Mouldings In Practice: A Very Short Book Review

Mouldings In Practice, by Matthew Sheldon Bickford, was under the tree this year. I haven't gotten far in the book yet, but I already love it.

This one quote shows why:

"Nine years ago I was excited to look at all of the things I could do with my router.

Now look at all of the things I can do with my hands."

Amen to that brother!

And that underlying sentiment is why this book is awesome - that, and because he spells "mouldings" with the "u", like I do.

More Exciting Shop Changes - and some thoughts on books.

Progress! Wahoo! It's really starting to feel like a shop again!

The big ex-government desk was moved into place (thanks to my brothers) and became the focal point for the "office" end of the shop. Three new shelves were installed and the ever growing woodworking library was relocated to the shop, where it belongs.

It's pretty amazing the energy that those books possess - when I step through the doorway they just turn my head and make me smile. Have I mentioned that I love books? It was pretty cool, just yesterday I was watching the latest Woodwright's Shop on PBS and Roy was talking about influential woodworking books. Of the books he discussed, I have all but one in my collection.

I love learning, and am thankful for the internet and all I have learned through it, but nothing compares to holding a book in your hands. Plus, with older books, there's the whole "Who has held this book before me?" question to ponder and you have a tangible link to the past. It's a little hard to explain maybe, but it's similar to the difference between electric baseboard and a woodstove - both will heat the room, but there's just no confusing the two energy wise.

If you are a complete book geek like me, you may want to check out the detailed list of my library: click on the "View My List-O-Books" link in the left navbar or just click here. As always, questions or comments about books are highly encouraged.

Anyway, here are the shots:






There's really only one drawback to the library; it occupies the same wall where I would like to add a window in the future. Here's what I'm missing in that department:


Hmm, I might just have to figure out a way to have both...

More Books...

Just wanted to mention that I've updated my List-O-Books link in the left sidebar. It's under the Woodworking Library heading. I also made the link font bigger (thanks Josh!). As always, my favorites are in bold. If you see anything you'd like more information about, feel free to post a comment here or email me.

Here are a few of the latest additions to the library with accompanying notes:

How to Make Mission Style Lamps and Shades - I've been eyeing this book for at least a year at a local used book store. As I think I am getting ready to try my hand at making a lamp, I thought this book might prove useful.

Making Chair Seats from Cane, Rush, and Other Natural Materials

The Craft of Chair Seat Weaving with Cane, Rush, Splint and Rope - These were more of a long range purchase. I'm sure at some point I will want to learn how to do this, but the books were available now.

The Best of Fine Woodworking: Beds and Bedroom Furniture - Full of good ideas. Most of the techniques are power tool oriented, but I bought this more for the design information.

Country Pine Furniture - This is a book written for the "collector" - I have a number of these in my library. The text of these books I find frequently strange, sometimes interesting, and occasionally flat out wrong (IMHO). They do however, tend to include nice photographs which I love to pore over.

Williamsburg Reproductions - Now this one is really odd. It's a catalog from the early 1970's. It covers reproductions of everything: furniture, china, wallpaper, lamps, trivets, candles, silver, pewter, paint etc. While it does have some photographs of historical pieces (including a paneled chest which also appears in the Country Pine book above - synchronicity!) it is almost entirely devoted to listing and selling reproductions - but I still found it an interesting potential resource for ideas.

Books Are Like Clamps - You Can Never Have Too Many!

A recent post about "Top Ten" woodworking books on the Village Carpenter got me thinking, and digging through my library trying to come up with my list. In the process, I discovered I was a little out of date on my List-O-Books. The official count is now over two hundred books!

They're all good (the "bleh" one's don't make the cut) and trying to come up with a list of just ten was hard! I'm sure I will change this later, but here's what I came up with for now - with a short rational for each:

1. The Woodwright's Eclectic Workshop - Roy Underhill

"How to start with a tree and an axe and make one thing after another until you have a house and everything in it." If I had to pick just one of Roy's books, I think it would be this one. It has everything I love about his writing: deep knowledge, excellent writing, history, culture, humor, and a strong sense of the interconnectedness of everything. But really, ALL his books are "Top Ten" material.

2. Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings - Aldren Watson

One of the first hand tool woodworking books I read. The information is great (it has a few quirks)and his pencil illustrations are fantastic! For an added bonus, you can have fun trying to find the names, or initials, of the people listed on the acknowledgement page hidden in the illustrations throughout the book.

3. Traditional Woodworking Handtools: An Illustrated Reference Guide For the Woodworker - Graham Blackburn

A fascinating, detailed guide to hand tools and their use. It makes a good companion book to Watson's Hand Tools, especially since it covers moulding planes, something Watson left out.

4. Craftsmen of Necessity - Christopher Williams

A great book focusing on the fading (or vanished, it was published in 1974) connection between man and his environment, with a focus on architecture, agriculture, boat building and various other crafts. It examines the impact of machine technology replacing direct craftsman/environment interaction.

5. The Nature and Art of Workmanship - David Pye

A serious, almost academic in a philosophical way, discussion on, well, art and workmanship. If you are serious about craftsmanship, you need to read this book. It is kind of a highbrow cousin to the more folksy Craftsmen of Necessity.

6. Woodworking with Kids - Richard Starr

Solid hand tool information and truly inspirational photos of kids and their projects. I wish I had access to a teacher like Starr when I was a kid.

7. The Workshop Book: A Craftsman's Guide to Making the Most of Any Work Space - Scott Landis

This is one of those books I keep going back to. I love poring over the photographs of woodworker's shops. I like trying to identify the tools in the background, spot interesting storage ideas, and just trying to learn as much as possible about the craftsman by looking at his space. I always notice something new.

