Woodworking Basics: Mastering the Essentials of Craftsmanship (Paperback)

by Peter Korn (Author) "WOOD IS SPECIAL for the same reason that it is quickly-it is a natural material that comes from trees..." (more)
Key Phrases: mortising box, mortise thickness, mortise gauge, Randy O'Rourke, Alan Peters (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Based on a two-week course in woodworking fundamentals offered at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Camden, Maine, this book takes a traditional approach to teaching, with the idea that learning basic skills is essential to craftsmanship. In the process, the book covers all the bases, from working with hand tools to cutting dovetails. Over 250 color photos and drawings and two complete projects — a bench and a small cabinet — are included.

About the Author
Korn is the director of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine, which offers hands-on workshops in woodworking.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Taunton; illustrated edition edition (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156158620X
• ISBN-13: 978-1561586202
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,121 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Woodworking > Projects
  #25 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
  #74 in	Books > Home & Garden > How-to & Home Improvements

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good For the Self Taught Woodworker, May 23, 2006

By	Jason T. Amsden (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have found it difficult to find a book with actual exercises to build hand skills in an organized manner. I think many self taught woodworkers have peaks and valleys of skills due to the nature of "solo woodworker" learning (project plans and piece meal magazine articles). Sometimes my inefficient methods have taken more time and wasted more wood than I would care to admit.

This book is based on a course taught at a school under the author's direction. Though I am sure the live course would be vastly superior, I find this book to be an excellent guide. I would not pass it by if you are completely self taught with years of experience and/or successful projects under your belt. It is a great reinforcing tutorial. If I could have done it all over again I would have started with the course or bought this book.

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book first!, July 31, 2006

By	Steven Vela (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having muddled my way through about 6 years as a hobbyist woodworker, I wish I would have found this book first. It provides excellent instruction on basic woodworking techniques, but it also unashamedly recommends the surprisingly few, but high quality tools one needs to produce beautiful furniture. Had I read this book first, literally hundreds of dollars in unnecessary or substandard tools wouldn't be cluttering up my shop today!

Additionally, this book will teach you how to hand and machine cut several woodworking joints using step-by-step narrative and clear, color illustrations. Not only will the book serve the beginning woodworker, but will challenge the more experienced craftsperson to take his or her work to the next level.

I just had the pleasure of taking Peter Korn's class at his school in Maine, and was surprised at how closely it follows this text. While no book can substitute for the interactivity of a two week course, actually going through the process of completing each one of the projects in this book will be time and resources well spent. Even experienced woodworkers would not be wasting their time in going back to the basics and perfecting their techniques and execution.

I highly recommend this book.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of a project book, February 8, 2007

By	Tony - See all my reviews

This book is basically a collection of projects, and then explanations of the various techniques used for each step. Good if you want to make an end table, but not that useful overall. A better book to learn all the different woodworking techniques would be The Complete Manual of Woodworking by Albert Jackson, et. al., which contains everything this does (explained and illustrated much better), and much more.