Despite the growing interest in making paddles and canoes, it is difficult to find reliable information for that craft. For the how-to beginner, a paddle represents the perfect challenge, both finite and functional. For the skilled woodworker, the opportunity to experiment with design and technique to create a tailor-made product that perfectly suits a paddler's needs is a dream come true. In Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own, longtime canoeist and woodworker Graham Warren provides detailed information and guidance to make a canoe paddle that will be used with confidence and cherished for generations. The book is thoroughly illustrated with photographs, line drawings and plans with measurements for: How to make a paddle having a single blade, a bent shaft, or double blades; How to protect a paddle with oil or varnish; What to look for when test-driving a paddle; How to decorate a paddle; How to care for and repair a paddle.The book also covers: Paddle design - grips, shaft, blade, flexibility, weight, balance; Paddle woods and adhesives; Hand tools, power tools and homemade tools, carving and finishing tools; Making the paddle - size, design, mark out, cut and carve; Paddle plans, including Beavertail, Voyageur, Algonquin, Whitewater, Bent-shaft, Double-blade, Child's; Templates for grips, tips and blades; Materials sources. The authors include an appreciation of the evolution of the paddle plus a special chapter by renowned canoe-building teacher David Gidmark, which celebrates paddle-making in the native American tradition.

Master key carpentry skills, from simple joinery techniques to fine woodworking. Learn about basic woodworking techniques to more advanced types of wood joints, finishing, woodturning, and furniture restoration. This book provides all the information you need to become a master carpenter. It's the ultimate step-by-step guide to essential woodworking tips and tricks. Inside the pages of this beginners guide, you'll find: - Over 100 key techniques and 20 easy projects to get you started - Clear step-by-step photography and easy-to-follow instructions - Advice on all major wood types and veneers and how to use them - Tips and tricks on restoring old furniture This visual guide is packed with clear instructions, detailed photography, and expert advice on how to master more than 20 woodcraft techniques such as joinery and finishing. Discover how to get the best out of your woodworking tools by learning how to use and maintain them. This informative guide also includes a visual directory of all major wood types and veneers, explaining what they are best used for and tips on how to work with them. Woodworking 101 This updated edition includes a fresh design and brand-new photography making the step-by-step techniques and projects even clearer to understand. The ideal gift for Father's Day, or for anyone who's looking for an introduction to carpentry. Complete the Series: Fully illustrated and easy to use, the DK Step by Step series covers all the essential skills and techniques you need to succeed in a specific activity. Once you've mastered key carpentry skills with Woodwork Step by Step, sharpen up your survival skills with Knots Step by Step.

A must-read for the craftsperson, artisan and artist. "In his beautiful book, Peter Korn invites us to understand craftsmanship as an activity that connects us to others, and affirms what is best in ourselves."-Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft Woodworking, handicrafts -the rewards of creative practice, bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one's own vision, make us fully alive. Peter Korn explains his search for meaning as an Ivy-educated child of the middle class who finds employment as a novice carpenter on Nantucket, transitions to self-employment as a designer/maker of fine furniture, takes a turn at teaching at Colorado's Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and finally founds a school in Maine: the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, an internationally respected, non-profit institution. How does the making of objects shape our identities? How does creative work enrich our communities and society? What does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn poignantly probes for answers in this book that is for the artist, artisan, crafter, do-it-yourselfer inside us all.

The leading manual for home improvements is getting an update to address current codes, latest materials, tools and technology.
The bestselling, most comprehensive guide to home improvements has been revised and updated once again since it's revision in 2005. Over 10 million copies of READER'S DIGEST COMPLETE DO-IT-YOURSELF MANUAL have been sold since it's original publication in 1973. In 2005, the manual got bigger and better than ever, when The Family Handyman and Reader's Digest joined forces and completely revised, updated, rewrote, and redesigned this home improvement classic. Now in 2014, The Family Handyman has once again updated and revised this do-it-yourself classic to make it relevant to today's homeowners and DIYers..
Written in a style of text that addresses readers in a very accessible, conversational tone for easy, user-friendly assistance with every do-it-yourself task. All instructions and materials have been updated to address current codes (electrical, plumbing and building), and revised to indicate the very latest in materials, tools, and technology. Suitable for beginners and experts alike, this newly revised edition includes:
- Over 3,000 photos and illustrations to make complex projects and repairs easy to understand
- Twice as many storage projects that help home owners cut clutter
- New building materials that yield great-looking, long-lasting results--and low maintenance
- New technology that lets homeowners save energy, add convenience or improve security.
- New building codes that make homes safer, more energy-efficient and trouble-free.
The book's tried-and-true instructions provide do-it-yourself solutions to a ton of problems that could cost a fortune if you had to hire a professional. This manual is a "must-have" reference guide for every home-owning man or woman.

