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Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

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Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby Trevanion » 11 Jun 2021, 19:54

I happened to be looking at Classic Handtools site and came across the new Lost Art Press book "The Woodworker's Pocket Book" which was originally written by Charles Hayward and was intended as an on-hand reference book so that you could quickly look something up that you weren't 100% sure of.

https://www.classichandtools.com/acatalog/The-Woodworker-s-Pocket-Book-LAP-TWPB.html#SID=1220

It had me wondering, I know Hayward did later iterations of this book with more modern information, but I don't think I've ever come across anything really like this for the modern woodworker. Engineers and Metalworkers have various workshop reference books that will go over practically anything that you may come across and are packed with data such as the well known "Machinery's Handbook" (Which is more akin to a concrete block than a book) which are continually updated, but I don't think there's anything like that for the woodworker unless I've missed it.

While I'm sure the LAP book is lovely, they've decided to leave everything out from the originals that have anything to do with machinery (The Luddites!). It would be nice to have a small book that covers general modern workshop information in reference to woodworking machinery and their nuances, your usual section on timbers and such, general technical data, as well as drawing and geometry.

Maybe someone should write one if there isn't one :eusa-think:
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby Blackswanwood » 11 Jun 2021, 20:17

I bought a copy of the LAP version and am underwhelmed. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I’d bought a secondhand original.
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby RogerS » 11 Jun 2021, 21:56

Trevanion wrote:....
Maybe someone should write one if there isn't one :eusa-think:


I nominate .....you, Dan ! I reckon you'd make a good job of it TBH
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby Trevanion » 11 Jun 2021, 22:01

RogerS wrote:I nominate .....you, Dan ! I reckon you'd make a good job of it TBH


God no! I have nowhere near the expertise that Hayward had or practically any other craftsman you could name :lol:

I read books, I don't write 'em!
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby AndyT » 15 Jun 2021, 10:47

Dan, I wonder if this is the answer you need?

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Published in 1962, with coverage of attachments for your Myford lathe plus small tools from Coronet, Stanley etc.

I don't think you would learn much but it's more your style than mine, so let me know if you want it.

Probably about half the book is padding, with chapters on joints, (using some machinery); veneering (using no machinery); timber; fittings and some furniture designs.

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I do have a 1968 copy of the Pocket Book but I think the Woodworker magazine was scraping the barrel by this time. The section on machinery is little more than a few drawings and a section on saw speeds.
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby Trevanion » 15 Jun 2021, 19:20

Thanks for the kind offer Andy, but I think I've probably got the majority of that in a Myford booklet here somewhere!

I picked up a cheap copy of the Pocket Book although it is yet to arrive, It'll be interesting to read through even if it is barrel scrapings. I'm surprised no one else has written a concise and small handbook of sorts that you would keep in the toolbox as opposed to the bookshelf though, There are a couple of smallish books that would seemingly meet the criteria but from what I can see are really pointed at absolute beginners rather than as a reference for serious woodworkers, especially in a modern context.
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby Woodbloke » 15 Jun 2021, 22:12

I have a proper orange hardback copy of the original Hayward tome, a reprint from 1971, not the LAP ‘imposter’; a useful little book that I rarely dipped into, but handy when I did - Rob
I no longer work for Axminster Tools & Machinery.
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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby AndyT » 15 Jun 2021, 22:35

Here is the section on "light machines".
I think there's probably scope to add a bit more detail...

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Re: Woodworking Workshop Reference Book

Postby Trevanion » 19 Jun 2021, 13:33

So I got my copy of the Pocket Book which is the "Enlarged Edition 1959" with a blue hardcover. I've given it a quick flick-through and it's a half-decent book, definitely of it's time in regard to the information within but I imagine it would've been quite a handy thing to have on hand.

There is quite a detailed list of world timbers (although just descriptive text, no photos or illustrations to keep the page count down), a lot I recognise, but there are a few interesting ones I've never heard of such as "Podo" which is a yellow-brown softwood that grows in Kenya, Ghana, and Tanganyika (Now known as Tanzania) in East-Central Africa, or "Nyankom" which is a reddish-brown hardwood grown on the Gold Coast in Sierra Leone.

There's also a list of Useful Chemicals such as Carbon Tetrachloride which should be used to degrease timbers such as Teak prior to gluing, also to shorten your lifespan drastically. Also, Carborundum Powder for FLATTENING OIL STONES. There are some quite interesting finishing recipes too, Hayward notes that Ammonia whilst usually used for fuming can also be applied directly to Oak to darken it but "avoid touching with the fingers as it may turn them yellow and be painful" I wonder if LAP ommited any of these recipes because the lax H&S of the '50s and '60s in this book is quite obvious!

It does go over a lot of hand tools, but not in any great detail, simply just an illustration of the tool, a name, and its general use, as you would expect otherwise the book would suddenly get much fatter. The part on mouldings and the geometry section is quite interesting, although again, very rudimentary.

The piece about circular saw data and power transmission via lineshafts is interesting to me, but totally outdated now as circular saw blades have come on such a long way since the '60s and line shafts were outdated even by the time this book was published

None of what's in the book is necessarily irrelevant now although quite a bit is rather archaic by today's standard. I do think the overall principle is a good idea though and I think a modern version could be desirable, although it would be hard to decide whom you're aiming it for, complete beginners who need a helping hand or more advanced woodworkers who know the basics but need something to refer to once in a while for problem-solving.
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