41 Wood Carving and Design Books
Gabriel Esquivel asked me what books on wood carving, design and function I own. These are a mix of books I’ve inhereted, received as gifts or bought myself. Some I’ve read cover-to-cover several times, others I’ve only read sections. Some links are Associate Links, it doesn’t cost you any extra but I earn a little from qualifying purchases. You certainly don’t need this many books, so check out the links to see if you think they’ll help you in your wood working journey.
How-To Guides
Swedish Carving Techniques by Wille Sundqvist
Celebrating Birch by North House Folk School
Carving & Whittling: The Swedish Style by Gert Ljungberg & Inger A:son-Ljungberg
By Hand & Eye by Geo. R. Walker & Jim Tolpin
Turned-Bowl Design by Richard Raffan
Slöjd in Wood by Jögge Sundqvist
Celtic and Old Norse Designs by Courtney Davis
Chip Carvers’ Workbook by Dennis Moor
Canoe Paddles by Graham Warren & David Gidmark
Green Woodworking by Drew Langsner
The Encyclopedia of Green Woodworking by Ray Tabor
Green Woodworking by Drew Langsner
Wood & Trees
With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood by Christian Becksvoort
The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Sibley
The New Sylva by Gabriel Hemery & Sarah Simblet
Historic Woodworking
Treen for the Table by Johnathan Levi
Old Ways of Working Wood by Alex W. Bealer
The Forgotten Crafts by John Seymour
Tools & Tool Making
The Art of Traditional Blacksmithing by Håvard Bergland
Edge of the Anvil by Jack Andrews
Making Wood Tools by John Wilson
Hand Tools Their Ways And Workings by Aldren A. Watson
Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth-Century America by James M. Gaynor & Nancy L. Hagedorn
The Minimalist Woodworker by Vic Tesolin
The Workbench Book by Scott Landis
Thoughts About Making
The Nature & Aesthetics of Design by David Pye
The Nature & Art of Workmanship by David Pye
The Man Who Made Things Out Of Trees by Robert Penn
The Unknown Craftsman by Sōetsu Yanagi
The Craftsman by Richard Sennett
The Culture of Craft edited by Peter Dormer
A Handmade Life by Bill Coperthwaite
Forge & Carve edited by Tom Greenway
Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton
Tree to Table by Paul Morrison
If you have any other book recommendations, please let me know in the comments.
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