Woodturning With Ray Allen

Rating:
Summary: A spectacular guide to segmented woodturning
Review: This is arguably the best book on segmented turning that has been published. It far surpassed my expectations, even though I expected a lot. The book has three major parts: First comes a detailed, step-by-step guide with 95 color photographs that carefully walks the turner through the complete sequence needed to make one of Ray Allen's designs. This is certainly not for the novice turner, and a sound understanding of woodturning techniques and general woodworking skills would be necessary to follow this part. But for the intermediate to advanced turner wanting to try out segmented work, this book is the best introduction one could imagine. Even the experienced segmented turner will find a tip or two that will be of interest. The second part of the book is the gallery section, which is outstanding, and consists of no less than 55 pages with several full color photographs on each page. It features a large part of Ray Allen's work, and it is a wonderful source of inspiration. The gallery section alone would have been worth more than the price of the book to me. The last part of the book contains blueprints and assembly sequences for many of the vessels and patterns in the book. While this is not nearly as detailed as the first part, it is still an excellent resource, and will help the reader to come up with his or her own designs and ways to build them. All in all, a must have for segmented turners of all skill levels, as well as for anybody wishing to give segmented turning a try but wasn't quite sure how to start.