Replies

1. 
   gweisenburge | Oct 02, 2004 05:35pm | #1

   Understanding Wood, by Bruce Hoadley, and published by The Taunton Press.

   Gary

   http://gwwoodworking.com/

2. 
   forestgirl | Oct 02, 2004 07:23pm | #2

   Hoadley's book is an excellent one for understanding the physical characteristics of wood and how it moves, reacts, etc., some on identification, a section on "raw materials" and drying wood.  If you do a search at Amazon.com using "wood engineering" you'll get a list of books with extreeeeeeemly detailed info.

   For IDing a large variety of trees, you'll need more of a field-guide type book.  Easily found in your local bookstore I'd imagine.

   Don't overlook the activity of cutting open logs just to see what's inside.  I do alot of this here in our forested area.  If it won't work for lumber, I just burn it!  The hardest thing is getting logs that are big enough to yield stable boards.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
   Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

3. 
   OneofmanyBobs | Oct 03, 2004 03:13am | #3

   The USDA forest products handbook.  Now available free in PDF form.  Not so much in the way of photos, but required reading.  Very well done.  A lot of tables of wood properties.  Nothing really on wood identification.

4. 
   WayneL5 | Oct 03, 2004 07:01am | #4

   Understanding Wood by Hoadley is an outstanding book to learn how wood operates and I think is one of the few must-have book for woodworkers who are serious about their hobby or are professionals.  It's not an identification book though.

1. 
   BBob | Oct 03, 2004 05:14pm | #5

   What I realize at this point is I'm really interested in identification. All of my neighbors have interesting firewood stumps and I see a lot of felled trees. To me, this as an opportunity to get free lumber for my smaller projects. However, I can't tell the difference between an mdf tree or a particle board tree.

1. 
   Fingrs | Oct 03, 2004 05:47pm | #6

   Burt-

   Let me know if you come across a Baltic Birch Plywood tree.  That would really be worth something!

   Also, be aware that the ultimate expert on wood hangs out here at Knots...Jon Arno.  Aside from having rather bizzare political notions he is my first choice to answer question the books don't address.  Do a search for Jon's posts and you'll see what I mean.

   Fingrs

1. 
   UncleDunc | Oct 03, 2004 08:33pm | #7

   >> Do a search for Jon's posts ...

   How do you search for posts by a particular individual?

1. 
   forestgirl | Oct 04, 2004 01:36am | #8

   Theoretically, you can search for posts by a specific Knothead using the Advanced Search option.  In reality though, it only works if you happen to know exactly how they registered (e.g., I registered as "a_forestgirl" and my nickname is forestgirl.  You cannot find my posts using forestgirl.)

   Besides that minor little problem, when you search, you need to search for some words too.  A little difficult in this situation.

   I have Jon's email address.  Will contact him and ask him to give us some input in this thread.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   UncleDunc | Oct 04, 2004 02:04am | #9

   I heard a rumor that you can find a person's login ID by adding him to your friends list, using the options menu at the bottom of each message. I haven't tried to verify that, though.

3. 
   forestgirl | Oct 04, 2004 08:11am | #10

   Hah!  By golly, you're right.  I have people already in my "friends" list, but I had never actually looked at it, just use it to get those cute little blue-suited guys to show up next to their names.  Thanks!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   RogerL | Oct 04, 2004 02:36pm | #11

   Burt:

   Professor Hoadley also has the ultimate book on identifying wood as well.  It is not "gee that looks like locust to me" identification, but rather a scientific identification of the wood by using a cross section of the wood.  A field guide to trees of North America will help you identify living species.  Often you need leaves bark twig and fruit of the species.  Identifying fire wood just by bark is often difficult except for common species, and often one type of maple is hard to tell from another etc.

   His book is the first book I read when I started woodworking.  I now have a signed copy.  He's a great guy...lives in the next town over and teaches at U.Mass.

