The most recommended woodworking books

Who picked these books? Meet our 12 experts.

12 authors created a book list connected to woodworking, and here are their favorite woodworking books.
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Book cover of Practical Woodwork

Graham Blackburn Author Of Traditional Woodworking Handtools: A Manual for the Woodworker

From my list on traditional woodworking.

Why am I passionate about this?

Born in London, I apprenticed under cabinetmaker Hugh Harris before moving to New York to study at Juilliard. Subsequently pursuing a career as a professional musician, recording and playing with groups including Van Morrison, Razmataz, and Full Tilt Boogie, I built a house in Woodstock, NY. In addition to operating my own custom-design furniture-making shop, and lecturing and teaching extensively from coast to coast, I’ve written and illustrated many more books on woodworking. I’ve served as Contributing Editor to Fine Woodworking (1985–1999), and Popular Woodworking (1987–1996), and as Editor-in-Chief of Woodwork Magazine (1991–1994) before becoming a featured speaker and presenter at the National Woodworking Shows.

Graham's book list on traditional woodworking

Graham Blackburn Why did Graham love this book?

The most prolific woodworking writer of the twentieth century, Charles Hayward spans the era that started with hand tools and saw the introduction of the first electric tools thus making clear the advantages of the traditional methods. Profusely illustrated with drawings of joints, tools, and actual techniques, this is truly one of the most complete books on the basics of traditional woodworking.

By Charles H. Hayward,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Practical Woodwork as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is intended to appeal to all those who want ot know the basic essentials of wood work and of furniture making in particular. It is written by a practical cabinet maker of many years' experience and is thus on thoroughly sound, approved lines. The author starts with the elementary processes - handling tools and cutting joints, passes on to the more specialized work of drawer and door making, veneering, finishing, etc., and closes with a series of attractive designs for things to make with full working drawings and cutting lists. Apprentices, students, and the man-in-the-street should find the…


Book cover of Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Three Step-By-Step Guidebooks to Essential Woodworking Techniques

Scott Wynn Author Of Woodworker's Guide to Handplanes: How to Choose, Set Up, and Master the Most Useful Planes for Today Workshop

From my list on kicking your woodworking up a notch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been designing and building furniture professionally since before 1976. From the beginning I’ve had an avid interest in what might be called “appropriate technologies”— when to use a hand tool or power tool — that is, for a specific use, which one gives the best results for the least time and effort? If you read the journals of 18th Century woodworkers you’ll find they were unbelievably fast —using only hand tools. I believe that by the 1970s much of that knowledge and many of the tools themselves had been lost. I set out to rediscover them.

Scott's book list on kicking your woodworking up a notch

Scott Wynn Why did Scott love this book?

This is on many people’s lists—and for good reason: an essential book, it will give you a solid foundation on which to build your knowledge and skill set, most specially if you are just starting out, though there is much to learn here for even the more experienced woodworker. Frid’s training contains the practical knowledge of centuries of woodworking passed through an apprenticeship system as it began its transition into the 21st Century, adapting power tools, new materials, and ways of working that will give you the information that will let you build almost anything. He wrote 2 more books in the set, also valuable, but if you can only afford one, get this one.

By Tage Frid,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As a tribute to Tage Frid who passed away in 2004, combined with the 30th anniversary of The Taunton Press, this three-volume slipcase set is the most complete, authoritative guide to woodworking for readers of all skill levels. The books in the slipcase include: ""Book 1: Joinery,"" ""Book 2: Shaping, Veneering, Finishing,"" and ""Book 3: Furnituremaking,"" The techniques illustrated in these books are demonstrated step by step, with clarity and organization that allows readers to understand and carry out virtually any woodworking project. This is a limited edition.


Book cover of Ancient Carpenters' Tools: Illustrated and Explained, Together with the Implements of the Lumberman, Joiner and Cabinet-Maker in Use in the Eighteenth Century

Graham Blackburn Author Of Traditional Woodworking Handtools: A Manual for the Woodworker

From my list on traditional woodworking.

Why am I passionate about this?

