Thanks for the info (and particularly the free stuff). You hit the nail
on the head (okay, that pun was not intended, but I will leave it in
anyway) when you mention the fundamentals that are assumed to be known by
so many authors. That was the impetus behind my original post. As just
one little example, I just recently learned about having the good face of
plywood up or down depending on the tool used to cut it. There are tons
of those sort of little tid bits that I don't yet know. Your info has
put me on the path of learning many of those things.

To answer your specific questions (which in retrospect I should have done
in my original post), I am currently limited to power hand tools, and
even then I don't have it all (currently no router, for example). But
both budget and expertise level mandate a slow growth of this hobby for
me. As to what I want to do, well for the moment my choice of projects
are being determined by several criteria: cost of materials, available
tools, and practical use. So some of my first projects have been/still
are basic shelving units, simple work benches, etc. Basically, the first
projects are making things that I can use in my little new workshop area.

Thanks again for your help and advice. Oh, BTW, as off topic as it is,
what the hell is dry steam?

James

charlie b wrote in news:42819A63.5FC0
@accesscom.com:

X_HOBBES wrote:

Enjoy it! It's a very rewarding activity. It's a very nice escape
from
everyday stresses.

X_HOBBES

And fall into some Not Everyday Stress? I'm thinking of
complicated glue up specifically. Here's an example of
The Clock's Ticking, The Glue Is Setting and ..."

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/MT/CBbench18.html

But back to the original poster's question - what kind of
stuff do you want to do? If it's sheet goods and face frames
with framed ply doors and drawer slides things are a
bit simpler than doing solid wood furniture with traditional
joinery. For whatever reason, are you limited to hand tools
and hand power tools or is a joiner, planer and table saw
in the plan, along with a plunge router and maybe a
router table set up?

Either way, there are some basic fundamentals (don't
you just love that redundancy) which seem to be assumed
as "common knowledge" by most authors of woodworking
books and therefore not even mentioned. Stock prep for
example. Parts marking is another overlooked piece
of critical info (anyone want to swear that they've
never made two "lefts" or cut a dado/rabbet-rebate/
mortise on the wrong end or face of a part?). How
about layout, tools and techniques? What about kickback?
Or how about something that appears to need no
explanation - how to use a handsaw or how to use
a chisel for - chopping - paring - mortising ...

So here's some of the basic fundamentals for free

Stock prep
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/CabProcess3.html

Layout - in a mortise and tenon example, including
layout tools - but applicable to a lot of other things
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/MTprimer7.html

If you're going to use a table saw, be it a contractor's
saw or a full sized, 3 or more horsepower cabinet
saw and understanding of the factors that can lead
to a piece of wood taking off - at high speed and in
unpredictable directions - this might help
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/KickBack1.html

Want to try handcut dovetails?
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...ilDrawer0.html

AS for books,

Di Cristafora's book on joinery illustrates almost every
type of joint you'll ever encounter let along even consider
making. Falls a little short on when and how they're
used and why but will provide good into to mentally
file away for later.

Krenov's books will give you one man's "why" rather
than "how". There's very little in print on the "why"
part of woodworking.

The Encyclopedia of Furniture Making (I think that's
the title) will show how most solid wood furniture
is put together when done right.

I've got shelves of woodworking books and none
cover everything well and the ones that try
fail miserable when you go to apply what you
think they've shown you.

Bottom line, it's like asking for a book that covers
Engineering (hell, I've got an engineering books
that's mainly just steam tables (did you know
that there's such a thing as dry steam?)

The sunject of woodworking has several lifetimes
of things to learn - which is the fun of it - the
finished projects are merely sign posts and
post cards from the journey.

Jump in - but be safe. When in doubt stop and
think things through. If the little voice in
your head's screaming DON'T DO IT! back off
and find another way.

Welcome to the slippery slopes.

charlie b