Woodwork Step by Step: Carpentry Techniques Made Easy

DK Publishing, 2021. — 224 p. — ISBN 9780744026870.Wood has been fundamental to the development and survival of humankind throughout history. Trees have provided us with the essentials for livi —oxygen, food, warmth, medicine, and shelter—as well as offering the raw ingredients for key markers of cultural progress, such as paper, furniture, musical instruments, and works of art. Even today, in a world of sophisticated technology and materials, we use wood for much of our work on buildings and furniture because of its versatility, beauty, and availability.
Because of this long tradition, wooden furniture has a rich and diverse heritage of styles, while examples that are centuries old can be found all around us—in museums, antique stores, or galleries. This range of styles and sense of tradition and craftsmanship offers the modern woodworker an inspirational archive to draw upon, whether designing or constructing their own pieces.
Creating furniture by hand is a skill that has to an extent been supplanted by the development of power tools and machinery, yet the importance of using hand tools cannot be underestimated. Tools may have advanced in sophistication throughout history, but the fundamentals of woodworking have not changed significantly over the centuries, and this age-old craft is still the cornerstone of all furniture making. Of course, it is possible to make furniture entirely by machine, but this requires a large workshop and a very large wallet. By contrast, hand skills allow you to create furniture within a limited space and with a limited budget while experiencing the pleasure of working closely with wood to craft an object of your choice.
Woodwork Step by Step celebrates the joys of creating furniture. It provides a core grounding in the fundamental woodworking skills and techniques, and the use of both hand and power tools; showcases a catalog of the various types of timber available and their individual working properties; and supplies you with achievable, yet challenging, projects. Whether you are a novice or more experienced in the art of carpentry, Woodwork Step by Stepis an essential addition to your bookshelf.