Review of Make Your Own Woodworking Tools: Metalwork Techniques to Create, Customize, and Sharpen in the Home Workshop (Paperback)

Mike Burton should be complimented for sharing his multitude of skills with the reading and crafting public. This book is the distillation of many years of practical and academic study. To be able to take advantage of this wisdom for the paltry sum that this book cost is remarkable. Mike has the ability to take us through all the stages in the manufacture of a great variety of woodworking items. He does it in a simple, easy to follow manner and with a beautiful dry wit. If you buy this book you will be in the position to save a great deal on the purchase of essential tools by making many of your own to your considerable satisfaction. I have had the book for only two weeks and so have concentrated on my own particular interest. I now have a splendid array of woodcarving tools. They cost me very little in materials and the saving is many hundreds of dollars.The price of this book would only buy half a woodcarving tool! Mike has a fine eye for a bargain himself and it is a pleasure to be inducted into his economic ways. In the weeks and months ahead I feel that my savings, skills and satisfaction at making my own tools will increase many times. Mike you should have been a New Zealander! You would fit in very well.

Product Description
Praising the simplicity and economy of customised handles and blades made from recycled materials, this manual details the construction and assembly of handmade tools that can be fitted to individual hands and are designed to keep a razor-sharp edge. An extensive section on salvage steel provides advice about choosing metal, and an in-depth analysis of heat treatment explains how to get a hard cutting-edge while keeping the back of the knife soft for greater strength. Carpenter comfort and safety is also considered, with a section on making handles recommends techniques for shaping and carving wood to distribute pressure over a large area of the heel of the hand in order to relieve stress on the wrist and arm.

About the Author
Mike Burton has been a professional woodworker for more than 40 years, creating projects that vary from a furniture line to guitar bodies. He is the author of Architectural Carving, Simple Marquetry, and Veneering a Foundation Course. He lives in Ogden, Utah.


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