I’d like to get some feedback about the Complete Illustrated Guide books available through the Taunton Press. In particular the one called “Shaping” by Lonnie Bird. I do own the one called Cabinet Casing Construction and have used this as a reference while attaching Cabinet doors with no mortise butt hinges, and I found it to be very helpful in that the author furnished a jig for inserting the doors. This made the job easier and enjoyable.
I would appreciate any comments.
P.S.
I just received a notice from my local book store saying the publisher is out of stock, must be a large demand!
Butch
Replies
I bought the set a couple of months ago, and have enjoyed going through them. There's a good mix of power and hand tool technigues. Also the books often cover multiple methods for achieving the same results. The layout is clearly organized, but the text is a little on the sparse side. Because they put the text and the photos on the same page (a plus because I hate flipping back and forth when the text mentions a photograph on some other page), there are areas in the books where an entire column or even a half a page are left blank.
"Shaping Wood" is probably the most ambitious of the three volumes, as the scope ranges from milling and moulding to carving, turning, and bending. I was impressed with the treatment of the more advanced subjects like turning and carving. As the complexity of the subject increased, so did the number of photographs to illustrate it clearly. The book doesn't settle for being just a general overview; it can get pretty specific with the subject matter like how to carve a flame finial.
I can definitely get use out of all three books for years to come. If you consider buying on-line, Lee Valley has the lowest price I've seen. Amazon is about $10 more. However, if you want to support your local bookstore, I wholeheartedly endorse that as well (especially if they are an independent).
I agree wholeheartedly with Ricky's assessment of the "Complete Illustrated..." books.
In another thread, there was a discussion of "classic" books, such as Tage Frid's and Ernest Joyce's excellent guides. These older books, and others (including Lincoln's veneering manual), are extremely comprehensive and tend to be text-heavy. The "Complete Illustrated..." books don't offer much information that hasn't been covered in many other places, but they are also comprehensive and are written/illustrated in a style and language that is somewhat more accessible to beginning woodworkers. They may have a place on your shelf.
The "Complete Illustrated..." books have been discussed in several other threads... a search of Knots will probably bring up lots of opinions.
David (an incurable reader)"The world that was not made is not won by what is done" -- Mundaka Upanishad
Thanks Ricky
I appreciate your comments and plan to add Lonnie Birds Shaping Wood guide to my library. I'll have to investigate Lee Valley and Amazon.com for their supplies.
Butch
I liked the Furniture and Cabinet one the best. The Joinery especially seemed like a rehash of Tage Frid's first book. The shaping wood was somewhat helpful, but most of the stuff I already knew, or wasn't interested in (I don't carve). They did seem like good books, and mostly well illustrated and clear, but if you read a lot of books on woodworking, you will probably have already heard most of it.
Tom
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