I got an advance copy of my new book yesterday evening! And pre-ordering is now available at: http://www.shopwoodworking.com/foundations-of-good-woodworking-w8062

I’ve been through the text and the proofs so many times in the last few months that I really couldn’t bring myself to do more than glance through the actual book. I saw enough to tell that it looks great – it’s beautifully laid out and well printed. I also discovered the first typo (a very insignificant one that I will not identify here). Finding this was actually a relief. The first typo is sort of like the first dent on a new car; it makes it a little easier to live with anything else that comes up. It’s amazing that any mistakes get through the multiple checks that go on in the editing process (especially with an ace text editor like Megan Fitzpatrick), but things inevitably do get through.

The book is my attempt to address a major lack of attention paid to many of the most basic things that woodworkers need to know. It often seems as if we woodworking writers and teachers forget that most woodworkers don’t know what we do, and don’t even think to mention these essentials. But years and years of teaching have demonstrated to me that students don’t come with this knowledge and these skills already in place and ready to use. It’s important to talk about how to actually use your body to plane, or saw, or even to work at the tablesaw. It’s equally important to understand just what’s going on when one of your tools interacts with a piece of wood. And just what you’re trying to accomplish during the layout process (and how best to accomplish it). There’s much more as well, and I’ll post about a bunch of these topics over the next few months.

October 1, 2012 – Check out Andy Brownell’s review of The Foundations of Better Woodworking at: http://brownellfurniture.com/2012/10/01/review-foundations-of-better-woodworking/