Wood Joiner's Handbook

Rating:
Summary: You won't regret buying this book.
Review: After borrowing this book from the library I realized that it is so full of helpful information that I am going to buy it to have it in my small home shop. I was surprised to see only two reviews so far for this book: The writing is clear and concise; the diagrams are very helpful. The only thing that I wish for is better photography. Don't get me wrong, the photos work well to support the text but they are some times "muddy" black and white images (I'm a photographer so I tend to be picky about this sort of stuff.). I am relatively new to joinery and find this book one of the best I've read - and I've read probably close to fifty woodworking books in the past several months.
If you are new to joinery like me I think you'll find this book one of your best tools.
Have fun.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive, thorough and well illustrated
Review: Many possibilities, different ways and methods of joining wood are beautifully illustrated in this book. However, so much information is provided that it can almost become confusing, depending on the person's level of expertise. Methods in making the joints are not shown, so this probably assumes a basic ability with hand or power tools.

This book can be used by all levels; from novices to professionals.

Rating:
Summary: Invaluable
Review: My woodworking library is growing steadily, as is my stack of woodworking magazines. This is the most useful book on joinery I have read to date. It's not the prettiest (no color photos), but I find Sam Allen's several years' experience working in a furniture repair shop to be invaluable. He has seen many failed joints and analyzed the cause of the failure, and he describes these in the book. He describes the forces that joints are subject to, and how to design for them. The book is well-organized, and the drawings of joints are very clear. I disagree with a previous reviewer that methods are not shown...actually handtool methods and machine tool methods are both shown. Probably not every method known to man (you wouldn't be able to lift the book), but I think if you can see a drawing of a joint and read a description of it, you should be able to figure out how to cut it...that's part of the enjoyment.