Woodshop library

TURNING WOOD WITH CARBIDE TOOLS by John English, outlines the many advantages that replaceable tungsten carbide cutting tips have over traditional woodturning cutters and scrapers.

English, a frequent contributor to Woodshop News, covers the various grades of tungsten carbide and the types of carbide cutting tips. He also presents a complete survey of available carbide tool sets from manufacturers, carefully evaluating the particular strengths and design choices of each make and model. It goes beyond the basics with eight skill-building projects, including candlesticks, bowls, vases, finials and more. The 128-page softcover, published by Linden Publishing, sells for $21.95. Visit www.woodworkerslibrary.com.

THE VILLAGE CARPENTER, by Walter Rose, was reissued by Linden Publishing. First published in 1937, it’s a memoir of a Victorian craftsman at a time when rural communities depended on the village carpenter for functional needs. Rose provides a complete description of the working conditions and typical tasks of a 19th century woodworker, while also revealing the social structure of the Victorian English village and the carpenter’s place in it. Rose’s narrative encompasses his childhood in his grandfather’s shop; the typical tools of the time; and a wide variety of practical tasks, including woodwork on the farm, wooden pumps, roofs, houses, water mill and windmill repairs, undertaking and coffin making, and furniture repairs. The 146-page softcover sells for $15.95. Visit www.woodworkerslibrary.com.

This article originally appeared in the September 2012 issue.