Beginner Reference

[Paulcanbuildthat]

So what do folks recommend as good reference books (the kind you refer to over and over) for the new woodworker?

I'll start with my favorite: "The Complete Manual of Woodworking" by Albert Jackson, David Day, and Simon Jennings

[Rugby2]

I've had the same for over twenty years and still refer back to it from time to time.

[Peter]

Hi all I've just written a book called "Woodworking for Everyone" which will be in bookstores in South Africa and ebook version online from May 2014. Please visit the website below for more info
www.woodworkingbook.co.za

[Paul]

"The Great Book of Woodworking Tips" has been pretty helpful.

[Jim]

I guess it depends on what you want help with, but there are a lot of very good free books available on Gutenberg.org. I've reviewed a few of them which contain links to where you can get them.

Woodwork Joints: How They Are Set Out, How Made and Where Used; With Four Hundred Illustrations is an excellent way to learn them. It's old, so you have to figure out how to cut them with modern tools. Still, I gave it 5 stars & reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Manual Training for the Rural Schools; A Group of Farm and Farm Home Woodworking Problems is also free & has a lot of simple projects. I reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jim]

One of my favorite references is Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner. No matter how nicely I build it, if I don't get the finish right, it looks like crap. Flexner takes a lot of the guesswork out of that. Even has a great section on using scrapers. I gave it a 5 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Robert]

The Joint Book by Terrie Noll looks like a good one for a beginner. I got my copy for $6 on Amazon.

[Jim]

I found Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder in my library's audio book selection. I thought it would be interesting & it sure was. It was great to see what he discovered by trying to learn some DIY. It's more than just being handy, it's an entirely new way of looking at the world. I gave the book 4 stars in my review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[A.]

During more than 25 years of operating a full-time woodworking business and building hundreds of wood projects for customers, I learned many time and labor saving methods while still keeping my customers satisfied.

I've written books about the business but I just finished a book especially for beginning and novice woodworkers. The book is Woodworking Simplified Book 1: Your How-To Guide for Making Beautiful and Functional Projects. Details are at: http://woodworkingsimplified.awilliam... .

This first book of a series to include four more, has complete instructions, materials lists, drawings, and even exploded views for six functional home projects. There will be two more books with 6 projects each and two more related books in the series.

I believe this book and series will help get beginning woodworkers started building quality projects quickly and safely.

Bill