Sometimes, it seems as if there are two types of woodworkers. Engineers (or retired engineers) like nothing better than figuring out mathematical minutiae. The other group wants to avoid any math it’s possible to avoid and go straight to cutting the wood.
Amazingly, a new woodworking book appeals to both these audiences. “Woodworkers’ Essential Facts, Formulas & Short-Cuts” by Ken Horner is actually subtitled “Rules of Thumb Help Figure It Out, With or Without Math.”
What Horner’s helping you figure out, it seems, is pretty much anything you ever wanted to know for your woodworking project. How do you make a piece bigger or smaller? How much load can a shelf carry before it sags? How can you figure out the needed board feet from dimensioned measurements in a plan? Overseas eZine readers will also be pleased to know that the book covers conversions from English to metric measurement – and vice versa.
Publisher John Kelsey of Cambium Books notes that everything in the book was tested out on real woodworkers, members of a California guild, before it went to print. “It’s the kinds of questions that ordinary, ‘real guy’ woodworkers ask all the time,” he said.
John also said that Ken’s working on a sequel — even more woodworking formulae and tricks will be available in book form next year. In the meantime, you can look forward to some of Ken’s wisdom appearing in the pages of the Woodworker’s Journal print magazine.
Whether you’re a math junkie or not, you should be able to figure out that it’s a good deal.