This comprehensive, step-by-step pictorial reference covers all the methods for making small boxes crafted in wood. Organised for quick access, the book makes it easy to find each technique and: - Tools - Box-making Materials - Box Joinery - Lids - Box Feet and Bases - - Box Interiors - Hinges and Hardware - Decorating Boxes - Shaped Boxes - More than 500 colour photographs and drawings illustrate how to make beautiful joined, turned and bandsawn boxes. Taunton's most successful series ever launched expands to include an illustrated, step-by-step guide to the essential techniques for elegant box joinery: turned and shaped boxes, making dividers and trays, lids, bases and feet, and installing hardware. * STEP-BY-STEP PICTORIAL REFERENCE, organised for quick reference. * Over 500 step-by-step colour photographs illustrate all the processes from basic tools to surface decorating in this book.

A USA TODAY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ( ) "Little and Often is a beautiful memoir of grief, love, the shattered bond between a father and son, and the resurrection of a broken heart. Trent Preszler tells his story with the same level of art and craftsmanship that he brings to his boat making, and he reminds us of creativity's power to transform and heal our lives. This is a powerful and deeply moving book. I won't soon forget it." -Elizabeth Gilbert Trent Preszler thought he was living the life he always wanted, with a job at a winery and a seaside Long Island home, when he was called back to the life he left behind. After years of estrangement, his cancer-stricken father had invited him to South Dakota for Thanksgiving. It would be the last time he saw his father alive. Preszler's only inheritance was a beat-up wooden toolbox that had belonged to his father, who was a cattle rancher, rodeo champion, and Vietnam War Bronze Star Medal recipient. This family heirloom befuddled Preszler. He did not work with his hands-but maybe that was the point. In his grief, he wondered if there was still a way to understand his father, and with that came an epiphany: he would make something with his inheritance. Having no experience or training in woodcraft, driven only by blind will, he decided to build a wooden canoe, and he would aim to paddle it on the first anniversary of his father's death. While Preszler taught himself how to use his father's tools, he confronted unexpected revelations about his father's secret history and his own struggle for self-respect. The grueling challenges of boatbuilding tested his limits, but the canoe became his sole consolation. Gradually, Preszler learned what working with his hands offered: a different per spective on life, and the means to change it. Little and Often is an unflinching account of bereavement and a stirring reflection on the complexities of inheritance. Between his past and his present, and between America's heartland and its coasts, Preszler shows how one can achieve reconciliation through the healing power of creativity. "Insightful, lyrical...Little and Often proves to be a rich tale of self-discovery and reconciliation. Resonating with Robert Pirsig's classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, it is a profound father-and-son odyssey that discovers the importance of the beauty of imperfection and small triumphs that make extraordinary happen." -USA Today ( )

Delightful Decorations and Gifts to Make with Your Scroll Saw Create holiday masterpieces for the home, family and friends with the tried-and-true scroll saw projects and patterns from the archives of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts. This collection of holiday favorites features fretwork, compound-cuts, intarsia, and inlay projects for ornaments, wreaths, Santas, portraits, candleholders and more. Big Book of Christmas Ornaments and Decorations also features a stunning gallery of work. Readers will gain information and inspiration from some of scrolling's leading experts including Judy Gale Roberts, Kathy Wise, Sue Mey, Paul Meisel, John Nelson, Theresa Ekdom, Tom Sevy, Volker Arnold, and more. There is a project inside Big Book of Christmas Ornaments and Decorations for everyone, from beginners to advanced craftsmen. With step-by-step instructions and color photos, readers are guaranteed a very merry scrolling experience. Some of the projects inside: " Vintage Fretwork Sleigh Scene " Poinsettia Wreath " Inlay Snowman Ornaments " 12-Piece Intarsia Nativity Set " Christmas Card Tree

With its history of nearly a thousand years, shoji - translucent paper-backed sliding doors and screens - are an inherent part of Japanese tradition and culture. But their beauty and charm can equally be adapted to rooms in a Western home. In this book, Des King examines basic shoji making and design. He gives comprehensive background information about shoji and how they have evolved, and detailed step-by-step instructions, supported by many diagrams and photographs, on how to make three shoji with progressively more complex kumiko arrangements, and variations on structure and joinery. Kumiko patterns enhance the uniqueness and charm of shoji, and Des King introduces three different kinds of patterns, and provides detailed instructions on how to make each kind, including dimensional diagrams of jigs that will improve work efficiency. He also dispels many of the myths about the Japanese hand-plane - the kanna - with an extensive description of how to set up, use and maintain this exceptional tool, including problems that can arise and how to avoid them. Through his highly structured and traditional approach in Book 1, Des King lays solid foundations from which any woodworker can confidently look toward tackling much more complex kumiko patterns and arrangements that can enhance the flair and individuality of shoji in any setting.

