No matter what I do, I am always drawn to the books edited by Bernard Jones. Berny and Cassell's Handcraft Library (printed over on this side of the Atlantic by David McKay) published a variety of titles for the crafty bunch in the mid 20th Century. Remember those years, way back when?
The big titles are The Complete Woodworker and The Practical Woodworker. The first is one book and the second is four volumes. Ten Speed Press reprinted both, the first as one volume and the second as a compilation of all four into one, some years ago. You can still find copies floating around here and there although the paper is getting old.
Jones editing skills are fine bar none. No time wasted on hyberbole, he gives you straight forward this is why you do it, how to do it and get to it. Great illustrations too. The bulk of the contents of both titles were drawn from the magazine Work, an incredibly popular craft serial of the British Isles.
On a whole both books stick to the nitty gritty of how to use hand tools, how to make things and how to enjoy yourself. There are diversions into areas such as how to construct an airplane which might or might not interest you as well as some very British centric topics for which I will forgive Mr. Jones.
Of the two titles, I've always prefered The Practical Woodworker. It's coverage of tool techniques delves further and with greater clarity, covers more topics and the bindings are fancier. Looking good on the shelf is always important. Reprinting it would be quite the project and pricey but who knows, I may just do it in 2012.
Every time I compare the two, I can't help but like The Practical Woodworker better. I could take the Ten Speed Press route and extract all the non-tool material, but I do think that a chapter on pigeon cotes and rabbet hutches is a must, don't you? Hey, it would only be around 1600 pages...
Till next, Gary
