The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing is a book that is frequently suggested to me by listeners to the podcast. I feel that in many ways this is one of the best books to start you at the beginning and get you to the place where you are comfortable to start out on your own. The author’s teaching style – honed by years in the classroom making sure he helped students to achieve their goals – is very thorough without being verbose.
The book is easy reading and doesn’t mess around. A few pages in and you’re stripping down a plane and getting into some pretty serious construction. If you’ve been thinking of getting into this woodworking thing – and knew you were only allowed one book ever on the topic – well this is a strong contender.