The Workshop Book: A Craftsman's Guided Tour from the Pub of FWW (Craftsman's Guide to)

I've had this book for a few years and I still peek at it occasionally. Scott Landis tells about starting his own woodshop long ago and I can relate pretty well. I actually started without a place, working outside, in space borrowed in basements, off the tailgate of my truck and for a while in a barn,,,well, actually, a tool shed open on one side(I had to move a tractor out every day,put it back every night). This book gives examples of shops similar to those and large fully equipped facillities. The COOLEST part of this book to me is the space saving designs and features in some of the shops. This alone has been a help to me in the development of the 900 sq.ft. LOCKABLE shop I have now. The illustrations include floorplans and equipment layouts from daily use shops. Just seeing other peoples workspaces and what works for them and how thier shops grew and developed, can sometimes bring about great revelation for your own work space. Two of the shops are in closets or laundry rooms!!!! I like nosing around and looking at other shops and found this book entertaining as well as informative. Thanks Scott.

I have bought many woodworking books but this one is a rarity-I read it from cover to cover. It has many useful tips for designing a shop but the most interesting part was his focus on the owners of the shops. It describes the wonderful variety of woodworkers as well as their shops and interests.

This book is split into comprehensive chapters on layout, machinery, etc. Covers topics such as ergonomics, workflow, special applications, etc. A practical and useful guide, much better than the workbench book by the same author which basically amounts to a coffee table book with pretty pictures.