Regular marked price: $29.99Discount Price: $19.79
Cost Savings: $10.20 (34%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 745
EAN num: 9781558708402
ISBN number: 1558708405
Label: Popular Woodworking Books
Manufacturer: Popular Woodworking Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 144
Printing Date: November 07, 2007
Publishing house: Popular Woodworking Books
Sale Popularity Level: 37458
Studio: Popular Woodworking Books
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Every workbench should allow the woodworker to easily work the edges, faces and ends of boards, however most benches built during the last 100 years fail on at least one of these tasks. Workbenches is the only book that shows the reader how to design and build a good workbench and most importantly, how to use it in their shop for all sorts of tasks. This book dives deep into the historical records of the 18th and 19th centuries and breathes new life into traditional designs that are simpler than modern benches, easier to build and perfect for both power and hand tools. Two venerable designs are provided as basic skeletons and the knowledge presented shows woodworkers how to design custom workbenches, perfect for their style and method of woodworking.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
The positives for this book have been well-covered in other reviews, so I won't dwell on them here: if you're looking for a detailed explanation of what Chris Schwarz thinks makes an ideal workbench, this is it. Unlike other books, he backs up each of his choices with an in-depth analysis of that choice, which is very valuable.
Now for the downsides. The very first is the font/typeface used. They must have anticipated that a good deal of the buyers of this book would be middled-aged. That being the case, why on earth did they choose a font size so small, and a type so light? For me, this is not a fun, relaxing book to read, not because of the content, but because, even under a bright reading light, the reading process is downright uncomfortable. I don't have this issue with any other book I can think of, even cheap paperbacks. It's sort of ironic fora book that rejects the trendy and embraces the pragmatic and functional in its subject matter would do the exact opposite in its choice of something as basic as the font used.
A second nit is the misleading emphasis on Southern Yellow Pine (SYP). In the body of the text, Schwarz makes they case that bench builders can sucessfully use locally available construction lumber to build a very nice, economical bench. But there is a very prominent sidebar (in a larger and more readable font than the main body, BTW) that espouses the use of SYP, without emphasizing enough the fact that this advice is really only appropriate to the South and East regions of the country; i.e., where Schwarz lives. As a result, there are posts on the woodworking forums from frustrated woodworkers in regions like the West Coast, who go looking for SYP, and are unable to find it. The prospect of having woodworkers special-ordering SYP into regions where it is not normally marketed, and paying the considerable expense to do so, goes against the spirit of the book, and could have been prevented, methinkst, by discussing other regional choices a bit more, like Douglas Fir on the West Coast.
Rated by buyers 
-
ONE OF THE BEST WOODWORKING BOOKS I'VE EVER READ, HANDS DOWN. BEING AN ELECTRICIAN, I AM ONLY AN AVERAGE WOODWORKER, WORKING IN MY SPARE TIME MAINLY. I HAVE, HOWEVER, READ MANY BOOKS ON WOODWORKING AND NO BOOK HAS BEEN CLEARER AND MORE ENJOYABLE TO READ. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ANY WOODWORKER, ADVANCED, BEGINNER, OR LIKE ME SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE. OPEN YOUR MIND, READ THIS BOOK, MAKE A BENCH WITH YOUR OWN TWO HANDS, AND SEE WHAT IT'S POSSIBLE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH A FEW HAND TOOLS, A LITTLE HARD WORK, AND YOUR IMAGINATION.
Rated by buyers -
There are a number of excellent reviews of this book, to which I've nothing to add.
Simply, I own all the workbench books. This is in a class by itself. And not simply if you are hand tool obsessed - the ideas described are equally applicable to power tools.
Schwarz quotes Roubo a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if in a 100 years people refer to Schwarz in the same way.
Rated by buyers -
Starting from the basic elements of how a woodworker performs his craft to a review of several of the most popular design styles, Mr. Schwarz provides the history and the information for you to make your own decisions regarding the most personal of woodworking tools, the workbench.
Rated by buyers -
Yes, I really do rate this as the best woodworking book of all time. That said, as a matter of disclosure, I must admit I have not read EVERY woodworking book ever written, so it is admittedly possible there is another one out there that I would rate even higher, but I doubt it. I have read hundreds of these things and like this one the best of all.
Now obviously my claim that this is the best woodworking book of all time is a darned strong claim, and strong claims require pretty strong evidence to back them up. This is what has slowed me up on writing this review. First, I'm not as good a writer has Chris is, so however I try, I'm afraid my review won't do his book justice. Second, I got this book when it very first came out, and just loved it immediately, but I wasn't sure exactly why. Since then, I have re-read the book several times and I think I now have it figured out.
This really isn't a book about workbenches, but rather a book about workholding. Now workholding might seem like a rather pedestrian subject, certainly not as exciting as the latest golly gee whilikers gadget or jig, but it is fundamental. Like sharpening, good workholding makes learning new skills or learning to use new tools far, far easier than it otherwise would be. I would go further and say that the truly fundamental skills are those that make good work even possible. And, after having been a hobbyist woodworker for over 25 years, I have slowly come to realize that workholding is indeed one of those fundamental skills.
Now the fact that this book is well-written and addresses what I consider an issue of fundamental importance in woodworking may explain why I rate it highly. Indeed, when I mentally review my list of favorite woodworking books, the ones I keep returning to, they are nearly all concerned with developing fundamental skills in such things as tool preparation, sharpening, etc. But this fact alone does not explain why I rate this book to be at the very top of a select list of extremely good books. What brings this book to the very very top of the list is the fact that the author is, so far as I am aware, the very first to present a systematic, deeply thought-out, and well-researched treatise on this subject. Thus, Chris gets extra points for having the genius to recognize how fundamentally important this topic is.
The book is virtually encyclopedic in its treatment of workholding for hand-tool woodworking. The author does not, however, address the needs of either the luthier or the patternmaker. And I suppose Chris really should master these two vocations in his spare time so he will have additional material for the second edition. Neither does Chris address workholding and set-ups for machine woodworking (or for machinists on milling machines for that matter). But he does do an absolutely superb job of presenting workholding methods and the equipment necessary (workbenches and their accessories) to implement them that are useful for hand tool work in cabinetmaking.
The very first time I read this book, I kept exclaiming to myself: "Yes, yes! that's exactly it!" My reason for this reaction is that I've been working for years on a modern commercially available workbench. I've made all kinds of stuff with this bench including entry doors, interior doors, and a full set of kitchen cabinets. But I've found the workbench somewhat awkward to use and inadequate for much of my work, and I've gradually been becoming more and more dissatisfied with it. I've considered replacing it numerous times, but I never could quite get motivated enough to do the hard thinking and research necessary to figure out what features would make a workbench work for me and why.
Chris has done all that hard work for us. The book is almost scholarly in nature (as a Professor in my day job, I appreciate that!), and is clearly deeply and thoroughly thought out. It is indeed impressive. One conjecture I have since reading this book is that Chris must be largely a self-taught woodworker who did not learn "the one best way" at his master's knee. Only someone who had to figure out things for himself could possibly have had the idea for this book. Only someone who was deeply committed and quite intelligent could possibly have written it.
The book is profusely illustrated with photographs, and that is the source of my only minor complaint. Sometimes photographs obscure relevant details rather than bring them out as do well executed line drawings. (To see an example of the sort of line drawings to which I refer, please take a look at any of David Charlesworth's books.) And I am afraid that this book could have benefited from having a few more line drawings in place of some of the photographs.
Find other books like this one:
