Customer Reviews

Woodworking for the Serious Beginner

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

 

 

This book, while well-intentioned, is not the best guide for a new woodworker. Somehow the authors lost sight of their target audience (I mean, why call it "for serious beginners" if you're not going to present your material for that group?). A better book by far, whether you are a beginner or more experienced in woodworking, is The Complete Manual of Woodworking by Albert Jackson, et al. Jackson's book is twice as big, has many more illustrations, many more resources for virtually the same money. And it will always be there, with reference material and good solid guidance. This book has a few projects but really does not deliver on helping the beginner, serious or not, become more adept at woodworking.

As a neophyte to woodworking, I found the book helpful in determining what I needed to get started. The suggested order of purchasing tools was helpful in that it made me plan my purchases on the most versatile tools first, without initially spending money on single use or specialty tools. Also, the projects outlined at the end of the book were useful in outfitting my shop

The title really says it. I don't really like woodworking classes, because there never seems to be enough time in each session. Just when you get rolling, it's time to go. This book helped me take steps to get out of the classroom and start creating my own shop at home. I like the fact that the authors not only advised which power tools I needed first, but they reasoned why I didn't need other power tools, some to begin with, some not at all. That's great when you consider the money involved.

Getting two perspectives from the authors (woodworker hobbyist and master woodworker) is nice. I got a sense of learning from true, personal experience. It's not the only book I read in the shop, just part of my foundation. If they came out with another one, I'd read it.

I am a fairly experienced rough carpenter, who is going into finish carpentry more and more for fun. I recently purchased this book without really reviewing its contents. I found the book had some nice start-up projects for a beginner. Though I am probably a bit advanced for this book, I read though it and found some nice tips. I soon plan on building myself a woodworking shop and I just might start off with the workbench, router table and tool cabinet detailed in this book. The only negative, if any, was that the book was a little over-explanitive for me. I guess that is better than under-explanitive. I do wonder though, unless the unexperienced beginner is very patient and doesn't mind having to learn everything from scratch and from a book, how far someone can accomplish these task without any help.

After buying many books, this book was recommended by some of the people in the woodworking news group. Having just bought my first table saw, and not knowing how to use it, this book answered all my questions. The projects are easy to follow and made learning the basics easy. I have made everything except the router table which I am working on now. The only advice that was missing is "don't buy your lumber at the local home improvement store".

This is an excellent book for the beginning woodworker. The strongest section, and my reason for buying this book, is an introductory one on buying tools. The authors are very opinionated here, and urge the reader which tools to buy first (a table saw, a router, and a handheld jigsaw), which to avoid entirely (the radial arm saw) and which to defer until later (the band saw, the compound miter saw). The advice is good: start out with the most versatile tools, move to the specialized ones later. Some would disagree with these choices, but I think it is pretty sound advice, which won't steer the beginner wrong. The authors include some good information for choosing the right tools as well. The section isn't as thorough as specialized books like Jim Tobin's Table Saw Magic, but it is broader, and probably good enough for starters.

After a good section on the safe use of power tools, the authors move on to the construction of a small number of simple projects desig!ned to add to the woodworker's shop. The projects range from a simple miter gauge extension to a router table and a router bit cabinet. Whether or not you are interested in these particular projects, reading these sections gives a good background introduction to the use of these tools. You can see how some simple joinery is done, and how the work is measured, glued and clamped. The authors assume no background whatsoever, and the book is well targeted at the rank beginner.

I enjoyed the writing style, which is easygoing and conversational. I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of two viewpoints, one beginner, one expert. I really enjoyed reading this book. That is a rare statement in the world of how-to literature.

Unfortunately, this is not a book which reaches much beyond the beginner level. After the first few projects, most readers will not refer to it again. There are other books which will prove better investments in the long run.

I originally reviewed this in 1999 and this an update to my original review. The Title of this book is misleading. By "Serious" the authors mean that you're willing to spend big bucks and buy all the equipment and setup your workshop as you learn. Well, since you're a "beginner" what if you decide that woodworking is not for you after all? Well, if you use this books' approach, you'll be stuck with thousands of dollars of power tools. If you already have some woodworking experience you may not agree with the authors approach and techniques. This book makes an interesting addition to your library, but it's not a comprehensive treatise on woodworking by any means.

I knew both the authors. Paul was a cabinetmaker, and Pam became a woodworking instructor after apprenticing with Paul. This is not a beginning carpentry book, but more of a beginners guide to cabinetmaking book, so if your expecting to learn about handheld circular saws and brad nailers, find another book. From the person who wrote the review saying that Table saws cause most of the accidents involving woodworking equipment why do you think they spent so much of the book is dedicated to saw safety and jigs? But it is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment to own, especially if your working with large sheetgoods. And quite frankly I think handheld circular saws are even more dangerous, and not all that much cheaper than a portable tablesaw.

Sorry, folks, but this is NOT a real woodworking book. It IS a book which is predominantly about table-saws. Nothing much else, I'm sad to say.

Now, I'm not foolish enough to deny the important, even central position of the table-saw in many a serious woodworker's shop. Furthermore, I have no argument about the sound advice in this book, concerning how to use such a saw safely.

However, I think even serious "machine-heads" who believe timber has to be screamed into submission with fast, loud, dangerous "tailed tools" would find the treatment of "woodworking" in this book to be a little on the biased side, if not downright farcical.

Perhaps I'm a bit out of touch with reality, but these authors don't seem aware that the vast majority of serious woodworking injuries are T-S related. [Not just among beginners, BTW!] Neither do they acknowledge the fact that most serious craftsmen would probably choose the safer, quieter, cleaner and more versatile band-saw in an either-or situation.

Now, if I were a publisher or an editor, and you came up to me with a text aimed at "beginners" and hundreds of B-W photos of tablesaws, mitre guides, stack dado sets, TS blades, motors, push-sticks, extension tables, guards, anti-kickback wheels, etc, etc, etc and a single photo of a chisel, I might suspect you were a TS "fanatic" and didn't really know all that much about woodworking...

I'd probably be right, too, you know!

This is a great source when one is concerned about choosing the right, necessary and useful equipment. It is easy to read and right to the fundamental information. Nonetheless, I find the book should do a better job regarding illustrations and photos. Another potential problem is that the projects in the second part of the book might be quite difficult even for serious beginners. Perhaps, the authors should have included a few inspirational (less demanding) projects besides those ones. Putting those few details aside, I thing I did well in buying this book.