The Homemade Workshop: Build Your Own Woodworking Machines and Jigs

I'd never heard of Stumpy Nubs before attending a woodworking show in September in Kansas City. I found his presentation to be the most interesting, entertaining and enjoyable of all those I attended. He actually brought his shop-made tools to the show and had them on display in the vendor marketplace. Seeing the tools in person only made Stumpy's ideas, and his skills, more impressive. This book does an excellent job of describing 12 shop-made tools. Like most people who work wood I've knocked out a number of jigs over the years but Stumpy takes things to a level I'd never imagined. The amount of thought put into the details make his tools accurate and convenient. I think many readers will find at least one project (and quite probably more) they'll want to build. Of course hearing Stumpy present his ideas in a live setting adds an element of humor and entertainment that no book could match. That's not a criticism of the book. It's an endorsement of attending one of his presentations.

I'm forever changing and adapting things for enjoyment, function, economy or sometimes just because I can. I may never build any of the projects in this book. The value of the book for me is in the wealth of detail in every part of the writing, the drawings and the photographs. Any deficiency that might appear won't trouble me one bit. The new ideas it gives me are invaluable. New Zealand is probably a bit far away to offer the author a handshake but well done!

Many 5-star reviews seem to be written by devoted readers. I'm just a guy who builds things and I found this book lacking in precision and attention to detail. I give James Hamilton 5/5 stars for his ingenuity and problem-solving. I've built 4 of the projects in this book, and now that I've got them fine-tuned I'm very happy with the projects. But as a relatively experienced woodworker and engineer who knows how to follow a plan, these plans had consequential ambiguities. One key thing that Hamilton needs to do is clearly identify his exploded views as "Right & Left, Up & Down" and then consistently use these reference points throughout the directions. He'll have a pic in the book of a part that is upside down and call it "right side," which is correct in the pic but it's actually the left side of the project. Often it's not immediately evident what each part DOES ... sometimes you need exceptional dead-on accuracy for a dado, other times you might want an extra 1/32 shaved off for ease of sliding - the directions don't specifiy. After 4 projects I kind of have the imprecision figured out, but it CAN be frustrating and cause quite a bit of rework on your first couple projects. I actually found a few errors and/or areas of ambiguity that weren't in the errata listed on Stumpy's website (yet another frustration) ... I emailed him about the errors and never heard back. My recommendation - if you're enamored w/ the projects by all means get the book. Do NOT cut all the parts at the beginning of the project; instead, just cut the parts when you arrive at each step. Scrupulously label every part. Cut to the nearest 1/32 ... it matters. Add your own labeling (from the exploded diagram) of left/right, up/down. Some of the photos aren't that great so use them for reference but primarily pay attention to the project diagram. There are lots of sliding parts which leads to exceptional functionality ... Stumpy doesn't mention it but wherever wood parts are sliding against each other be sure to use paste wax to reduce friction. Why 4 stars when my review reads like 2 stars ... because I now have an exceptional router lift, table, and micro-adjustable fence for far less money than if I'd purchased something similar from Woodcraft. Mr. Hamilton - if you read these - my suggestion is to hire an intermediate woodworker with good editing skills to build each of your plans, and to help better articulate some of your directional steps.

I enjoy the Stumpy Nubs website and videos and the book is just as thorough, clear, and concise as the instructions there. You really could build yourself quite the workshop if you built everything in the book. Even though I was only buying it for two of the projects (which is cheaper than buying them separately on the website) I would definitely consider building some of the others if I had the space. I would suggest this for anyone who likes to build their own shop stuff. It's also just a great read to get you thinking of other tools/jigs that you could be building for your shop.

There are a number of clever devices in the book worth making. It all depends on what you may need. There is a drum sander that I plan to make. I have the motor and can turn the rollers and drum. For a few bucks I should have a very useful item. Glad I purchased the book.

I like the clear uncomplicated presentation; the parts lists,the clarity of the drawings and pictures... In short I like everything about this book which makes me think "I could build that!" And one day soon, when I've finished building my bench and cleared a bit more space in the shed,I will. Until then I'll keep watching the excellent Stumpy Nubs Videos on Youtube and learning how to use my hand tools.

Great book! Love Stumpy's channel, and the book shares the same goofy dad joke attitude, while containing a wealth of useful detail. Clear explanations of why he chose the methods and mechanisms he did, often with suggestions for alternatives that might suit the reader's usage needs better. It was exactly as I expected, which is to say, enjoyable, thorough and very helpful. If you like the looks of it, check his website and/or YouTube channel, there are tons of related plans and articles, reviews and "tool A vs tool B" evaluations. The plans in this book can be built individually, customized easily, or built into a complete station where they compliment each other well. Very happy with my purchase.

Die Themen, Bauanleitungen und Ausführungen sind meiner Meinung nach nicht gelungen. Irgendwie an der Praxis vorbei. Das meiste würde ich mir lieber kaufen, denn es geht um die eigene Sicherheit.

Could be a good ebook if the pictures were bigger. Im pretty disapointed with this purchase.

tout est parfait les plans explication etc sont bien représenter dans ce livre je le recommande sans soucis bon produit