F&C free book offer

[Alf]

Did anyone else take them up on this "free" offer a couple of months back? Yeah, like a sucker I did. You think I have a plane problem? You should see the bookshelves... Anyway, by my reckoning it should have turned up by now. Anyone else take 'em up on it, and have you got it? Just wondering if I'll have to give them a prod, seeing as how they debited my account at the time and all. :roll:

Cheers, Alf

 

[gidon]

Alf
Yep - I got the Classic Furniture book a couple of weeks ago. Quite a nice book actually. Although only really looked at some good tips on drawer making.
I also got the other free book by Ron Fox on routing. I'm sorry to say it but it's truly awful. I've had a good scan / read through and found very little useful information. It's just a collection of basic articles(mainly repeated in different forms!) taken straight from the Router magazine I think. Glad I didn't pay real money for it. Sorry if a bit harsh - may be of some use to a complete beginner - but even that I doubt.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Neil]

Hi Alf,

I got mine a couple of weeks ago too, and that was all the way to the postal black hole of the West of Ireland so I think its time to get the prod out.

The book is good for the price :wink: - seriously though, even though I doubt I'll be making any of the projects in it, there is some useful and interesting stuff in there.

Gidon - what did you think of the warehouse clearance offers which came with it? I'm thinking of getting Tage Frid (Cabinetmaking) for £10, and 'Making Shaker Furniture' for £5.

NeilCFD

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Alf

Yep - I got the Classic Furniture book a couple of weeks ago. Very impressed.

I also got the other free book by Ron Fox on routing last week. I learnt one very useful thing, which for me made it all worthwhile. Otherwise, I completely agree with Gidon.

The number to ring is 01273 488 005 and ask for the person dealing with woodworking books.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Alf]

Thanks chaps; I'll go and give 'em hell then. :evil:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Alf

Thanks chaps; I'll go and give 'em hell then.

Just a thought, it does say subject to availability. So, if they ran out they shouldn't have taken any money from your account.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Neil]

Hi Neil,

I learnt one very useful thing, which for me made it all worthwhile

You can't leave us in suspense like that - what was it?? :wink:

NeilCFD

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, I got one a while back but can't remember what it was called. Full of simple pine furniture projects - good for a beginner.

I got it for free (paid P&P though) and will happily pass it on to anyone else willing to pay P&P or fetch it

Do you want my copy Alf?

Cheers

Tony

 

[Alf]

Current situation;

"Oh, that's odd. There's no record of your order at all. I'll get back to you."

Apparently placing my order via the website might have been a mistake... :roll:

N-Neil, if they ran out they "reserved the right to supply a book of equivalent value", so as long as it isn't something I already have...

Tony, ta, but it was Making Classic English Furniture, so I imagine very little pine.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi NeilCFD

You can't leave us in suspense like that - what was it??

Please note that I would never need to use this. :roll:

If you have burnt the wood during a cut, you should make exactly the same cut without any changes to the router or cutter but make the cut in reverse.

If you were cutting left to right you would then do exactly the same cut right to left. Mr Fox assures readers that this works remarkably well.

As I said, I would never need to use this trick. :wink:

Cheers
Neil

 

[Neil]

As I said, I would never need to use this trick. :wink:

Me neither, of course :wink:

Thanks Neil - my curiosity is satisfied now

NeilCFD

 

[gidon]

Neil
The warehouse offers actually looked quite good - surprisingly. Didn't quite tempt me enough though - and now probably disappeared into the bin! I have a list of woodworking books I would like to get - growing all the time (since I'm to tight to ever buy them) - and I remember none of those books appeared on the clearance list. I'm not familiar with either of the books you mention - but the Shaker one for a £5 sounds good.

It's interesting about the wrong way / right way thing - he mentioned it a lot. And he's right to - but since the book is aimed at beginners I was surprised to see no clear diagrams describing the concept. Just words. And rules. And the trouble is with applying rules (without understanding) is 9 out of 10 times you apply the rule the wrong way around! (Well I know I do :?).

Cheers

Gidon

(And of course Rat owners will soon tell us that there is no wrong and right way if you use a Rat. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzz .....)

 

[Alf]

I got Making Shaker Furniture in their last sale; s'okay. Plenty of instruction, all photos B&W except for the colour finished piece pics. The majority of it would be hopeless for anyone without a lathe, btw. I went for Peter Korn's Woodworker's Guide to Hand Tools, which is actually pretty good. Nice line drawings, which I like. Also FWW on Hand Tools and FWW on Bench Tools, neither of which I've got to yet, but both of them I've wanted for a while. I must admit, if I hadn't exercised self-restraint, I could have spent a fortune...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Neil]

Thanks for that, Alf - I'm lathe-less for the foreseeable future (way down my wishlist) so I think I'll scrub that one from the list. How about "Encyclopedia of Wood Joints" @ £5 - I have read that it is a bit of a coffee table book and is short on advice about actually making the joints, but it looks very interesting...

Also have you got the Tage Frid (cabinetmaking)? Any good?

NeilCFD

 

[Philly]

Hi All,
I have the Tage Frid vol 1 + 2 book-is that the one? Its very helpful, lots of pics and wise advice. Some of the techniques are very, um, particular to the said gentleman. But it is a very good book, covering a lot of different techniques.
Cheers,
Philly

 

[Neil]

Its this one, Philly.

A worthwhile buy for £10, do you think?

NeilCFD

 

[Chris Knight]

Neil,

That is a good book well worth a tenner. Frid covers the waterfront in it and you won't go too far wrong using his methods for almost anything you can think of - even if you end up doing stuff differently.

 

[Alf]

Neil,

Yep, got the Encyclopedia of Woodworking Joints (that one was a gift before you roll your eyes ). It's a good reference for all the amazing joints, especially Japanese ones, but as you surmise it's lacking in how-to. I've only just acquired the Tage Frid Book 1, and while he is extremely idiosyncratic in his approach, there's plenty of juicy info in there, and well worth having. Another one I was tempted to get was Leonard Lee's Complete Guide to Sharpening, which seems a bit of a bargain at £10, but I was trying to be good. Silly me. Pretty good prices on Classic Handtools and The Handplane Book too, for the would-be neander... <push, push, shove, shove> :wink:

Cheers, Alf

Who has yet to hear back. :evil:

 

[Neil]

Thanks Chris, Alf. & Philly. I'll try to get Tage then.

Alf, you are such a troublemaker. I had a quick 'look inside the book' at Complete Guide to Sharpening and The Handplane Book - very tempted by the former in particular, especially as it would probably save the forum members from the collection of dumb questions I am building up.

How come all your recommendations are the £10 books, instead of the £5 ones? :roll: :lol:

NeilCFD

 

[Alf]

How come all your recommendations are the £10 books, instead of the £5 ones? :roll: :lol:

Okay, £5 ones...
Furniture-Making Techniques for the Wood Craftsman - reprints of early F&C articles, but good if you don't have them.
The Small Woodshop - FWW again, not just what machine to put where, but ideas for holding work, storing tools and timber, cunning tips etc
Any and all of the FWW on... series
The Woodworker's Guide to Hand Tools - if you want to go neander even slightly, a pretty good guide to what does what and how to make it do it.

D'you know, even as I go to post this message it occurs to me this might not have been exactly the response you were looking for... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

P.S. If you don't have The Workbench, Workshop and Toolbox Books, why not?! Ooops, tenners again...