Shop Improvements: Great Designs from Fine Woodworking: Outstanding Ideas from the World's Finest Woodworkers (Great Designs-Fine Woodworking) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

How many of these books am I going to buy before I wise up? Another of the seemingly endless stream of retreads from Fine Woodworking Magazine, this one is not for 99% of the home workshops. While I'm sure the plans included are workable and helpful for those few who truly need them it is lacking in practical application.

There are too many articles to list them (and the publishers don't use Amazon's "Look Inside" feature for this one). It starts with the always helpful "Tilt-Top Shop Cart Handles Plywood"; includes the old stand-by "Tablesaw Dovetail Jig"; with the always needed "A Jig for Cutting Curved and Tapered Reeds" for your router; and concludes with "A Dovetailed Tool Cabinet".

Perhaps I'm too cynical and I do know that Fine Woodworking caters to the advanced user, but this one is maybe their most superfluous.

And maybe that's why no one else has reviewed it.

As a premier fan of Fine Woodworking, my father subscribed since its beginning in 1975. After college, I too subscribed and have bought many of Taunton's books. For some time now ( about a decade ) I have been disappointed in some of Taunton's works. As another reviewer said, some of this "is just a repackaged version" of previous articles.

That is NOT true of this new book.

I am delighted to report that this book represents everything that made Taunton great in their heyday. Now, the presentation is in full color, with photos and REAL illustrations.

If you read any of my other Taunton book reviews, you will note that I think illustrations are often better than photos or even video for demonstrating certain ideas; especially ideas about design and function. With a good illustration, we "see inside" any construction, as if we had "x-ray vision." Not only is that better for understanding how mechanisms work, motionless images allow our eyes to wonder around the page according to our brain's needs. Internal components are not obscured by the two-dimensional opacity of photographs, nor are we mesmerized by the flickering-moving images. Videos are great for certain things, but videos do not reveal the internal components of any furniture, jig or fixture. Only professional draftsmen and illustrators can show us that.

Well, Congratulations Taunton! You are doing that beautifully once again!

Not only that, but this book is NOT just a collection of previously published articles. It is a well organized collection of previous material, yes. But now the presentation is more detailed, more thorough and beautifully done.

Further, this book lives up to its subtitle: "Outstanding ideas from the world's finest woodworkers." It is a well-chosen collection of clever jigs, fixtures, benches, carts, cabinets and gadgets, ALL of which will save woodworkers time and money by solving problems. Even though no one will use every idea herein, each idea is useful and could be modified for almost any woodworker's needs.

I have only had the book a short while but here is what I most love about it:
---The famous Taunton editing style. Verbiage is personal, casual, but terse and efficient. They give enough pertinent info, but only the necessary facts; no dross, no fluff, no filler.

---Gorgeous professional photography, worthy of the Taunton brand.

--- Professional illustrations of the same high quality that built Fine Woodworking's reputation.

---Now in full color, this is a lavish and deluxe treatment.

--- A great assortment of project ideas

--- Accurate dimensions, but only when they are needed. (Most woodworkers know... we have to change dimensions for our individual needs, so if you are looking for drafted shop-drawings or blueprints, look elsewhere.)

That brings up an important point: Another reviewer points out that this is for "advanced" woodworkers.
Perhaps... depending on how you define "advanced."

True, a complete novice will not understand how some of these projects are made, or even why he would want to make them. But here is the genius of the Taunton publishing paradigm: ---they taylor content to the reader.

Obviously, every practicing woodworker needs more storage, organization and efficient use of space. So in that sense, HALF the material fits EVERY woodworker's needs: hobbyist or professional.

A person who is just getting into woodworking as a hobby has not filled his shop with tools and wood. He is not inundated with dust, fumes and clutter. His tools fit into a plastic store-bought box. He gets them out when he needs them, and put them away when he is done. He buys materials as he needs them and doesn't hoard choice boards, cut-offs and scraps.

Very soon though, ANYONE who has built more than a few projects quickly gathers a garage-full of STUFF. So one of our biggest problems is finding room for that stuff. We need a place to put it, but we need to be able to find it quickly.

MANY of the projects illustrated in this book show clever solutions to those problems. Some solutions are specific. Many of the solutions do double-duty, solving two or more problems at a time.

