Saturday, 8 November 2014

One of the Best Ever Woodworking Books


In my view this is one of the best woodworking books ever published, right up there with The Soul of a Tree, Fine Art of Cabinetmaking, The Workbench Book and Cabinetmaking the Professional Approach. By choosing the self publishing route this book is much less publicised which is a great shame.

The title is very deceiving as while it does show you in great detail how to make a wooden hand plane, it includes so much more. Working accurately is clearly and simply explained and his training with James Krenov certainly shows through.


Setting up the band saw for straight and square cuts using home made fence.


Accurately trueing bench planes the proper way, one way only with locked wrists.


Simple but highly effective sharpening techniques including the setting up and using a bench grinder to make final hoing quick and easy.


Knife making above, and glueing up using cauls below.


A wonderful cocobolo plane made by David.


Planing techniques are thoroughly shown including accurate work on the shooting board.


And finally sharpening and using a cabinet scraper.
If you live in North America you can get a copy direct from www.davidfink.com or if you are in the UK I have just 8 copies at £19.95 +P&P
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11 comments:

  1. David,

    This book is also available from Lee Valley where I bought mine. Yes it is a great aid to someone who wants to build a wooden plane, with simple fundamentals which can be applied to many other tasks.

    Great post.

    Richard

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    1. Thanks Richard, I'm glad to hear it's being more widely distributed than I realised, although not by anyone this side of the pond. All the best, David.

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  2. I agree - great book. I think I bought mine from you a couple of years ago which spurred me on to buy David's DVD. As with the book, the DVD is extremely comprehensive and covers far more than just the making of a plane, and although I seem to remember it cost rather a lot (after paying airmail and import duties in the UK) was worth every penny. Highly recommended!

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    1. Yes i agree the DVD is also good. I remember watching it (not all at once!) and thinking how relaxing he is to watch. All the best, David.

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  3. Completely agree, it's a great book from cover to cover. Probably read it 10-15 times start to finish and am always surprised that he doesn't concern himself with grain orientation at the end of the plane so long as it runs out correctly on the sole.

    I think Amazon UK sold it briefly but I believe it was directly from David Finck anyway. Well worth the shipping costs. An excellent book.

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    1. I'm glad you agree. Once you start getting onto the very dense timbers I've found the grain orientation doesn't really matter, the grain is so tight. All the best, David.

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  4. David, I would like to buy a copy please, I'll pop by next week if that suits you.

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  5. I agree. Finck's book is excellent. The other books you list are some of my favorites, too.

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