Fine Woodworking on Joinery

Joinery provides a good all around overview of the subject. Masters like Tage Frid and Ian Kirby discuss the basics, and more advanced topics and methods are also covered. Glue is also covered, which is useful to someone deciding which adhesive to use.

This book gives excellent examples of several types of joinery. The pictures are usually more than adequate to help the reader understand, and there are lots of them. The book often shows multiple ways to make the same joint (some with hand tools, some with power tools, other variations). If you are a beginner or a master craftsman I would highly recommend this book.

Much like Fine Woodworking Magazine, this is a tremendous resource for beginning and experienced woodworkers alike. The book is a collection of articles taken from the 25 year or so history of FWW magazine. There work contains the opinions of many different authors and at times these authors tend to have opposing views on the topics of joinery. As most woodworkers know, there are often several ways to do something and rarely is there just one correct method. This book is a good way to explore alternative techniques and gain a better understanding of what type of joinery is best suited for a particular task.I recommend this book to anyone who has passed basic woodworking and simple projects like birdhouses and spice racks. This is a good resource for someone looking for ways to expand their woodworking through the application of different joinery techniques. I don't recommend this book to professional cabinet makers or the weekend handyman as the book, much like the magazine, focuses on the art and craft of woodworking then the business of woodworking or the quick and dirty tricks used to slap things together around the house.

I am pleased to find a single title that includes a variety of instructive articles applicable to one interested in improving craftsmanship. The text contains a good balance between "how to" and "why to" articles. One comes away from the book with a better understanding of the complementary rolls of hand and power tools. Perhaps most importantly the reader will understand that there is almost always more than one satisfactory way to perform an operation and frequently a variety of tools that can be used to get excellent results. I am recommending this book as supplementary text for my advanced woodworking classes.