This book could also be titled “Metallurgy and Blacksmithing for Woodworkers”. In no time, Burton will have you making chisels, knives and specialty tools with little more than a few files, a Mapp gas torch and a toaster oven. No, really. I’ve used the information is this book personally, and it works. I’ve made dovetail chisels, carving knives, scorps and countless other unique items necessary to finish tricky jobs. What a joy to create a tool you can envision but can’t find anywhere. The book has chapters on the different types of steel, equipment, safety, blacksmithing, heat-treating, sharpening, handles and projects. Although the information is specialized in nature, Burton’s homegrown style and humor will keep you from fighting the zzz monster. It is loaded with good quality, close-up color photography to highlight the text. If you want lots of charts, graphs, facts and figures, then go elsewhere. But if you want good practical folk knowledge from a lifetime of doing, then you’ll want this book near the bench.
Several books of this nature have sadly gone out of print. It is unfortunate because woodworkers in general are excellent problem solvers and researchers, given the right references. For the most part, we can jig up or improvise whatever we need to get a job done. Having books like Make Your Own Woodworking Tools: Metalwork Techniques to Create Customize, and Sharpen in the Home Workshop on the shelf is a true blessing. Typically when you want useful and concise information most resources barrage you with a ton of overly technical jargon, so that you quickly lose interest. You might even wind up with more questions than when you started. So there you have it, just enough how-to to bang out a few useful items without all the rigmarole.
Chris Black
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Hydrocote products have been Highland Woodworking’s primary water-based finish for many years. Professionals and enthusiasts have come to rely on Hydrocote’s overall quality, durability and broad choice of supporting products. They make a polyurethane for floors and tables, a lacquer for general cabinet work and an exterior urethane for outdoor projects.
Almost all of us who work here, including myself, are avid woodworkers. Needless to say, we love our tools. We take an active interest in making sure the stuff we sell works. If it’s expensive, we want the best. If it sells for less, we make sure it’s a good value. The bottom line is we want our friends, our customers, to be happy and enjoy our tools. So, we have things like a tech line and a fairly liberal return policy to make sure you get what you want. Another thing we do is we test our products. Product testing has been a tradition at Highland since day one. You’ve read our ad that says, “Our catalog gives you more than just manufacturer’s specs…” We really do take this stuff home, give it a go in our own shops and try to be as honest as possible with the copy in our catalog/web site.
The following article, detailing steps one can take to improve table saw functionality, was submitted to us