Rating: 
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: As a moderately experienced woodworker with a lot to learn, I thought this book might provide a comprehensive description (or nearly so) of woodworking joints with detailed instructions and tips on how to do the joinery. Unfortunately, it turned out to be long on glossy image and short on nuts-and-bolts information. The list of joinery techniques is a long one and may indeed be quite comprehensive; it definitely includes some I had not seen before. The photography and production are beautiful and sumptuous. But the descriptions of how to make the joints are sadly deficient. Again and again, on one type of joint after another, I find the instructions to be breezy and incomplete (as if I were expected to know how to do everything already). Frequently the text gives a one-sentence instruction and then refers to a photo where one might expect to be able to fill in the information missing from the text. But the photos, although beautiful, are no more informative than the text. In most cases, line drawings would be much more informative. For a much less sumptuous, but definitely more informative book, I recommend Woodworking: The Right Technique: Three Practical Ways to Do Every Job-And How to Choose the One That's Right for You, by Bob Moran and Nick Engler. It doesn't cover as many techniques, but the ones it does cover, it covers well.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful Workbench Reference
Review: As an intermediate woodworker, I often need to review a procedure before undertaking it. I have found Mr. Rogowski's book to be an excellent reference to use at the bench. It explains techniques in two ways, text and visual. You can read about the procedure and clarify particular aspects by studying the clear photographs. I find the combination of text and visual to be the way I learn best. It's almost like watching the instructor demonstrate the technique.
The text is concise, yet gets the procedure across. I want to review and then cut lumber as opposed to reading for an extended time. The photographs are well produced and frequently clear up questions I have from the text. The variety of techniques included stimulates me to try other ways of doing the joinery to develop my own variations and adds to my repetoire. Since a single technique may not work out for a particular situation, having a number of ways to do a particular joint comes in handy when solving woodworking dilemas.
All in all, I found this to be a very beautiful and helpful book.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful Workbench Reference
Review: As an intermediate woodworker, I often need to review a procedure before undertaking it. I have found Mr. Rogowski's book to be an excellent reference to use at the bench. It explains techniques in two ways, text and visual. You can read about the procedure and clarify particular aspects by studying the clear photographs. I find the combination of text and visual to be the way I learn best. It's almost like watching the instructor demonstrate the technique.
The text is concise, yet gets the procedure across. I want to review and then cut lumber as opposed to reading for an extended time. The photographs are well produced and frequently clear up questions I have from the text. The variety of techniques included stimulates me to try other ways of doing the joinery to develop my own variations and adds to my repetoire. Since a single technique may not work out for a particular situation, having a number of ways to do a particular joint comes in handy when solving woodworking dilemas.
All in all, I found this to be a very beautiful and helpful book.
Rating:
Summary: Disjointed.
Review: I agree with one of the other reviewers: this is a GREAT looking book, filled with well-crafted photos. However, as a beginner woodworker, I was unable to follow most of the text. I thought this book would give step-by-step instructions on accomplishing various joinery solutions. Instead, it merely mentioned the solution and more or less told the reader to fumble his way through it himself. This may be a decent reference book for TYPES of joinery, but if you're looking for guidance in crafting the joints, you'll probably need other material to do so. What is also seriously lacking here is a glossary of terms used throughout the book to help the beginner understand exactly what the author is writing about.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: I am a beginning cabinetmaking student at a local community and technical college and was looking for something on joinery to supplement the classroom text. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery by Gary Rogowski is a lovely volume on several of the techniques that have been discussed both in class and in the text. It illustrates them more clearly with photos of the process, than either of the latter sources and helps me understand better what the instructor has in mind when he makes suggestions for my projects. More importantly the book provides more than one way of producing the joints, using different types of equipment to achieve the same results. Since I expect to set up a small shop on a restricted budget, at least to begin with, I know that I will often have to "make do" with the equipment I happen to have on hand, and I think that this book will help me do that. While I am still a little too much of a novice to have yet discovered the faults in the book of which the other reviewers have written, I hope to be able to add my own notes to the methods discussed as I gain more experience, enlarging the information provided with details of my own efforts and those of my classmates (in fact we are expected to keep a journal for class with just this type of data). I also see the book as a list of basic techniques to try before I have graduated.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: I am a beginning cabinetmaking student at a local community and technical college and was looking for something on joinery to supplement the classroom text. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery by Gary Rogowski is a lovely volume on several of the techniques that have been discussed both in class and in the text. It illustrates them more clearly with photos of the process, than either of the latter sources and helps me understand better what the instructor has in mind when he makes suggestions for my projects. More importantly the book provides more than one way of producing the joints, using different types of equipment to achieve the same results. Since I expect to set up a small shop on a restricted budget, at least to begin with, I know that I will often have to "make do" with the equipment I happen to have on hand, and I think that this book will help me do that. While I am still a little too much of a novice to have yet discovered the faults in the book of which the other reviewers have written, I hope to be able to add my own notes to the methods discussed as I gain more experience, enlarging the information provided with details of my own efforts and those of my classmates (in fact we are expected to keep a journal for class with just this type of data). I also see the book as a list of basic techniques to try before I have graduated.
