even though they are in black and white, it really oesnt matter, there is not too many or too few of them and they serve their purpouse perfectly, i can not stress how much i recomend this book to any novice wood worker, its really a tool for learning, and is enjoyable to read through, although it can very easily be used as a reference manual. all the jigs he shows are easy to make and the directions for how to make them are really good, he really coveres everything you need to know, from choosing and preparing stock, to finishing it, it is all in there.

I bought this book, when recommended for reading for a wood furniture class at Edinboro University. I'm glad I did. It is very well written, and the easy to follow text and pictures allow even amateur woodworkers (me), to accomplish some very nice projects. Tage Frid is from the old school, and in this book shows several different ways to do the same operation, based on the tools that are handy to the reader. Buy this book, add it to your workshop library, and enjoy sage advice from one of the worlds best and most respected artisans.

I refer to this single book more than any of the other 10 books I own on the subject. Excellent info - when you want to find out how to do it right, grab this book. I could not get a consistent edge on a cabinet scraper until I got this book and used Frid's method. Good pictures and explanations. No wasted pages.

This book teaches all the basics of joinery and usually tells how to do everything two ways, with or without power tools. He gives little tips that you would only know if you talked to someone with many years' experience. Great photos. He's got pretty goofy preferences on handsaws though. I've rented this one twice, and still like and need to read it. I'm going to cough up the dough and buy it. Tage Frid is a sharp guy and the book is easy to understand.

Tage Frid presents a book that is well organized and insightful. I thought I had a good working knowledge of wood movement and joinery, but Frid offers some points that will help you make furniture that will last generations. The text does contain black and white pictures that can be hard to see, however, if you follow along in the text it will be clear what is being depicted. To address an earlier comment, this is an instruction manual for people interested in the finer points of woodworking and IS NOT a book for "crafty" people who think it would be chic to have a book about woodworking. Frid has been working wood for more than 50 years and his experience and expertise show through in this well written text. If you are interested in making fine pieces of furniture, then this book is a must read!

This book gives a thorough grounding in the techniques for joining and further info on working and finishing. While the author does express his bias, he does review other tools and techniques; and his bias is pretty good. Even the very experienced craftsman who has not reviewed his techniques in a while can benefit from the down to earth and pragmatic methods Frid discusses.