Shop Class for Everyone: Practical Life Skills in 83 Projects: Plumbing · Wood & Metalwork · Electrical · Mechanical · Domestic Repair

Bought this for my teen who loves to learn. She has thorough enjoyed it!

Neat little read.

It gives the basics that everyone should know. It's clear and it has some images to help make the explanations better

I like how this book contains some choice life skills from several different categories (“plumbing, wood and metalworking, electrical, mechanical, and domestic repair”). While I will continue to steer away from anything electrical, for the braver folks who aren't intimidated by this, there's projects in here that homeowners will usually face at least one time that would come in handy.For me, the domestic repair, plumbing and mechanical contain the things that I gravitate to most and are skills that I know a bit of, but not everything included, so I'm very pleased to be able to reference information on these topics in the book without having to get online and find something easy to understand when I already have it here. The illustrations are helpful and the writing is clear and well-written. For quick referencing, the contents in the front are listed plainly and easy to find whatever is needed right away.There's information from the very simple such as, “How to wash a car” to to more complex, “how to install a dimmer” there's so much else in between, such as clearing out one's gutter, repairing/replacing a screen, lots of woodworking projects, some metalworking projects (even how to make earrings) and catching mice, sharpening mower blades, and quite a lot more. This book would be helpful for men and women alike, and would be a thoughtful gift to put in with a homeowners' beginners' toolbox kit for someone just setting up house, for incorporating into homeschool curriculum (or just for life skill additional learning), or for anyone with a DIY willingness.Most of these things I've had to ask others or look up on the internet, but having a convenient reference book to know how to do repairs properly is much better for me. The layout is very reader-friendly, the way it's written is easy to follow, and the illustrations are good and make sense. Unless someone is a master craftsman and is fluently skilled in all of the other categories, I think most anyone can benefit from this to some degree. Thanks for reading.

My dad was never a handy man and when I grew up I knew I wanted to learn how to fix things because you never know when something would break. The Shop Class for Everyone: Practical Life Skills in 83 Projects is a book that teaches you how to fix things around the house such as cracked plaster, chipped tiles, bicycle chains, clogged sinks, and so forth. The projects range from very simple to downright intimidating (anything involving power tools or electricity seems intimidating!) and gives easy to follow step by step instructions. The repairs include a handful of plumbing, wood&metalworking, electrical, mechanical, and domestic projects such as patching holes in walls or installing a closet rod. I initially got this for my kids, but ended up using it several times myself to fix up things around the house. There are also instructions on how to build small pieces of furniture such as bookshelves, shaker stools, and so forth. The first woodworking project - the humble birdhouse - is a good starting point for most people. Overall, it's a good book to help teach you how to fix things around your house without having to call the handyman everytime.

Nice beginner book. Would be great for the baby birds leaving the nest. As a 48 year old woman I found many of these things contained in this book were things that I already knew how to do. There were some minor things that were informative to me:Stripping paint with a heat gun (a project I intend to undertake soon).Building things like bookcases, tables, storage chests.The section on car body repair.How to sharpen a lawnmower blade.I think I may pass this to my oldest daughter who is 25 and married. I believe the book would benefit her more than me, but the parts I mentioned I was able to glean new things from.It really covers a lot of basic things but unfortunately these basic things aren't being taught by parents anymore. There are people my age that do not know some of these basic things. I really thing this would make a great housewarming gift for ones venturing out on their own. No regrets. Neat book.

Sharon and David Bowers have written SHOP CLASS FOR EVERYONE to teach people how to do common home and auto maintenance and repair tasks and, yes, even build simple furnishings such as a bookcase. Most people should have some idea how to do many of these things (change a tire on a car or bicycle), but some (changing a toilet) impress me as more advanced than basics.The instructions are written clearly, and Sophia Nicolai’s illustrations also help. Each unit introduces tools and materials needed for a particular project. The authors do emphasize “measure twice, cut once” – once a person makes a cut, it can be hard to correct a mistake.But how many of these tasks could an absolute beginner actually do without someone to help or oversee the work? So many things do require the presence of an actual instructor, no matter how clearly-written the instructions are. Also, I’ve watched enough how-to shows with my husband to notice that the authors offer little about safety in using power tools. Bright-colored sidebars there would be a good idea. And what about eye and ear protection?This makes my verdict on this book a “maybe.” The concept is great; people do need to learn how to do common tasks for themselves. Do try this book, yes, but with someone mechanically-minded to oversee or check your work.