Born in London, I apprenticed under cabinetmaker Hugh Harris before moving to New York to study at Juilliard. Subsequently pursuing a career as a professional musician, recording and playing with groups including Van Morrison, Razmataz, and Full Tilt Boogie, I built a house in Woodstock, NY. In addition to operating my own custom-design furniture-making shop, and lecturing and teaching extensively from coast to coast, I’ve written and illustrated many more books on woodworking. I’ve served as Contributing Editor to Fine Woodworking (1985–1999), and Popular Woodworking (1987–1996), and as Editor-in-Chief of Woodwork Magazine (1991–1994) before becoming a featured speaker and presenter at the National Woodworking Shows.

Graham's book list on traditional woodworking

Graham Blackburn Why did Graham love this book?

From witchets to moulding planes, from Roman tools to eighteenth-century American tools, this was my first "bible" on the subject. A more thorough grounding — with amazing photographs — would be hard to find. Reading this book puts two millennia of woodworking into a useful perspective. Once read it will illustrate in greater detail every other book on the subject. Totally essential.

By Henry C. Mercer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ancient Carpenters' Tools as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Classic reference describes in detail hundreds of implements in use in the American colonies in the 18th century. Over 250 illustrations depict tools identical in construction to ancient devices once used by the Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese, among them axes, saws, clamps, chisels, mallets, and much more. An invaluable sourcebook.


Book cover of The Complete Japanese Joinery

Azby Brown Author Of The Genius of Japanese Carpentry: Secrets of an Ancient Woodworking Craft

From my list on Japanese carpentry and construction.

Why am I passionate about this?

Azby Brown is a widely published author and authority on Japanese architecture, design, and environment, whose groundbreaking writings on traditional Japanese carpentry, compact housing, and traditional sustainable practices are recognized as having brought these fields to the awareness of Western designers and the general public. His creative work spans many media and has been widely exhibited internationally. In 2003 he founded the KIT Future Design Institute in Tokyo, focussing on cognitive and cultural issues surrounding the human hand and its use in the creative process, conducting collaborative research with neuroscientists and perceptual psychologists. A native of New Orleans, he has lived in Japan since 1985 and is currently on the sculpture faculty of Musashino Art University in Tokyo. 

Azby's book list on Japanese carpentry and construction

Azby Brown Why did Azby love this book?

This book, first published in 1995, is a detailed how-to guide that answers a lot of questions about how carpentry is practiced in contemporary Japan. The drawings and plans are fabulously informative. It does not focus on tool use per se, but beautifully conveys the structural logic and reasoning that lie behind the joints and connections themselves. I keep it handy as a reference.

By Yasuo Nakahara, Hideo Sato, Koichi Paul Nii (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Complete Japanese Joinery as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is clean, excellent condition.SHIPS USPS PRIORITY.FAST FULFILLMENT!!


Book cover of The Anarchist's Tool Chest

Jeff Miller Author Of The Foundations of Better Woodworking: How to Use Your Body, Tools and Materials to Do Your Best Work

From my list on improving your woodworking.

Why am I passionate about this?

Jeff Miller is one of the country’s leading furniture designer/craftsmen. He is also a dedicated teacher and a prolific writer, with over 40 articles and 4 books (with a fifth in preparation). Jeff has exhibited furniture in shows from coast to coast, and has a piece in the permanent collection of the Chicago History Museum. Jeff’s work is heavily influenced by his former career as a professional musician, and he strives to make each of his pieces feel musical in some way. Jeff is a runner and – despite the hindrance of living in the flat mid-west – an avid skier. A substantial chunk of his time is taken up by dialysis treatments, but he tries not to let that slow him down too much.

Jeff's book list on improving your woodworking

Jeff Miller Why did Jeff love this book?

Chris has a very personal and very persuasive approach to woodworking. In this book, he uses the discussion of a tool chest and its contents to explain his take on the basic tools needed to work with wood by hand, as well as his philosophy of working wood this way. The book is funny, compelling, and an essential read for anyone interested in hand tools and working with them.

By Christopher Schwarz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Anarchist's Tool Chest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When I am too exhausted, ill or busy to work in my shop, I will shuffle down the stairs to my 15' x 25' workshop and simply stand there for a few minutes with my hands on my tools. To be sure, I thought I was a touch nuts because of this personality quirk. But after reading the oral histories and diaries of craftsmen from the last 300 years, I found it's actually a common trait among artisans. I am drawn, married or perhaps addicted to the things that allow me to coax wood into new shapes. At the same…


Book cover of Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology: A Complete Reference for the Design & Construction of the Steel-String Folk Guitar & the Classical Guitar

Michael Dresdner Author Of The New Wood Finishing Book

From my list on for woodworkers to expand their horizons.