For instance: two specific solutions involve thickness planers. Even novice woodworkers know that their jointer is usually too narrow to surface one side of a wide board, yet most of us have a thickness planer that will handle a 12" wide board. In here you will see AN ILLUSTRATION and PHOTOS of a successful jig that allows you to surface the crucial first-face of any 12" board through a 12" surface planer. Again, this is not for the abject beginner, but anyone who's scale-of-design exceeds their jointer-size knows they would otherwise have to invest in a large industrial jointer. That single jig alone will save you thousands!

Similarly, there are two designs for a super-simple out-feed bed (or "planer-table) that virtually eliminates snipe when planing long boards. That will save you hassle and money worth many times more than $20 bucks for this book.

I would call those "job specific" examples, but neither of these projects is "advanced" in any sense. Both of them are so simple, any novice could build them in a few hours. The planer sled only took me about one hour to construct. The "planer Table" took about twenty minutes. It is likely that your trip to the hardware store will take longer than making this "table." It is really that simple!

How about a double-duty combination of Clamp-rack, out-feed table for your table saw? It saves space, allows you to roll heavy parts all at once, instead of lifting them one-at-a-time. If you can make a box and drill holes, you can modify this design to fit your area, clamps and saw in an afternoon.

Is that "advanced woodworking?" No, not in the slightest. But it IS a solution to multiple problems that only avid woodworkers would have. The projects are not advanced... the SOLUTIONS are!

Woodworkers are frugal and practical. These great ideas live up to that ideal. None of the projects here take more time or cost more than they are worth. Every one of the ideas will repay a woodworker's investment back MANY times over.

Instead of spending more time on examples I will simply qualify this opinion...

I have been around truly fine craftsmanship my entire life since early childhood. I have repaired violins by Antonio Stradivari, built instruments and recording studios for stars; built houses, boats and all the furniture that goes inside. I even helped my shop-teacher build a wooden biplane, and THAT was 42 years ago! I KNOW woodworking. But in the first half-hour with this book, I saw three new ideas I had never seen before.

I also love great books. That's why I was disheartened to see some of Taunton's recent books seem so shallow.

This new Taunton publication has all the great hallmarks of Fine Woodworking's best tomes. That Taunton Mojo is BACK!
This book is fascinating, beautiful and rich with novel, practical ideas. None of the projects are above any competent woodworker's skill. All of the projects will inspire woodworkers to design and build better. Many solutions herein will save hundreds of times the cost of the book. Many ideas here are worth the investment just for the ease and fun they bring back to woodworking.

Is it for abject novices? No. But every woodworker will find something useful and get excited about getting back to his shop.
I cannot think of any other twenty-dollar tool that would give woodworkers as much bang for their buck.

I have a great many titles of this nature. Most of them are just resaws of simplistic jigs, like a crosscut sled. (of course, this book has the obligatory crosscut sled) I expected more of the same from this book and was pleasantly surprised to find the depth and variety of subjects within. It is one of my favorite references now, along with Router Magic Router Magic: Jigs, Fixtures and Tricks to Unleash Your Router's Full Potential, The Best Jigs and Fixtures for Your Woodshop: 37 Projects That Provide Clever Solutions to Common Problems (Woodworking)Fine Woodworking On Proven Shop Tips - Selections From Methods Of Work, and many others.

I suppose one would classify most or many of the jigs in this book to be advanced. I don't really have a frame of reference to determine the levels of intermediate and advanced. I only know that I greatly appreciate the ideas, information and jigs presented in this book. For over 30 years I've been building basic furniture, cabinets, etc, with very basic tools, without a workshop. Sawhorses, router, circular saw, corded drill and radial arm saw were my tools. I'm now building a real workshop and have acquired a lot of the more sophisticated tools, including a real woodworking bench that I'm making, with real vises and bench dogs for holding the work.

This book, among others, has been and will continue to be an important part of the process of building and using my new workshop. After many decades of working on the ground or sawhorses, with minimal tools and trying to hold the work with my foot or propped against a wall, my capability has expanded immensely, much to my delight. Making some the jigs and projects in this book, and others, such as the workbenches and toolbox ideas presented are a challenge and allow me to become more familiar and efficient with my new tools.