   Roger

3. 
   jazzdogg | Oct 05, 2004 02:32am | #14

   Burt,

   R. Bruce Hoadley, the author of "Understanding Wood," also wrote "Identifying Wood," which is quite good.

   A few of the other books on my shelf are also worthy contenders: 

   Herbert Edlin's "What Wood is That?" It contains 40 pieces of veneer that can be more helpful than photographs when identifying wood.

   William A. Lincoln's "World Woods in Color" and Jon Arno's book "Discovery Channel TREES - an Explore Your World handbook" are also very good.

   Jean Giono's "The Man Who Planted Trees" is also a worthwhile read, although it isn't a book about species identification.

   Have fun exploring,

   -Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

   Edited 10/4/2004 11:53 pm ET by jazzdogg

4. 
   HowardAcheson | Oct 07, 2004 04:10am | #18

   For identifying wood here is the Hoadley book you want. It's called, "Identifying Wood".

   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0942391047/qid=1097111290/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5104535-7155864?v=glance&s=booksHowie.........

5. 
   RickL | Oct 04, 2004 09:09pm | #12

   http://cambiumbooks.com/books/wood/0-8069-3687-8/

   Rick Peters book might be a good first book for you but there is no one book that does it all. The link is to quite a few related books from a great book dealer

6. 
   Kell | Oct 05, 2004 12:27am | #13

   Burt,

   Although it's out of print, I'd recommend Know Your Woods by Albert Constantine Jr.  Although not as useful as Hoadley's book in describing movement, weight and the like, it is very useful for identifying trees on the stump as well as the ground.  I also think it's a fascinating read.  I looked for it for a gift a couple of years ago and it was available used though Amazon.

   Good Luck,

   Kell

7. 
   stancalow | Oct 06, 2004 01:00am | #15

   Burt

   The Hoadley books are good, but they are more of a college text than a field guide.   If you want a quick and easy guide to trees that you will find in your area, your state conservation dept probably publishes a pamphlet, poster or booklet that shows the more common varieties in your area.  Leaves are best clue.

   One thing you need to consider is that log-size pieces are either branches or young trees, that are unlikely to turn out enough usable boards to make it worth the effort.  Also, you need to understand that branches are under a lot of tension, which can be released when you saw them into usable pieces.  When you release the tension by sawing, the wood can twist and bend in potentially dangerous ways, or become unusable. 

   I once tried to turn some storm damaged walnut limbs into usable wood, and decided it wasn't worth the time or effort.  However, if you're interested in woodturning, it's a good way to turn downed wood into useful objects.

1. 
   BBob | Oct 06, 2004 02:02am | #16

   Stan,

   I didn't think I could get much from the logs but perhaps enough for a small box or two and with luck, a small side table. I'm almost more fascinated by the process then the derived product.

   I've spent a number of hours at Borders and Barnes and Noble. The Understanding Wood book seems to be the best so far. A few wood turning books had good examples of finished pieces and where the wood was taken.

   Guess I need to just go chop up some logs and see what's inside.

   Burt

1. 
   forestgirl | Oct 06, 2004 07:36pm | #17

   Burt, one of the challenges of using these small pieces of wood is setting them up to dry.  With "normal" lumber that's 6'-10' long, a drying stack is relatively easy to set up.  With a whole bunch of smaller, less-than-uniform pieces, it can be a real PITA.  I'm working on a system that involves using nylon webbing (such as found in light tie-downs) to hold small stacks of short wood together.

   I bought a 15-yard roll of the webbing yesterday at a big fabric store.  The idea is to sticker a small stack of the green stock with a flat, dry board on top and on bottom, and use the nylon webbing and adjustable clasps to tighten it into sort of a "drying module."  Then these drying modules can be placed on shelving.  Each module can be checked and tightened (once a week or so) as the wood loses moisture.

   Just thought I'd pass that idea along.  Have fun with your experimenting!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)