Poll: What are your two best WW books, and what two do you want now?

Hmmm, more difficult to identify the top two that I have. I have to admit that once I have read through a book I rearely go back to it. With that in mind, I would have to say my top two haves are:

1. Fine woodworking back issues on DVD. By a large margin, I find myself most often looking up a reference to a past article here. The ability to bookmark articles for future reference is a great feature.

2. Woodturning with Ray Allen by Dale Nish. Segmented turning is something I would like to try and I keep digging this one out for ideas or inspiration.

My top two wants are:

1. Taunton’s Complete Illustrated Guide to Jigs & Fixtures: Sandor Nagyszalanczy. You can never have enough jig ideas.

2. Greene & Greene: Darrell Peart. I have been learning about G&G ove rthe past couple years and am a big fan of Darrell’s work.

-- Steve - Impatience is Expensive

Measure twice,cut once. Old book been around forever. Has lots of good info in it.
I have several books I refer to.
I’ll admit, I used to get a lot of books at “Half Price Books” where I used to live. I choke on the price of new ones now so I usually use the library.

-- Life is good.

Nick Engler’s Woodworking Encylopedia, or at least i think that is the name off the top of my head ;-)) covers everything you need to know. Not sure about #2.

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

Howie and Topamax: on which list to the books you mentioned go?

sras—Thanks for the helpful response.

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

The Best woodworking book IMO is “Understanding Wood” by Bruce Hoadley, Taunton press. It reads more like a textbook but is full with so much info you’ll have to read it three times to absorb all of it.

Another great book is “Understanding Wood Finishing” by Bob Flexner. Finishing is the most important step in woodworking. If you have a nice piece with a terrible finish, people will notice it right away. However, even a decent piece will look great if it’s finished properly.

Other great books if you can find them are:

“The Chairmaker’s Workshop” Drew Langsner
“Contemporary American Woodworkers” Michael Stone
“Repairing and Using Classic Woodworking Tools” Mike Dunbar
“The Nature and Art of Workmanship” David Pye
“Chairmaking & Design” Jeff Miller
“The Woodwright’s Guide working with wedge and edge” Roy Underhill
“The Soul of a Tree” George Nakashima
“Workbenches” Chris Schwarz
“The Handplane Book” Garret Hack
“Hand Tool Essentials” Popular Woodworking
“A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook” James Krenov

I can go on and on….

Mike

I’d put Engler on the haves, it will replace a lot of others. It covers a lot!! :-)

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

Haves for me
The author is Jim Toplin, most libraries have it.

-- Life is good.

My two favorites:
Shop Notes “Tools and Jigs” contains plans for shop built drum sander and panel saw I plan to build and a wealth of other sleds and jigs.
Taunton Press “Shop Improvements” has some great accessories, jigs and fixtures for the router and cabinets and boxes for tool storage.
Popular Woodworking “Hand Tool Essentials” defines techniques for tool sharpening, holding, and use that I haven’t found anywhere else.
OOPS! I know that was three, but I wouldn’t want to part with any one of these.
Two that I want the most right now are:
“The Workbench Design Book” by Chris Schwarz of Popular Woodworking, because I just built a nice bench and would like this book as a source for ideas for improvement. Also, because I like to read anything by Chris.
Lastly, I am looking for a good reference for wood turning as I am a complete newbie in this area; haven’t even got my new lathe out of the box yet. Will be watching this thread to see what others think.

For turning newbies: Taunton’s Complete Illustrated Guide to Turning by Richard Raffan:” http://tinyurl.com/2ef5rhj":http://tinyurl.com/2ef5rhj

Second: Choosing and Using Hand Tools by Andy Rae: http://tinyurl.com/2ctudjq

Lots of others; I really can’t claim two favorites.

-- http://barbsid.blogspot.com/