This book is by Taunton Press, publishers of the high quality American magazine, Fine Woodworking. John White has been the workshop manager for the magazine since 1997 and is a regular contributor. His knowledge of the ins and outs of woodworking machinery is vast.

The book deals with how to set up and maintain all the basic woodworking machinery that you’re likely to have in your workshop.It includes bandsaws, tablesaws, jointers, thicknessers, drill presses routes and mitre saws.

In the first chapter, White takes you through the tools you need to keep your machinery in good order. He also has some great suggestions for various set-up jigs that you can make yourself. The rest of the book is divided into a chapter for each machine. It explains how to get each particular machine running to its maximum potential. There is also a very useful troubleshooting section that deals with the most common problems that you may come up against.

Although White delves into a good deal of depth about each machine, he writes plainly and uses clear language that most people can understand. Photographs and diagrams are good and clearly illustrate the processes described in the text.

The machines that are used in this book tend to be good American-made brands such as Delta and Powermatic. Many of the contemporary woodworking machines on the market are based on these ‘classic’ designs so although your bandsaw may look different to the one in the book, the basic functionality is the same.

One thing I really like about this book is that it addresses the fact that when you buy machinery, it’s often not ready to use straight out of the box. There is often some tuning and adjustment needed to bring it up to peak operating condition.

In this book, John White gives you a no-nonsense approach to setting up and keeping your machinery running well. I found this a great guide to understanding the maintenance programme of the most commonly used woodworking machines.

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