If you have seen this book online or at a big-box store, you have likely asked the same question I did: Is this just another coffee table book, or does it actually teach you how to work wood?
After two years of using it as a professional cabinetmaker (and five years of ignoring it as a beginner), here is my honest, complete breakdown. Let’s clear up the confusion. There are several “encyclopedias” of woodworking. The one we are reviewing is the Updated and Expanded edition published by Lowe’s / Creative Homeowner (often just branded as The Complete Guide to Woodworking ). Encyclopedia of Woodworking the complete Guide ...
It is massive. We are talking 480+ pages of dense, step-by-step photography. It does not read like a dictionary. It reads like a trade school course bound into a single volume. Most woodworking books fall into two traps: they are either too pretty (fancy projects, zero technique) or too boring (line drawings from 1950). This book avoids both. If you have seen this book online or
It loses a point only because the project gallery at the end is dated (lots of 1990s country-style hutches). But as a reference for joinery, wood movement, and sharpening? It beats every YouTube playlist I have ever saved. There are several “encyclopedias” of woodworking
Many modern guides pretend hand tools are just for hipsters. This book treats chisels, planes, and scrapers as essential problem-solvers. The photography on sharpening a plane iron is the best I have seen—you can actually see the burr.