Rating:
Summary: Disjointed.
Review: I have a number of woodworking books and each one shows how the author like to do joints and then gives you various "projects". This is great for the beginner, but what I need now is a reference book of all the joints and the various ways in which to make them. This book really fills that need. I think if you are just beyond the beginner and need a great reference, this is for you.
Rating:
Summary: A very thorough and beautiful book
Review: Once again I am very impressed with the encyclopedic coverage Taunton has given us on a vital aspect of our hobby/craft/passion. Gary Rogowski's writing was accurate and understandable. I love the fact that this book does not waste too many pages talking about shop basics, yet the first three sections level the playing field for beginners by explaining the tools and terminology used throughout the rest of the book.
As for the bulk of the content here (sections 4-15) - there are twelve themed sections covering every conceivable type of joint you might encounter while working wood. Each section starts with an overview of that type of joint and its uses, followed by cookbook recipes for how to go about accomplishing each one. I found the color photographs to be clear, and they provide ample support for the text as the author describes each step.
I ordered all three books in this series for my library (yes I am a librarian and a woodworker) and I especially recommend this title as a must have shop 'encyclopedia' on the topic. Basically, I found the Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery to be practical enough that I would 'need' a copy in my shop and beautiful enough that I would 'want' a copy on my coffee table!
Rating:
Summary: Getting Things Together
Review: One of Taunton Press's best efforts is the 'Complete Illustrated' guide series. The books are all well illustrated with and emphasis on both quality and durability in the binding. They make use of writers who are well-established craftspeople who have served as teaching professionals as well. 'Joinery' is no exception to this rule as it opens the door into what many think of as the secret science of woodworking. Certainly few things will create disagreement among woodworkers the way the question of how two bring two pieces of wood together to make one.
The book is divided into three parts - Tools (hand tools, small power tools, and machines), Carcase Joinery (butt, rabbet, groove, dado, miter, finger, mortise-and-tenon, and dovetail joints), and Frame Joinery (butt, miter, lap, bridle, scarf, splice, edge, and mortise-and-tenon). Each joint type is discussed in some detail, covering both the theory behind the working of the joint and discussions of how to make the joints. In general, the level of detail and clarity are very good.
There are those who would sit down and read this book from cover to cover. Some, no doubt, would actually remember it all. But for most of us the best use of Gary Rogowski's work is as a reference. Browse through it several times to expand our joiner's imagination, and then deep dive into the joints for a potential project. Eventually, you will absorb an alarming amount of knowledge. Just as, with practice, the skills required for each joint develop and grow.
It amazes me how, each time I return to this book I find something completely new. Rogowski has a straightforward writing style that meshes well with the format of this series. The only thing I would add are even more pictures, even a gallery of various examples. This is a volume I am delighted to own.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful but inconsistent
Review: Spectacular production values, but (forgive me) really pretty dis-joint! I'll give one example of what I feel is the book's major shortcoming: in the section on dovetail joints, he never shows a photo or line drawing of a dovetail joint just as it is about to go together - I have to visualize for myself what it is supposed to look like. Its like a friend of mine who when discussing something will think a sentence but not actually say it, and proceed with the discussion as if she HAD said it out loud and assuming you heard it! Very hard to follow sometimes.... In this case a basic beginners step to making dovetails is omitted, so everything that follows is pretty hard to grasp.I also find the pictures and supporting text lacking - they often do not illustrate his point, or are too small / distant to see what is actually going on. I do like the catalog of joints, the discussion of the pros and cons of each and best applications practice. I also like that for each joint he gives several different ways to make it, depending on what tool you have or prefer to use. If Rogowski would just give the book to 5 novice woodworkers and note down everywhere they don't "get" something so he could address their issue in the next edition, he'd do himself and all his readers a big favor.
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