The Woodshop - Woodworking for the Regular Guy

Books

Once upon a time, the way you learned woodworking was to apprentice yourself to a master furniture maker, or wood turner, or builder, etc. While this is perhaps the best way to learn the craft, it is difficult for most of us amateur woodworkers to do so. It kind of gets in the way of making a living. Of course, if you make a living at woodworking, more power to you - for the rest of us, we learn an awful lot through books.

Some books are powerful master craftsmen in their own right and able to teach us much. Some books are barely able to put enough sentences together to be worth the paper they are printed on. The reviews here are intended to help sort the good from the bad. Of course, these reviews are only my opinion and the book I find to be abysmal, you may think is the best woodworking book you have ever read. Oh well, that's just the way it works.

This list of books is somewhat self-directed towards the better books. I have only reviewed books that I have read and/or that I own. I always check other reviews before I buy a book, so usually I wind up with good books. Sometimes, though, a clinker comes through. To find out which is which, read on . . .

Magazines

There are many woodworking magazines available, ranging from big, glossy, expensive versions to plain-paper cheap. Of course, "cheap" is a state of mind nowadays - most magazines are not inexpensive.

One way to get around the expense is by subscribing, which usually lowers your per issue cost considerably. The problem? Getting issues that have little-to-nothing that interests you. Also, all magazines tend to repeat themselves eventually. After all, there is just so much you can write about the subject of woodworking. One of my pet peeves is the annual "tool review" issue. Hey, I read it the first time, I don't need you to use another issue to recap. To me, it's like getting one less issue in your subscription.

Personally, I subscribe to a few magazines and check out the others on the newsstand to see if I am missing anything. However, there are some good magazines you may not easily find on the newsstand.

For what it's worth, here's my list. Let me know if I missed a magazine you think is worth reading.

American Woodworker
Fine Woodworking
Popular Woodworking
ShopNotes
Wood Magazine
WoodSmith
WoodWork
Woodworker's Journal