Shop-Made Jigs and Fixtures (Art of Woodworking)

I must echo the other FIVE STAR reviews and give these reasons:1- This is THE MOST concise and well-organized book on the subject. The very first page on the inside cover shows an ILLUSTRATED list of common parts, fasteners and doohickeys you need to quickly build jigs. After all, it defeats the purpose of convenience if you must run out to the hardware store or order online every time you need a new jig. Therefore, lay in a supply of these inexpensive components before you begin.2-Further organization of this reference makes it easy to FIND the jig you are looking for. In forty plus years of woodworking, I have seen a ton of jigs in many books, but HOW CAN I REMEMBER all of them, much less find them? This book has every TYPE of jig organized by its general function, a feature other publishers have copied. But it goes one step farther by showing mini-illustrations of the jigs at the beginning of each chapter. Each illustration has a PAGE NUMBER so you can find what you need instantly. I have yet to see another publication that has utilized this crucial detail.3-Though you may find some of these jigs in other publications, it is obvious by the publication dates which books came first. As I look at "new" books by famous "popular" "fine-woodworking" publishers, it becomes glaringly clear that they ALL have "borrowed" ideas from this work. Perhaps "plagiarized" is too strong a word since the industry is rife with such "information-overlap." (really... "information overlap" is an actual euphemism that these publishers use!) I'll let you judge that for yourself after you read this book and compare it to others.4-ILLUSTRATIONS... Time-Life hires professional illustrators that know their business! Illustrations are far superior to photos when describing the FUNCTION of jigs. We get to "see inside" the parts, how they fit together, and get an intuitive instantaneous understanding of their functions without tedious extraneous step-by-step instructions.5-This is NOT a "for dummies" style book. You have to figure out your own dimensions for YOUR tools and YOUR operations. Every woodworker MUST do that anyway because no two woodworkers are the same or have the same tools. Personally, I find this clarity of purpose and simplicity a refreshing foil to "dummified" manuals. You get more info with fewer words. That's one reason this book packs so much information into such a skinny package.6-This book has some photos instead of illustrations whenever photos are better, but it does NOT look like a glorified advertisement for sponsored brands. All the tools, photo-angles and cropping are for the purpose of demonstration, NOT "product placement."Time-Life photographers and editors chose the most descriptive / explanatory shots possible, so jig-functions are immediately clear. All the illustrated tools seem "generic" in the sense that we rarely see anything to indicate a specific Brand. One of the few things that might indicate a brand-specific tool are the orange colored ends on pipe clamps. Anyone who knows woodworking will recognize that design and color of these clamps. Other than that, we seldom see any blatant advertisements which I personally find insulting. That's like Comcast selling advertising on cable that you already pay for, then advertising their crap on their own medium!Most books on woodworking are published by publishing houses that get the majority of their revenue from advertisers, so it is no surprise those books are rife with brand-name products. These Time-Life books are focused on giving us solid, useful information. That's why we get so much more from this book's 144 pages than we get from thicker books. Absolutely every page of this has something useful. It is NOT "fattened-up" of advertising "fluff." That's another reason why this book is more useful than others but not so cumbersome. This book is "lean, mean and shows the machine!"Over decades of woodworking, I have used MANY of the jigs found in this book, and that's a ton! Though I did not learn every trick in this book FROM this book originally, it is very convenient to have this as a reference. The organization and clarity have helped me countless times, save me countless hours of research and saved me THOUSANDS of dollars. I am NOT exaggerating in the slightest... I mean THOUSANDS.As you read this book and see the illustrations, you will undoubtedly recognize MANY manufactured products that are a direct rip-off of ideas in here. There are boatloads of jigs, fixtures, gizmos, gadgets that have been blatantly taken from this work, mass-produced, then marketed as overpriced gimmicks that uninformed neophytes mistakenly believe they must buy. For that reason alone, this book is worth its weight in silver to anyone who plans to purchase woodworking tools. You will definitely SAVE BIG BUCKS making your own jigs from designs in here.Obviously, other publishers do not want to discuss THIS book or THIS publisher in their on-line blogs or forums when they have their own rags to hawk. That's OK when their content is original, but it's also obvious that MUCH of what they are selling came directly from Time-Life; in particular from THIS book.I recommend that you buy this book, look at it, and keep it by your side as you peruse woodworking websites. Keep it handy as a reference as you check out online tool-sellers. You will see what I say is true. After an hour or so of this exercise, you will understand that a huge percentage of the stuff they try to "sell us" is nothing more than a plastic mass-produced copies of ideas in here. You will discover, (if you haven't already) that all the woodworking websites are "borrowing" a significant percentage of their content specifically from this book, and in general, from Time-Life.Whilst typing this review, I started to count the number of jigs and tips I have used that are in here. I stopped counting after one-hundred.Since its original publication, I have purchased several copies of this tome. Why? I have also "lent" it to woodworking friends. So recently I had to buy yet another volume to replace those that never seem to migrate back to my shop.Perhaps that can give you another way to gauge the usefulness and value of this book! ;-)

okay we all have them,jig books, cd roms with jig plans, magazines with a bazillion jig plans, so last thing we all need is another jig book.we don't need another jig book we need this jig book. why ? it is well written, well organized. I hate those pictures that are suppose to be hand drawn, or even worse one picture with 100 reference arrows pointing out everything but blocking what I am trying to see.the book is clean, well organized a great reference. one thing that caught my eye is a have seen a million cross cut sled , but the plan in this book is the only one ive ever seen that puts a piece of plastic to protect from chips and flying saw dust.definetly wood recommend this to any body who does wood working .if oprah did wood working it would be one here book list!

This is a great book with incredible pictures and illustrations on building jigs for your power tools, written by some of the most for most experts in the woodworking business of today and yesterday. The book is a hardcover, lay flat book in that you can open up to any page and it won't try to close up on you. This makes it great for taking into the workshop to build some of the jigs illustrated in the book, although the book is too pretty to mess it up with sawdust. The seller based in the UK offered great service and although it took a while to get to the DC area, it was well worth the price. I now buy all of me woodworking and hobby books used. I am saving quite a lot of money doing it that way vs. buying new retail.

Excellent book with photos showing and explaining every jig in the book. I have used this book to make several jigs for my home remolding projects. Great pointers and shop tips with their own diagrams. As a hobby carpenter I find the more information I can research before starting a project helps keep my craft a hobby and not stressful event.

At 144 pages this isn't a very big book but it's well worth owning. Some of the ideas presented will be useful (and worth the price of the book) even if you don't have a shop.Not everything has dimensions given but between text & illustrations you should be able get it figured out. Lots of great ideas here for cutting, drilling, sanding (even a couple for sharpening a lathe gouge and plane blade), marking circles (this would be good even if you don't have a shop- so would the plywood sheet carrier), working with a lathe.…everyone needs a copy of this book, you'll get your money's worth out of it.

Book delivered the information promised.My projects are more precise, and of greaterease when constructing, using these jigspresented in the book. Anyone working withtable saws, drill press, or band saws will beable to put this book to good use.

Very easy to follow, and not just in terms of content either. Well written and illustrated.

Even if I use a fraction of the jigs in this book, it was worth every penny. There are jigs in here I would never think up on my own. The book explains things very clearly, and the illustrations are easy to follow. Highly recommend.

Besser als die deutschen Ausgaben zum Thema

A real treasure trove of very useful jigs. Looking forward to using this as a reference when I get my new wood shop built.

Perfect just what my husband needed

Although not new, the book was in good condition and good value for the price. Some good tips and ideas for jigs

good book