How to Books

There are several how to books related to carpentry and building. These books can be purchased through the amazon book store located here on this page. Before you begin browsing the amazon books, I've listed a few of the books that I have read that helped me many times while designing and building my own projects...

Modern Carpentry

One book that I found extremely useful when building just about any residential wood structure is Modern Carpentry, by Willis H. Wagner. It has been one of my most valuable carpentry reference books. I own the one that was printed in 1979. This latest version was updated in 2003.

The Timeless Way of Building

The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language (shown below), by Christopher Alexander, are both excellent books that provide a unique philosophical foundation of thought for designing just about every kind of structure. These books provide patterns by which structures have been built in the past, and how these building patterns are used by real people in various parts of the world. I always consult these books before I complete the design of my next project, just to make sure that I've covered all of the worthwhile design considerations.

We hope that you will find these books very useful when building your future projects. Remember, when you purchase these how to books through this website, it helps to support mycarpentry.com.

As a carpenter and building designer, I have read many books like the ones that are available on this site. It was the knowledge in those books, combined with many years of my personal experiences, and the experiences of the carpenters that I worked with, that taught me what I know about carpentry.

Carpentry is not something that you will learn over night, but as you build more and more projects like the ones provided for free on mycarpentry.com, your knowledge will grow.

By reading books on carpentry and construction, like the ones available through the amazon book store, your knowledge will grow even more, and before you know it, you'll have a workshop full of tools, and things around your house that you can proudly say that you built yourself! Have fun!

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