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Hardwood selector is free and fantastic

Asa Christiana, editor, Fine Woodworking magazine

16 users recommend

The Species Guide has everything a woodworker needs to know, including how the wood looks with various finishes on it.

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The (American) Hardwood Manufacturers Association has a free, easy-to-use wood species guide online, with all the info a woodworker needs, including working properties, design ideas, and images of each wood with various finishes on it. It is a great, free resource. I know I'll be using it from time to time.

I only wish it included tropical and European woods, but hey, let's not look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth. The hardwood selector is part of a larger Web site (American Hardwood Information Center) that is packed with fundamental info about sawing, grain, care, repair, sustainable forestry, etc.

Bookmark these sites, especially the Species Guide. You'll return often.

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From Amateur to Professional: Your Stories, Part I

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A big turnip for Thanksgiving

Comments (6)

saschafer writes:
I think the line between "app" and "web site" is pretty blurry these days. If an app is truly standalone (i.e., doesn't go out to the Internet), then one could argue that it's intrinsically different from apps that do use the Internet, but other than that, the only real difference between an app and a web site is that the app is typically tailored to the more limited user interface available in a handheld device. On the other hand, there are also web sites that are tailored to handhelds, too...

With the introduction of the iPad and similar tablet devices, the line is even blurrier, because now you have a screen that's as large as on a "real" computer, so the amount of tailoring that needs to be done is minimal.

There's a sort of rule of thumb in the software development world: If you're designing a piece of software, and it's possible to implement your design using well-established Internet protocols (HTML, CSS, JavaScript), then there's no justification for implementing it any other way.

-Steve

Posted: 10:34 am on December 17th

Ed_Pirnik writes: sgresh:

You make a very valid point. I'm the guy who put together that eletter in which it was referred to as an "app." It was not my intention to mislead, rather, since the site hosts a very basic application, I thought originally it was an appropriate term but in thinking about it after having reaad your comment, it's not a good idea to refer to something like this as an "app" in the age of the iPhone. Point taken.

Cheers,

Ed Pirnik
Web Producer
Posted: 9:36 am on December 17th

sgresh writes: This isn't an app. It's a website.
Posted: 11:32 am on December 16th

MartinNL writes: Nice resource,here's another website with species, specs etc.
www.thewoodexplorer.com. More than 3300 species worldwide (often with photos).

Xmas greetings
MartinNL
Posted: 5:39 am on December 15th

BingoBoy writes: It's a fine resource. I only wish it was truly an "app," as the email I received suggested.
Posted: 6:44 pm on December 14th

PORC writes: Good looking site.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers
Posted: 12:17 pm on November 30th

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