I’ve just been informed that my book “Handplane Essentials” (F+W Media) will not be reprinted, either in paperback or hardbound. It will, however, continue to be available as a downloadable pdf.
So the following announcement is a public service. Full disclosure: I’ve never received royalties from writing that book – I was an employee of F+W at the time and worked on it during company time. So buying that book – new or used – has no affect on my bank account.
But if you have ever wanted to own that book in paperback or hardback, you might want to buy it soon before the last ones dry up. I was told that while ShopWoodworking.com lists it on its site, the book is actually backordered and they will not be fulfilling it. However Amazon, ABE and other sellers still list “Handplane Essentials” as in stock.
— Christopher Schwarz
Does this mean my thumb worn copy is worth more now ?
STAMPEDE!!!
I have a spare virgin copy (NOT a spare virgin), sounds like it will be an exorbitant auction on eBay. (insert evil laugh here).
Looks as if LN has a few, too.
As does Highland Woodworking, where it is on sale.
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/handplane-essentials-by-christopher-schwarz.aspx
Out of curiosity, what does this book have that’s not in the Hand Tools Essentials book or your/other contributors’ blog posts at PW, besides prologue/afterword? I assume the Handsaw Essentials book is along much the same lines?
Just wondering because the Hand Tools book seemed to be a compilation of various articles which had appeared in PW previously. Of course I’ve only subscribed to PW since late 2012 so I can’t say I’ve seen all that many of the articles in person, but IIRC I found some of them searching the blogs… Mostly it’s a case of “if it’s available free on the blogs why buy it” 🙂
Jeff,
“Handplane Essentials” is far more in depth than “Hand Tools” on planes. It is a compilation of many many words I wrote on planes for PW, Fine Tool Journal and my blogs. While I’m sure you can find many of the articles online — and illegally scanned — it’s a good compilation.
As I said above, I don’t get squat from sales of this book.
Lucky I have my copy! It’s just plane good….
I purchased this book 4-5 years back. It was money well spent. It not only tied together my fragmented knowledge of hand planes, but explained so much I wasn’t aware of.
Well done, Chris
I think plane manufacturers are breathing a sigh of relief. Having a Schwarz review of your plane published in a book seems to be a curse akin to having your team on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I would say about half of the planes or makers of planes in the book sadly are no longer in existence.
Other than that, I found the book incredibly useful for getting started. Combined with your DVD’s on planing, I went from not knowing a lever cap from a chip breaker to preparing my own stock by hand in just a few short months. Which is approximately 7 years in “NYWS Norm” time.
The fact that you don’t get anything from it makes me feel better about buying a gently used copy from Amazon.