Why am I passionate about this?

Michael Dresdner is a nationally known finishing and woodworking expert and guitar maker/designer, author of five books and several videos on wood finishing and guitar making. He’s been a Contributing Editor to Fine Woodworking Magazine, American Woodworker Magazine, and Woodworker’s Journal, wrote the Just Finishing byline column for American Woodworker Magazine for over 7 years, and the Finishing Thoughts byline column for Woodworker’s Journal for almost 20 years. While a consultant to one of the country’s largest coatings conglomerates, he wrote answers to over 8,000 questions for the www.woodanswers.com website blog and edited the Woodworker’s Journal eZine, an award-winning online woodworking magazine with over a quarter of a million subscribers.

Michael's book list on for woodworkers to expand their horizons

Michael Dresdner Why did Michael love this book?

Making a guitar is something many woodworkers aspire to, but are often stymied by what seems to be the daunting nature of the work. Actually, it’s fairly simple; something the average woodworker can easily do. All you need is the right advice. This is the best comprehensive book on guitar making you can find. It will give you straightforward information, step by step, to help you successfully build your own guitar.

By William Cumpiano, Jonathan D. Solomon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Guitarmaking as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hailed by Guitar Player magazine as perhaps the finest book on guitars ever produced," and by Booklist as "a Rolls Royce of construction guidebooks," this impressive volume is the first book of its kind to describe in depth how both steel-string and classical guitars are actually designed and built. Over 450 photographs, drawings, and diagrams reveal in exquisite detail the hows, whys, and how-to's of the traditional craft of guitarmaking, all accompanied by fascinating historical and technical notes. A comprehensive bibliography; a list of tools, materials, and supply sources; and a full index complete this uniquely authoritative reference - and…


Book cover of Solid-Wood Cabinet Construction: 70 Contemporary Designs with Details

Scott Wynn Author Of Woodworker's Guide to Handplanes: How to Choose, Set Up, and Master the Most Useful Planes for Today Workshop

From my list on kicking your woodworking up a notch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been designing and building furniture professionally since before 1976. From the beginning I’ve had an avid interest in what might be called “appropriate technologies”— when to use a hand tool or power tool — that is, for a specific use, which one gives the best results for the least time and effort? If you read the journals of 18th Century woodworkers you’ll find they were unbelievably fast —using only hand tools. I believe that by the 1970s much of that knowledge and many of the tools themselves had been lost. I set out to rediscover them.

Scott's book list on kicking your woodworking up a notch

Scott Wynn Why did Scott love this book?

Franz Karg's book is a challenge: Design and build cabinets without any sheet goods—all solid wood— and make the designs exciting, the joinery accommodate stress and expansion and contraction while adding to the quality of design, or even inspiring the design. Working your way through these designs will kick your thinking and your construction approach up a notch!

By Franz Karg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Solid-Wood Cabinet Construction as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A master cabinetmaker shows how to build a wide array of lasting furniture for your living room, dining room and bedroom. Sharp photographs and detailed drawings provide the technical information needed to build wall cabinets and other pieces of furniture.


Book cover of A Cabinetmaker's Notebook

Scott Wynn Author Of Woodworker's Guide to Handplanes: How to Choose, Set Up, and Master the Most Useful Planes for Today Workshop

From my list on kicking your woodworking up a notch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been designing and building furniture professionally since before 1976. From the beginning I’ve had an avid interest in what might be called “appropriate technologies”— when to use a hand tool or power tool — that is, for a specific use, which one gives the best results for the least time and effort? If you read the journals of 18th Century woodworkers you’ll find they were unbelievably fast —using only hand tools. I believe that by the 1970s much of that knowledge and many of the tools themselves had been lost. I set out to rediscover them.

Scott's book list on kicking your woodworking up a notch

Scott Wynn Why did Scott love this book?

