If you are a fan of Roy Underhill like me, chances are you were waiting in earnest for the arrival of his newest book, "The Woodwright's Guide - Working Wood with Wedge & Edge". If you've never heard of St. Roy or read any of his books, then where have you been? Seriously though, for anyone interested in working wood with hand tools, Roy's books can't be beat, and this one may be his best yet.
In his latest book on working wood by hand, Roy doesn't introduce a lot of new concepts (how much new can there be in a craft that has been around for centuries) but he discusses a lot of subjects in much greater detail than he has in any of his previous books. I've already gone through this book and have started it over again reading a little slower and soaking in more than I did the first time.
For the hand tool enthusiast, this book has everything. The book takes you from falling the tree in the forest, to hewing, log building (as in log buildings), timber framing, joinery, cabinetmaking, turning and just about anything else you might want to do with wood. In the appendix there are plans for workbenches, screw boxes and taps (for threading wooden screws) and foot operated lathes, one of which I plan to build VERY soon (like as soon as I'm done with my current project).
If you are unfamiliar with St. Roy's books, I whole heartedly recommend picking this one up. It gives you a very good feel for Roy's writing style and the type of information presented. If you're anything like me, you'll get all of his books (there are 5 previous books), though I already had most of his others prior to getting this one. If you're not sure, his other books are available through your local library. Check them out, I gaurantee you will not be disappointed. You can purchase "The Woodwright's Guide" or any of the previous books (which are now being offered in a new edition with updated cover photos) here.
And for those of you who live in an area like I do where the local PBS station does not and has never carried Roy's TV show, "The Woodwright's Shop" click on the link to "The Woodwright's Shop" on the right hand side of this page and check out the web site. You can even watch the episodes from the 2006 and 2007 seasons online. Roy also has some DVDs of past episodes for sale. You can email him directly through the Woodwright's Shop web site to see what he has available. He will email you back himself because that's just the kind of person he is.
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