Toolmaking for Woodworkers

Ray Larsen

Reviewed by:

Sean Yates

Ray Larsen has been around a while, writing articles for Fine Woodworking while running his business, Genuine Forgery, and making tools for Old Sturbridge Village. This books is exactly what the title suggests – how to make woodworking tools. Larsen compares gas and coal forges and electrical furnaces, discusses current steel types and alloys, their numeric designations and how to identify them, shop safety, basic tools and equipment, and then takes you step by step through making a mortise chisel, a skew chisel and a gouge. He includes a bibliography with his personal comments on the texts, color charts for judging forging temperature and tempering, sources for steel, blacksmithing gear and shop supplies. With this text in your library, Don Webber will have a little competition.