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Made by Hand: Furniture Projects from the Unplugged Woodshop
"Made By Hand" is the definitive book of how to build woodworking projects using hand tools. While there are a number of books on hand tools for woodworkers that provide information about hand tools and their individual uses, no one has put these tools to use on a project. In that regard, this book is unique and will fit in perfectly with the rapidly expanding category of hand-tool woodworking. The six projects and companion DVD offer excellent views of the hand tools in use, and the critical body positioning necessary.
- GenresWoodworkNonfiction
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 4, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 13, 2016
Fidgen continues the woodworking writer tradition of not really knowing how commas work, and adds to that his own twist of also not having a clue how capitalisation works.* He very audaciously breaks the tradition of actually being a good woodworker, though.
I guess I already knew these people existed: you have woodworkers who only use hand tools because it's more difficult and acquiring non-trivial skills is fun; you have woodworkers who do it because it's slower and more meditative; you even have woodworkers who just do it because they hate noise. Fidgen represents a fourth, hipster contingent, who do it because it allows them to feel better than other people.
Unsurprisingly, these people don't really spend time honing their craft, and tend to mistake spending a ton of money on ``boutique'' tools and gadgets for skill;† Fidgen just got to the point where he could make his projects look pretty good in photographs, and decided that meant he was obviously ready to pass on his great wisdom and deep understanding.
That there's a big difference between knowing how to do something and knowing why to do it that way something that hasn't occurred to him yet, leading to some very dodgy show-off joinery in one of the detailed projects and a lot of cargo cult garbage in the techniques section.‡
If you ignore all of the text, I guess you can still find inspiration in the projects—if you don't mind tabletops that are screwed into place (one even has pretend breadboards!)—as is always the case. It's a lot of money to spend on a book that's otherwise basically an extended version of this Tumblr post, though.
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* He also consistently misspells ``bridle joint'' as ``bridal joint''. I know it's hard to find good editors for technical works, but.
† Fidgen's ``essential tool list'' contains thousands of dollars worth of garbage, especially if you buy the Lie-Nielsen or Veritas versions of everything, as he strongly hints you need to. Amusingly, it also lists plough planes as being essential for cutting grooves and dados while router planes are ``not the first special-purpose plane [he]'d get'', but all of the dados in the projects in the book are cut with a router plane and a drill.
‡ At one point Fidgen reasonably suggests matching the size of your mortise and tenon to the width of your chisel, but he's also one of those idiots who drill out most of their mortise, defeating the purpose completely.
I guess I already knew these people existed: you have woodworkers who only use hand tools because it's more difficult and acquiring non-trivial skills is fun; you have woodworkers who do it because it's slower and more meditative; you even have woodworkers who just do it because they hate noise. Fidgen represents a fourth, hipster contingent, who do it because it allows them to feel better than other people.
Unsurprisingly, these people don't really spend time honing their craft, and tend to mistake spending a ton of money on ``boutique'' tools and gadgets for skill;† Fidgen just got to the point where he could make his projects look pretty good in photographs, and decided that meant he was obviously ready to pass on his great wisdom and deep understanding.
That there's a big difference between knowing how to do something and knowing why to do it that way something that hasn't occurred to him yet, leading to some very dodgy show-off joinery in one of the detailed projects and a lot of cargo cult garbage in the techniques section.‡
If you ignore all of the text, I guess you can still find inspiration in the projects—if you don't mind tabletops that are screwed into place (one even has pretend breadboards!)—as is always the case. It's a lot of money to spend on a book that's otherwise basically an extended version of this Tumblr post, though.
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* He also consistently misspells ``bridle joint'' as ``bridal joint''. I know it's hard to find good editors for technical works, but.
† Fidgen's ``essential tool list'' contains thousands of dollars worth of garbage, especially if you buy the Lie-Nielsen or Veritas versions of everything, as he strongly hints you need to. Amusingly, it also lists plough planes as being essential for cutting grooves and dados while router planes are ``not the first special-purpose plane [he]'d get'', but all of the dados in the projects in the book are cut with a router plane and a drill.
‡ At one point Fidgen reasonably suggests matching the size of your mortise and tenon to the width of your chisel, but he's also one of those idiots who drill out most of their mortise, defeating the purpose completely.
July 1, 2023
Tom Fidgen is one of those Romantic woodworkers who believes that every wood shaving is sacred and that sawdust has magical powers. He is one of many handtool fetishists who feels that all power tools are demonic and should be avoided at all costs. I have to be honest and say that I'm usually quite receptive to this sort of ballyhoo, but recently I've grown tired of it. It's just not true and is a silly and puerile attitude--as is the case with any kind of puritanical argument. What I find especially annoying about Fidgen is a complaint that I have about many hobbyist woodworkers: their technique is quite sound, but their aesthetics are sub par. Although many people LOVE Fidgen's pieces, I find them quite lacking in pleasing aesthetics and functionality. They have been designed around showcasing his mastery of this or that joint, not whether or not the thing works or looks nice. His small bookcase, for instance, is a monstrosity. It looks like the work of a white man trying desperately to be Japanese--a hodgepodge of conflicting proportions, lines and colors. Nasty.
However, I can't fault Fidgen on technique, and he does a decent job (albeit somewhat patronizing in some sections) of explaining the rudiments of handtool work. I find it particularly strange that Popular Woodworking published this book because it treads the same ground that so many of their other publications do (with less effectiveness). With so many great woodworking books out there, there's no excuse for producing this one.
However, I can't fault Fidgen on technique, and he does a decent job (albeit somewhat patronizing in some sections) of explaining the rudiments of handtool work. I find it particularly strange that Popular Woodworking published this book because it treads the same ground that so many of their other publications do (with less effectiveness). With so many great woodworking books out there, there's no excuse for producing this one.
May 11, 2020
Tom's writing is both inspirational and instructional. Fun read and some cool projects
October 30, 2023
Weird combination of hand tool overviews for a beginner and fairly complicated projects.
May 8, 2015
I read this book because it jumped out at me from the library shelf. I like the writing style a lot. I would definitely read more by this guy. I haven't got any tools, yet, so I can't really comment on the projects. I will someday, and when I do, I will update this review. I can say I feel like I would be a little lost as a complete beginner with just this book, but only a little.
March 14, 2010
A beautiful book of tools and projects for folks who love to use old hand tools.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews