If you are fascinated by old woodworking tools, this book is a must. A history and evolution of woodworking puts it all in perspective. The book is adequately illustrated (line drawings - no photos). The writer does a great job of explaining how to actually use some vintage tools - such as an adze, broadaxe, drawknife, etc. Surprisingly, some old technology has simply has not been improved upon, and this book will help the modern woodworker rediscover those forgotten secrets. Old Ways of Working Wood: The Techniques and Tools of a Time Honored Craft
Americana's Author Alex W. Bealer clearly understood that "a picture is worth a thousand words" and published his numerous books on American traditions into very good examples of this old saying.
Here Mr. Bealer gives us the joy of looking at many of his wonderfully realistic pen-and-ink drawings of traditional 18th and 19th century woodworking tools and construction details. The reader can visualize with ease some basic methods of fabrications and the tools needed to build them.
...To further enrich your knowledge of historic American tools and hand planes, you will definitely not waste your money in reading Rogers K. Smith's Patented Transitional and Metallic Planes in America, 1827-1927 (Vol. I). Both books will eventually give you "expert" knowledge in the field!
(For the words and terms that were unknown or new to me, I used an old copy of the 1993 UPDATED and REVISED American Edition of the New Webster's dictionary and thesaurus of the English language at the very cheap price tag of ONLY 10 CENTS !)
Book does a good job of describing the use of a wide variety of hand tools for the cutting and shaping of wood for everything from fence posts to furniture. Diagrams could have been larger with less shading so that the details of the tools was clearer.
The illustrations, which are drawn by Mr. Bealer, are not at the level of Eric Sloane, but there is a lot of information in the book for the tooliophile (is that a word?). It also seems that much of the information that Mr. Bealer presents in the book was gleaned by actually speaking to the old timers who practiced the crafts of old. Books like this do help to see to it that our history is not lost to technological progress and who knows, some of this information may be good to have in the future.
If you could have only one book on primitive wood working tools and skill sets, this would be " that book ". It's a hard cover with good layman definitions and instructions on how and why the tools and skill sets were used and the evolution of both. This book also has easy to understand illustrations of every subject discussed. This was the first book that I bought on the subject. Every other book that I have purchased on primitive wood working has paled in comparison. A great book, one of my most cherished. - Hand Tools - Alex Bealer - Old Ways Of Working Wood - Traditional Woodworking'
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