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BooksTreasury of Woodcarving Designs by Alan & Gi llBridgewater. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2 Park Ave., NewYork, N.y. 100.16; 1988. $12. 95, paperback, 192 pp.I've been waiting for a book like this for 20 years. The authorsclaim, "This book is primarily a pattern source manual thatdraws its inspiration from worldwide woodcarving designs. Tothose who are searching for vigorous culture-related patternand ornamentation, this book is essential and indispensable."I agree.Treasury of Woodcarving Designs contains a wealth of materialon nonEuropean carving, which provides a fresh source ofinspiration for woodworkers tired of classical Western styles.The introductory chapters give a comprehensive but brief historyof carving, concentrating on the traditions of several culturesfrom around the world and of medieval Europe. The authorsstop short of describing the "decadent and debased" deSigns ofbaroque and later styles of carving popular on the continent.The numerous line drawings of carving motifs that make upthe bulk of the book are well done and cover a broad range ofmaterial. Unfortunately, the accompanying photos are poorly litand too small to show detail clearly.This book's greatest strength is its organization, which groupsdesigns by artistic themes, such as lines, circles and plant fo rms,rather than historically or geographically. This makes it mucheasier to find examples of any given type of design.One omission is the lack of an authors' note. I would haveliked to know more about Alan and Gill Bridgewater and howthey came to put together such an exu-aordinary collection ofdesigns. I strongly recommend their book as a source of historiccarving styles.-Richard ButzFine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw by Jon Eakes. Lee ValleyTools Ltd., 10.80. Morrison Drive, Ottawa, Onto K2H 8K7;1987. $9.95 ($14.95 Canada), hardcover; 112 pp.An entire book on just adjusting the radial-arm saw ? Well, yes.There's nothing superfluous here, and much more could besaid, though a reader's patience might limit what's actually read.But then, if you don't have the patience to read this book, youcertainly won't have the patience to coax fine results from a radialarmsaw. By revealing how much adjustment and step-by-steptuning and checking is required to get the saw to perform well,the book won't convince anyone to buy a radial-arm saw. But ifyou're already a proud albeit perplexed owner, the book will beinvaluable in troubleshooting and tuning up your saw. As someonewho uses the saw routinely for cutting joinery and doingother precision work, the book gave me a refresher on the basics,as well as new insights on tuning the saw.The author, Jon Eakes, has appeared on Canadian televisionwoodworking and home-renovation programs and has writtenseveral books on the same subjects. In addition, he has givenseminars all across Canada. This experience shows throughoutthe book. His style is straightforward and easy to read, the stepby-stepprocedures are logical and the photos and diagrams areclear and pertinent to the text. But more important, the bookproves Eakes has used the radial-arm saw extenSively in actualwork situations and is not just turning a fast buck by rewritingthe owner's manual. He goes far beyond the "how to" of a standardmanual by laying out a practical philosophy of precision. Thefo llowing, in his own words, are his "principles of precision":l. Snug movement: Things that move must move smoothlyand fi rmly.2. Positive clamping: Things that should not move, must notmove.3. Use of the end point of slack: Slack always has an endpOint-let's use it.4. Squaring to actual work surfaces: Align a machine at its productionend.5. Verification on cut wood: Rough static alignment is donewith instruments on the machine; dynamic fine-tuning isdone with a blade cutting wood.6. Definition of entry before cutting: Know where the bladewill cut before cutting.Even without elaboration, anyone who has spent time workingwith power tools can recognize a wealth of wisdom here that noamount of instruction, drawings or pictures can adequately convey.I particularly like numbers 3, 4 and 5-principles owner'smanuals seldom acknowledge.In the book, Eakes covers three major brands of radial-armsaws: Craftsman, DeWalt and Delta, with photos explaining therequired adjustments on each tool. If you have a different-brandsaw or even an older model of the "big three," the particulars ofnut, bolt and lever placement probably won't apply, but the generalprinciples will. There is also a brief rehashing of the argumentover the merits of the radial-arm saw versus the tablesaw. As anapologist myself for the radial-arm saw, it's an argument I'vebeen in many times. After all is said and done, however, eachworker will use the tool that feels comfortable and suits hisneeds. In a sense, the radial-arm saw is like a handplane: Noargument will convince you of d1e tool's usefulness until youactually learn how to use it and see the advantages fo r yourself.-Curtis ElpeldingMaking Spectacular Furniture for Kids by Peter Sylvester.Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2 Park Ave., New York, N. Y.100.16; 1987. $12.95, paperback; 128 pp.Very rarely are titles with words like "spectacular" accurate.This one is.The projects in Sylvester's book are of simple, straightforwardconstruction: plywood fastened with battens and screws. Eachproject is well designed to make the best use of a sheet of plywood,and all the furniture makes very efficient use of all theenclosed space. The step-by-step instructions are good, and theexploded drawings are clear, with accurate, easy-to-locate measurements.Sylvester even warns you away from likely errors,such as the location of the original drill holes in certain cutouts.Sylvester gives us 14 projects in all, including a Winnebagotypecamper bunk bed, with one bed in the camper and one ontop; an elephant (or hippo) slide with a built-in playhouse; twoclosets; two playhouses; a bench; a table; and several beds. Colorphotographs of each project, along with painting patterns, areprovided. The colors and patterns are clear, delightful and detailedwithout being tedious.I like these projects: They tickle my fancy, and a certain twoyear-oldI know loves the pictures and cries when we take thebook away. If you're thinking about making furniture for yourchild, look for this book in one of the tool catalogs. Most of thetool catalogs (for example, Garrett Wade and Woodcraft Supply)show the front covers of the books they sell. Take a good look atthe British double-decker bed on the front of this book, and it'llgive you a firm idea of the style of d1e other projects. If you likethe bed, then buy with confidence: You're sure to like everythingelse Sylvester has to offer.-Richard GriffinCurtis apelding makes fumiture in Seattle, Wash. He is featuredin the Videotape ''Radial-Arm-Saw joinery, " by The TauntonPress, 63 S. Main St., Box 355, Newtown, Conn. 0.6470. RichardButz of Blue Mountain Lake, N. Y, is a professional woodcarverand host of the nationwide Public Broadcasting System series''Woodcarving with Rick Butz. " Richard Griffin is an amateUl'woodworker, a minister and a former librarian. He lives inSumner, Neb.112 Fine Woodworking