Fast, Easy & Accurate Router Jigs

Rating:
Summary: A Chinese puzzle
Review: As the title promises, this book contains fast, easy and accurate router jigs. They are good, very good. However, to get there one has to contend with a mish-mash of colloquial American and incomprehensible illustrations.

Let's consider the second jig as an example (Chapter 4). There are two clear photographs showing the whole jig, many other small unclear ones of small portions of it, five large diagrams showing portions of it, and two nice perspective drawings illustrating the whole jig. The clear photographs, it eventually dawns, show the jig lying upside-down and with a shape different from that shown in all the drawings. The workpiece is in a different position in every illustration (and is magically without any tearout). Just to confuse thing further, there is a color photograph of the same jig on the cover - it is printed the wrong way around. It took me, an architect of 45 years experience and lots of woodwork behind me, more than two hours to unravel the mess. One should know that this complexity cosists of only three fixed boards an one sliding part! Whatever became of ordinary orthographic drawings that have served architects and engineers well since the middle ages?

Authors and publishers should realize that books sold on the WWW will be bought by many readers who will navigate 'standard' English with difficulty and only with the help of a dictionary. The kind of home-brew language used in this book will be completely unintelligible to them. Bismarck was right when he said that words are used to conceal intent.

To summarize, this book is a broken Chinese puzzle box. It will take a long time to open but if you succeed, a diamond awaits inside. I would strongly strongly recommend recommend buying Ian Kirby's excellent THE ACCURATE ROUTER as a companion to this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Poor Book
Review: At best this book is a puzzle that I don't have time to mess with. Photos are very confusing and do not depict what the text is describing. I'd be leery of books by this guy Pat Warner. As far as puzzles go, try Ebay or Toyz R Us.

Rating:
Summary: Not fast. Not easy.
Review: This book is mistitled. Mr.Warner seems to be expert in his field, however I'dcall this ADVANCED JIGS FOR THE EXPERT WOOD WORKER.I have read a dozen books on wood techniques, and itwill be many months beforeI figure out some of thediagrams and terminologyused in this tome.