8. A Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planes 4th edition - Emil and Martyl Pollack and Thomas L. Elliott

If you are interested in old American planes, their makers, and their place in history, then this is the book. It is written more for the collector, than the user, but it's the first place I go when I'm seeking information about the moulding plane I'm about to put back to work.

9. Keeping the Cutting Edge: Setting and Sharpening Hand and Power Saws - Harold H. Payson

The best single source of saw sharpening information I've come across. Too bad he strays into power saws :)

10. How to Work with Tools and Wood: For the Home Workshop - The Author

A solid "How To" hand tool book, mixed with subtle sales pitches, campy illustrations, and a surprising amount of philosophy. For a more complete discussion see my post Your Boy Is Safe When He Is Working With Tools And Wood.

Roy Underhill's New Book

I just want to celebrate that Roy Underhill (reverently referred to by many hand tool enthusiasts as "Saint Roy") is coming out with a new book! Yes! His last book, The Woodwright's Apprentice was published in 1996, so it has been much too long! The new book is titled The Woodwright's Guide: Working Wood with Wedge and Edge. It looks like it will be available in November. I can't wait!

Details on the new book are available at the University of North Carolina Press website.

If you have seen my library link, you have probably figured out that I love books. Well, I can honestly say that Roy's books are my all-time favorites. If you have never read Roy's books, you are missing out on the best of the best! Seriously, I have read them all multiple times and continue to enjoy and learn from them. If you ever have the chance to see Roy live - do it! I was lucky enough to spend three days listening, watching and learning from Roy at a seminar in Anchorage and my woodworking has never been the same again.

Your Boy Is Safe When He Is Working With Tools And Wood

Okay, this was going to be my first book “review”, but it has turned out to be more of a book ramble. The book is How to Work With Tools and Wood: For the Home Workshop, published in 1927 by the Stanley Rule & Level Plant.

I have no idea who actually wrote the book, and the signature of the foreword is no help at all…

I’m sure that one of the main reasons that Stanley published this book was to help sell tools. And yet there is more to it than that. There is a lot of discussion of aesthetic, craftsmanship and beauty in here too. I’d really like to know who wrote it.

This book is great for three reasons: 1. it smells good 2. it is tremendously campy and 3. it is full of great hand tool information.

First the smell:

What can I say, I love the way old books smell (NOT the moldy ones!). For me, it is a mix of my Grandmother’s attic; the old, old books I was always shelving in Drew University’s library; and summers in Vermont, reading an old book in the sun.

Now the camp:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

I don’t think I need to say anything more.

Finally, the hand tool content:

It’s a great introduction to hand tool work that starts with a chapter titled “All of Us Can Use Tools” which addresses confidence and rational. I particularly like the hand tool philosophy stated here:

“The fact is that almost anything which we use can be made stronger, more simple, more beautiful, by loving hands than it can by machinery. There is no reason why a kitchen shelf may not be fundamentally beautiful. There is no reason why a door cannot be hung so that it swings at the touch of a hand and is beautiful because it is simple and rugged.

If you will learn to make an ordinary mortise, to form a dovetail joint, a halved joint, or to plane the edge of a board so that it is square; if you will learn to drive a nail straight, to put heavy screws in oak without splitting the board, and handles on a drawer so that they are straight: your work in wood should be beautiful.”

And:

“…You can go to a store and buy a candlestick complete and ready for use, varnished and polished, for from 10 cents to $5.00. You can make that candlestick yourself with perhaps no saving in money. But when you have made it and it is standing on the mantelpiece you have always before you as you look at it the memory of a sharp tool cutting into well seasoned wood. Through your hands, and your hands alone, the world is richer by the existence of that object that you can hold in your hand.

That is the satisfaction which the artisan in paint, the artisan in words, or the artisan in steel, stone, glass or wood feels. There is something priceless about it. You have a value that no man can take from you. Let the candlestick become blackened and charred, let it be broken by careless hands and still the joy of its creation cannot be taken from you, it is yours for the length of your life.”

Pretty deep stuff for old Stanley. It seems to me, that today, most “How To” books focus on the techniques (the actual “how to…”) and don’t involved themselves in the “Why” like this book tries to do – albeit a little strongly sometimes.

There is some very solid hand tool information. Topics covered include: a basic set of hand tools, tool chest (“…which is their respected domicile.”), bench, basic layout, hand sawing, cross-cutting vs. ripping etc., how to set and use a plane, truing up stock, boring with a brace and bit, mortising, how to bore and countersink screws, various work holding devices (including Stanley’s funky little Bench Bracket), the advantages of working from a detailed set of plans (available from Stanley…), finishing, sharpening, and several basic projects.

Throughout the book, illustrations are used to clarify or explain key points. Here is a classic:

One of the photographs from this book was also used by Stanley to advertise their project plans and chests of tools. Here it is, thanks to: http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/

If you are interested in hand tool basics and/or enjoy reading old books, I highly recommend this book. It comes up frequently on eBay, doesn't go for too much, is full of good information, amusing photos and, at least for me, great philosophy.

Updated Library Link

I've updated the library link (click on the "View My List-O-Books" link in the left-hand nav bar - or just click here). I had a few new books to add, a few to remove (lingering powertool content) and I decided to indicate favorites.

The books with titles in bold are my favorites - based on various criteria. Some are favorites based on - well, being my favorites! I go back to these books again and again and just reread for pleasure as well as learning. Others I don't read much anymore, but they played a pivotal role in my development as a human-powered woodworker (aka: Neanderthal) and thus hold a special place in my heart.

Anyway, I am planning future posts on specific books, but who knows when that will happen. In the meantime, if anyone wants more information, review or opinion on any book in the list, just let me know - I am always happy to talk about books, especially woodworking books!