Woodworking books

[clockwork]

I'm thinking of buying a basic woodworking book. Following are a few I found on Amazon that looked good. What do you experienced folk think for a beginner like me?

Complete Book of Woodworking
The Complete Manual of Woodworking
Woodworking Basics

The third one looks best to me, but 2-5 week delivery, so I may go for the first. Any other suggestions?

[ScottS]

What, specifically, do you want to know how to do? I own a ton of woodworking books... but have never heard of any of the ones you've linked. In my experience, these types of books tend to provide a lot of overview, with few details. To be honest, I think most people would get more out a year-long subscription to Wood or Popular Woodworking. If you have to buy a book, Tauton's "Complete Illustrated Guide" series is pretty good. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery by Gary Rogowski, and The Complete Illustrated guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction by Andy Rae are both good books. I haven't seen The Complete Illustrated Guide to Using Woodworking Tools by Lonnie Bird nor The Complete Illustrated Guide to Working with Wood by Andy Rae, but they might be worth a look. As with most overview books, the Completed Illustrated Guide books tend to be a bit short on details sometimes. They do tend to have lots of very good photos, however.

You might also take a look a Popular Woodworking's on-line manual for their "I Can Do That" column. It's an 80-page PDF available here. Again, it's a pretty basic overview... but it's also free. I believe they expand on the tools or techniques in each montly "I Can Do That" column.

If there are specific things you want to know about, I'd suggest buying books on those specific topics. You'll get a lot more out of a single-subject book than you will out of an overview book. Let me know what you'd like to learn and I can make more specific suggestions...

[clockwork]

Thanks for the feedback, Scott. I was really just looking for some general knowledge. Ideas, examples, how to make certain cuts. I do have one project I'm considering, after I get my cab further along. I want to make a small entertainment center, really just something about 2' high, maybe 4' wide, with some shelves for my electronics. I may also want to create some shelves.

[ChadTower]

I learn a lot of things from books and online sources.  I spend as much of my free time doing that as anything else.  Woodworking, to me, just feels like something best learned from a person in person.  I could be wrong but I'm not getting nearly the amount of comfortable knowledge in books and tutorials that I get for most other tasks.

[ScottS]

Danny Proulx has written some good books on basic furniture construction. Both of his cabinet building books are very good. His "Build Your Own Home Office Furniture" as also reasonably good. If just you want to know how to connect wood together, Gary Rogowski's The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery has quite a bit of info.

You might also buy books specific to the tools you'll use. If you own a tablesaw, Kelly Melher's The Tablesaw Book is highly regarded. Pat Warner and Bill Hylton have both written some excellent books on routers.

Following up on Chad's suggestion: if you have a Woodcraft or Rockler store near you, take a look and see if they offer any classes. The ones in my area are usually reasonably priced and they have a number of classes that teach basic woodworking skills. Classes are usually in the evenings or weekends.

[ChadTower]

Hrm... two locations here, both about 45 minutes away.

[clockwork]

A class isn't a bad idea. I'll look around. Thanks for the suggestions.