This is an outstanding book. It is well written, well organized, has excellent graphics and pictures, and serves a much needed role in most woodshops. White would have been a great engineer. His jigs and measurement techniques are clever, well documented, and easy to make and use. I found myself smiling several times at the ingenuity of his low-cost (and effective!) solutions to high-cost measurement tools. I have a middle-of-the-road chinese knock off table saw that wasn't cutting well (burns and lots of resistance). I made the jigs and went through the tune up procedure in an evening, and the saw performs much better afterwards. I would like have heard White's recommendations for storage, cleaning, and top protection (e.g., waxing vs. oiling ground surfaces), as well as his tips and comments for shop safety, but they are justifiably outside the scope of this book. Overall an excellent book that I am very glad to have stumbled upon. Care and Repair of Shop Machines: A Complete Guide to Setup, Troubleshooting, and Maintenance
I've been having some problems getting my jointer tables aligned properly, and happened upon this book by accident. What luck! This book is full of great info on tune-ups and alignment. John White goes in depth into the set up and alignment of primary power tools (jointer, planer, table saw, bandsaw, router table, drill press and miter saw). His writing is clear, easy to understand and follow, with plenty of very descriptive pictures. The book is very complete on each of the tools covered. I truly appreciated that he used many shop-built jigs and common tools to get things done.
What can I say, the chapter on setting up your jointer is worth the price of the book by itself. The pictures and the diagrams are great, easy to understand, and the text is informative and easy to read. This book makes you a better woodworker, because your tools will be correctly set up, which also makes them more fun to use and much safer.
I would recommend this book to you, even if you do not own the tool, but are looking at getting into woodworking, with this book you will be better able to understand how the various tools work, and you can buy decent used tools and tune them up, saving you a bundle!
Great book!!
John White does a great job with nice illustrations. I recommend this to anyone with a woodworking machine. It's amazing how far off your tools are until you set them up correctly. You'll save time and money by making better cuts the first time when the tool is setup correctly. It's amazing we take the time to measure an angle for moulding and when we cut it and it doesn't fit you think you measured incorrectly when it could have been your tool off by one degree.
The reason woodworkers want this book is to save money and time. Understanding and applying the knowledge herein might save your fingers and maybe even your life! I am not joking...
John White was the shop manager for Fine Woodworking for about a decade and is still a contributing editor. He has a wealth of practical knowledge and presents it clearly. I particularly like Mr. White's style in some of his videos. He "cuts to the chase" by demonstrating you how things work, THEN explains them concisely. He also invented (or re-engineered) a very clever workbench and numerous practical shop-jigs. Now, not all of those ( or even very many ) are in this volume. I only mention that to illustrate the breadth and scope of the author's knowledge. John White is certainly qualified to write about this subject.
The MOST IMPORTANT REASON that every newcomer should buy (or at least read) this book is to prevent hassles, mistakes, accidents, and bad buying-decisions.
For instance, if you do not understand how to adjust a tablesaw or bandsaw, how can you possibly choose a machine with the right features?
If you don't know how to tell if a blade is square to the miter-slot (or fence,) and how to adjust it, you WILL experience kickback. (...not "IF" but "WHEN.") Unlike that funny TV commercial, kickback is deadly serious.
There are over THIRTY THOUSAND wood-shop accidents every year, many of which are related to these main machines discussed in this book. I have seen a piece of plywood shoot from a table-saw and go careening across the shop at sixty-miles an hour like a demonic frisbee, then stick itself into a wall. That particular incident was caused by a novice who ignored basic rules of machine set-up and use. No one was killed or blinded that day, but he was lucky. Would you rather depend on luck or knowledge? If that guy would have followed the advice in this book, it would have never happened.
Those "bargain" tools we see in home-centers are often more trouble than they are worth. If you know what features to look for, then you can avoid buying junk. You can also spot a real bargain when you see one.
John's set-up tricks can save money on wood too. When you gaff and destroy some lumber because a machine wasn't set-up well or you used it improperly, you throw money down the drain. The small investment in this reference will definitely pay a beginner backs MANY TIMES over!
BTW... If your primary interest is table-saws, you really should online-search "Ed Bennett" and the "tsaligner." (Table-Saw Align-er). Ed developed a tool and methods (plural) for really dialing in any decent table-saw. He has taken the subject of table-saw adjustment to a degree of accuracy that approaches and meets machine-shop standards. He has a good web-site with so much information I can't possibly delineate much of it here. Once you understand Mr. Bennett's approach, the same methods can be applied to numerous machines.
I agree with another reviewer that Taunton's use of the word "complete" in the tittle is wrong. This is nowhere near complete. But the information is crucial to choosing the right equipment, using it well, and keeping it in top shape for best results.
This book covers crucial adjustments for the main machines. Not only that, but the concepts are universal. Simple tools, jigs and geometry will measure and verify every shop-tool operation for safety and accuracy. How much is THAT knowledge worth?
No finite tome can possibly cover every possible machine or set-up scenario.
This does show beginners how to choose and safely use the most common shop machines.
Heck, even and old-fart like me learns a new trick now and then, and I have learned a few from John White. I have had to train dozens of people in various work environments over the decades. If I could have had this volume thirty years ago, it would have saved a whole lot of time. I'd just say to every new guy that walked in looking for a job, "Here... read this."
John's advice will save you money, and possibly a trip to the hospital too. That alone is worth the price of admission. If you run a woodworking shop with employees, this should be mandatory reading. If you can't buy it, go to the library and check it out.'
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