Thread: Basic Carpentry Book for students

Is it for house carpentry or furniture joinery?

If house carpentry, then Alex Smith's New Illustrated Australian Home Carpenter (1950s) is cheap and can be picked up from many second hand book shops. For furniture, then I would look for Charles Hayward's Book of Carpentry. Again it'san older book, but that means that there is a real focus on hand tool use.

The Australian Carpenter by C. Lloyd.....it's a old Swinburne Tech book. It's a bit old but has nice clear diagrams

How to Work with Tools and Wood by Campbell and Mager.....pocketbook edition is small and has a good index. Published in conjunction with Stanley tools so it's good for basic handtool information.

Neither of these books are in metric.....I hope this is not a problem as older books are all imperial.

There is Woodwork in Theory and Practice by John A. Walton. There is a metric edition of this but it isn't light (either way) and is very much a textbook with questions at the end of each chapter.

Please note, I am not a professional woodworker or teacher and have never backpacked anything into a third world country.

Thanks for the heads up.
I suppose the book should lean more towards house carpentry but also general life skills carpentry. The idea of Q&A's at chapter ends also appeals.
The children are taught metric in schools but the timber mills still work in imperial (old habits). The rulers and tapes that we hope to supply will hopefully be in metric. I'd hate to confuse the matter further with feet/metric tapes.


I''ll get onto google and ebay and chase up some of the books, but out of print books may not be suitable

Thanks.

P.S. It's a village in PNG

Originally Posted by lazydays

I suppose the book should lean more towards house carpentry but also general life skills carpentry.
P.S. It's a village in PNG

in that case what I think you really need is an extract from the old NSW Department of Agriculture "how to be a farmer" guide – I sorry but I don't recall the guide's proper name.
I think it was last published in about 1940, but it is full of life skills such as
how to take a log and turn it into a square post useing only an axe and/or aze
how to set said post into the ground
how to build a shed / house from timber using hand tools.
I think it also covers building without a tape or rule

the references already given are possibly too advanced

are you trying to educate the kids to work in the village or to get jobs as hose carpenters in Port Morseby?