The Woodwright's Shop: A Practical Guide to Traditional Woodcraft

by Roy Underhill

Paperback, 1981

Status

Available

Call number

684.082 Un22

Publication

The University of North Carolina Press (1981), 216 pages

Description

Roy Underhill brings to woodworking the intimate relationship with wood that craftsmen enjoyed in the days before power tools. Combining historical background, folklore, alternative technololgy, and humor, he provides both a source of general information and a detailed introduction to traditional woodworking. Beginning with a guide to trees and tools, The Woodwright's Shop includes chapters on gluts and mauls, shaving horses, rakes, chairs, weaving wood, hay forks, dough bowls, lathes, blacksmithing, dovetails, panel-frame construction, log houses, and timber-frame construction. More than 330 photographs illustrate the text.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan

Underhill is a very good writer. He's descriptive, clear & concise whether he's describing a bark pattern or a how-to project. Yet, at the same time, he takes time to go beyond the necessities & provide tidbits that made me want to read beyond his books. Often these are historical (e.g. Thomas

Jefferson's carpenter) or alternate methods to try. This book is a good reference for any carpenter, history buff or writer. For the carpenter today, with all the power tools, it shows methods that are still valid & often forgotten in the mass of machines & paint-by-number instructions. Historically, he's a gold mine. He helped rebuild Colonial Williamsburg & is well known for his attention to authenticity. Writers can learn how it was really done before the invention of electricity & what kind of trees & wood were available in an old growth forest. Most get it wrong.There are a number of projects outlined in this book, both practical & fun. It assumes you have some knowledge of woodworking, but not a lot of tools are needed.

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