Bearing in mind that I am a mature adult and bought this book knowing that it is a collection of magazine article reprints, I still found room for disappointment in its lack of woodworking savvy. Generally speaking, glossy page magazines publish two kinds of articles, some imparting genuine how-to information, the second kind is thinly veiled advertisement masquerading as editorial. Unfortunately, Charlesworth's writing in this volume and his Volume II falls into the latter category, highlighting the difficulty of the task and describing the pieces of shiny kit to help bridge your lack of proper apprenticeship and an acceptable workman-like result. On the other hand, it is exactly as it purports: a reprint of successful and popular magazine articles. The photography and print quality are superb, earning one star more than the two stars that I feel it deserves.
Review #2
Excellent!
His explanations are clear and understandable. I finally was able to successfully edge joint two boards after reading his explanation. I just finished a spokeshave following his instructions, and it works better than any of my store-bought ones! I hope he publishes more books.
Review #3
First rate !
Excellent Book. The chapters on tuning hand planes together with the information on Japanese chisels is superb. The improvements I made to my Record #05 have made the world of difference to it's performance. The chapter on making an ebony spokeshave, using the blade made by Ron Hock certainly made me think.
I just wish there was more available from this author.