Many would say Krenov’s approach stands in strong contrast to Frid’s books. Krenov’s books contain much valuable practical information, but I believe the great value of this book is in his attitude toward his work. It is— and I know this is an overused word — but I think it is inspirational.  He speaks clearly and in-depth about his approach to and interaction with his materials; their interplay with design and function; how the physical act of doing the work affects it; his attitude towards time, energy, genuineness, and patronage, and achieving the highest levels of art, craft, and satisfaction. Highly recommended for artists and woodworkers.

By James Krenov,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Cabinetmaker's Notebook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Cabinetmaking at the highest level is an art, a discipline, a philosophy--even a way of life--in addition to being a useful craft. In this book one of the greatest living cabinetmakers reflects on the deeper meanings of his craft and explains for less accomplished workers how the right attitudes toward materials, tools, and time can increase the joys of this complex activity. Craftspeople in every medium will be inspired by this account of getting started and developing habits that lessen the difficulties of a complex craft.


Book cover of Setting Up Shop: The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop

Michael Dresdner Author Of The New Wood Finishing Book

From my list on for woodworkers to expand their horizons.

Why am I passionate about this?

Michael Dresdner is a nationally known finishing and woodworking expert and guitar maker/designer, author of five books and several videos on wood finishing and guitar making. He’s been a Contributing Editor to Fine Woodworking Magazine, American Woodworker Magazine, and Woodworker’s Journal, wrote the Just Finishing byline column for American Woodworker Magazine for over 7 years, and the Finishing Thoughts byline column for Woodworker’s Journal for almost 20 years. While a consultant to one of the country’s largest coatings conglomerates, he wrote answers to over 8,000 questions for the www.woodanswers.com website blog and edited the Woodworker’s Journal eZine, an award-winning online woodworking magazine with over a quarter of a million subscribers.

Michael's book list on for woodworkers to expand their horizons

Michael Dresdner Why did Michael love this book?

Whether starting from scratch or expanding into new woodworking ventures, correctly setting up your shop can spell the difference between success and failure. Here’s where to come for information on electricity and lighting, tools, heating and ventilation, dust collection, benches, shop layout, and even safety. You’ll know what to buy, what to avoid, and what to do to make your workspace as efficient and comfortable as possible, no matter what flights of woodworking fancy you pursue. 

By Sandor Nagyszalanczy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Setting Up Shop as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is ideal for fitting a shop for the first time, or expanding an existing shop. "Setting Up Shop, Revised" takes the practical knowledge and ingenious solutions of the first edition and combines them with additional photos and drawings to create the most comprehensive workshop book on the market. Includes new photos and also updates on technology especially regarding dust collection, pneumatic tools and safety. With guidance on the best shop location, shop layout, equipping the shop with tools and accessories, shop safety and storage.


Book cover of How to Use Woodworking Tools

Graham Blackburn Author Of Traditional Woodworking Handtools: A Manual for the Woodworker

From my list on traditional woodworking.

Why am I passionate about this?

Born in London, I apprenticed under cabinetmaker Hugh Harris before moving to New York to study at Juilliard. Subsequently pursuing a career as a professional musician, recording and playing with groups including Van Morrison, Razmataz, and Full Tilt Boogie, I built a house in Woodstock, NY. In addition to operating my own custom-design furniture-making shop, and lecturing and teaching extensively from coast to coast, I’ve written and illustrated many more books on woodworking. I’ve served as Contributing Editor to Fine Woodworking (1985–1999), and Popular Woodworking (1987–1996), and as Editor-in-Chief of Woodwork Magazine (1991–1994) before becoming a featured speaker and presenter at the National Woodworking Shows.

Graham's book list on traditional woodworking

Graham Blackburn Why did Graham love this book?

Published in 1881 this is an absolutely fundamental book for the beginner. Amply illustrated, you will learn important details such as how to hold tools and what to expect from them as well as how basic joints are formed and made. Focused on wooden tools this is information not commonly reproduced in more contemporary books.

This book is not currently available.

By R.L. Bridgman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Use Woodworking Tools as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Practical Woodwork
Book cover of Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Three Step-By-Step Guidebooks to Essential Woodworking Techniques
Book cover of Ancient Carpenters' Tools: Illustrated and Explained, Together with the Implements of the Lumberman, Joiner and Cabinet-Maker in Use in the Eighteenth Century

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