The latest Scandinavian publishing phenomenon is not a Stieg Larsson like thriller; it s a book about chopping, stacking, and burning wood that has sold more than 200,000 copies in Norway and Sweden and has been a fixture on the bestseller lists there for more than a year. Norwegian Wood provides useful advice on the rustic hows and whys of taking care of your heating needs, but it s also a thoughtful attempt to understand man s age-old predilection for stacking wood and passion for open fires. An intriguing window into the exoticism of Scandinavian culture, the book also features enough inherently interesting facts and anecdotes and inspired prose to make it universally appealing. The U.S. edition is a fully updated version of the Norwegian original, and includes an appendix of U.S.-based resources and contacts.

This innovative collection features 35 simple, inexpensive projects that you can make from salvaged and upcycled materials - cardboard, metal, plastic, and wood. The projects include tables, shelving units, chairs, lamps, and more, in a variety of styles. Many are stackable and easily portable, most can be made in a weekend, and all include instructions for disassembly and disposal when you're ready to re-purpose the materials. If you'd rather make than buy, these low-budget, high-style designs are just what you're looking for.

A classic treatise on the practice of joiners' work by hand and machine. "A gold mine for woodworkers, architects, and preservationists". -- Old House Journal

Whether you need a fence to protect your garden, keep animals or children safe, or add privacy, Jeff Beneke explains exactly what you need to know to buildityourself -- even if you've never built anything before. He gives clear, simple, step-by-step instructions for several basic fence styles using a variety of materials, including wood, vinyl, and chain link. And once you've mastered the basics, you'll be skilled enough to build any kind of fence, even those not covered in the book.

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Thoroughly analyzes, explains and illustrates the criteria and techniques used by the Shakers to design, construct and finish the furniture and crafts for which they have long been admired-in authoritative text, over 250 photographs and measured drawings for over 80 classic designs, ranging from a sugar scoop to a peg-leg footstool to a Harvard trestle table. 262 halftones. 140 black-and-white line illustrations. Index.

Wooden puzzles are fun to solve, but with this guide to the almost perfectly square sticks, rings, disks, and other shapes that they require, they are even more fun to make. Twelve puzzles of four different, basic types are described in this guide, along with the tools and techniques needed to make them. There is also expert advice on the woods, glues, and finishes that will give the best results. These puzzles are beautiful and intriguing objects in their own right, and they offer woodworkers a delightful means of sharpening their skills and entertaining their friends.

A kitchen or bathroom renovation raises the value of a home, and kitchen cabinets (and bathroom vanities) are a large part of the cost. Yet cabinets and vanities are surprisingly straightforward to build. Strong, attractive and durable cabinets can be built for a fraction of what they cost to buy. In this heavily illustrated guide, Steve Cory shows how to build sturdy face-frame cabinets in a variety of styles (Shaker, slab, cottage) and also includes a chapter on building bathroom vanities. Steve takes readers through each step of the project clearly explaining step-by-step how a less skilled builder with basic tools can build each component. Then he takes the reader through more complicated construction techniques, making this book both accessible to the novice but also interesting and informative for more skilled builders.

Everything you need to use your handplanes! No woodworking tool is more satisfying, quick and precise to use than a handplane. Planes can process timber in its rough state, bring boards up to a glimmering smoothness, cut rabbets, dados, grooves and other joints, and trim wood with a precision that has yet to be matched by power tools. Yet many woodworkers--both beginners and professionals--are intimidated by handplanes. This book is here to set the record straight. Handplane Essentials contains everything you need to choose the right plane for your project (and for your budget), sharpen it and use it successfully. Compiled from more than 15 years of the author's writings on the subject of handplanes in magazines, trade journals and blogs, this book is an indispensable guide for woodworkers. This revised edition includes 14 new articles as well as new and updated tool reviews.

Step-by-step photos and instructions for projects involving lamination--the bonding together of two or more pieces of wood--are provided in this guide to using wood lamination as an art form. Depending on the intricacy of the design, lamination can be either very simple or astoundingly complex. The 10 projects presented here are of all differing skill levels and abilities, often presenting fascinating challenges that help woodworkers develop their laminating skills. Several designs for clocks and puzzles are included, as are unique pieces such as a piggy bank, a basket weave box, and a cutting board.

Make authentic reproductions of handsome, functional, durable furniture: tables, chairs, wall cabinets, desks, hall tree, more. Construction plans with drawings, schematics, dimensions, lumber specs reprinted from 1900s The Craftsman magazine.