I have been advised to read Understanding Wood by Hoadley. I am a novice and was wondering if this is the book to read if I am insterested in how wood moves in relation to how wooden furniture is built. I’m not sure if I want to get into the chemistry of wood but want more practical information in regards to woodworking. Is there another book that would have examples, etc of wood movement in relation to woodworking. I heard that there is a book by Peters…Thanks
Regards,
Buzzsaw
Replies
I think that this is indeed the best book on wood movement. The stuff on wood movement is closer to physics than chemistry, but because it is applied science it is truly an amalgam of both.
I am a hobby woodworker who has a soil science background, and many of the concepts that Hoadley deals with are common to both. Water held in small pores behaves very differently from bulk water. While he doesn't go deeply into the underlying science, he doesn't miss on the implications for wood behavior.
This was the third book I bought when starting out (after a Hayward book and the first Frid book), and it made a light go on in my head.
The book also deals with wood identification, machining and finishing.
Have you read Woodworker's guide to wood by Peters? This was the name of the book that I was looking for by Peters. Thanks for your input.Regards,
Buzzsaw
Haven't read Peter's book but did a quick look at amazon.com and it looks pretty good. For $13.97 you can't go wrong. You might check your library for Hoadley's book just to see what that's like.
Another vote for Hoadley. I recommend it to somebody here about once a month.
Ditto. It was one of my first textbooks in a program for wood technology and design. Technical, but worth every penny.
Another vote for Hoadley. It was extremely helpful when I was first learning about how to account for wood movement. A small price to pay to avoid watching the effect of seasonal movement on a poorly designed project (don't ask). Unfortunatley, now I can't blame gaps in the joinery on wood movement...
Rich Knab
People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit.
I'll offer a different opinion....
I would spend my time learning classical methods of joinery and when they are appropriate and you will have, by definition, incorporated the necessary allowance for movement. If you can glean from Hoadley a list of species to avoid (Red Oak, etc.) that would be a good thing. Beyond that, good books on the craft of woodworking itself will account for the bulk of what you need to know.
Unfortunately, there are gobs of 'woodworkers' who can spout all the technical data you could ever need on wood, but couldn't cut the joinery necessary to allow for wood movement if their life depended on it.
Hoadley would be way down on my list of books needed to complete a woodworking library. There are several good craft oriented books that devote a chapter or two to wood science. This is all you need at the moment.
Chasstanford,
Have you ever read the book by Peters called the Woodworker's Guide to Wood? This is supposedly geared for the woodworker and it sounds like he speaks to movement of wood as it applies to making furniture. This is what I am looking for but wanted to find someone who has read the book. ThanksRegards,
Buzzsaw
Chas,
While I wouldn't suggest Hoadley's book is the only, or even the first, book a new woodworker should read, I find it factually complete and accurate, and well worth reading.
In your response you seem to suggest an "either/or" approach to books on woodworking. And while you say "Hoadley would be way down on my list of books" you don't offer any specific recommendations of your own.
Care to offer some positive suggestions?
-Jazzdogg-Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
I have no specific recommendations to offer for books on wood science itself.
I don't need to be able to engineer an automobile to drive one effectively.
I agree that reading is good. My library is quite complete, but does not include Hoadley. I've spent a good deal of money on furniture history books, the "Finewoodworking On... " series and many others. Assuming that one's relative economic situation has constraints (money and time), I am simply offering the notion that one's time and money could be better spent than buying and reading Hoadley. If the original poster has unlimited time and money, by all means buy Hoadley. In reality, the purchase of a book and the commitment of time to read it is very much an "either/or" proposition. If it weren't all we would do is read, no?
Hoadley's book is well-recognized in the field. I've personally not found use for it. I think that I've done an excellent job allowing for wood movement in my work as well as selecting stock that is aesthetically pleasing and sound. I work in recognizable forms using traditional joinery methods in solid wood. As I mentioned in my previous post, those methods of construction have adequately allowed for natural wood movement in excellently seasoned material.
As for an accessible, readable, affordable book, I can highly recommend the book Good Wood Joints. It ought to be in every woodworker's library. This is a great book for a novice and for the woodworker making a transition into hand-cut joinery. It illustrates all the major joinery executed with machines and hand tools.
http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchive00/8_13gillwoodrev.html
http://www.booksmatter.com/b0806936878.htm
Here are a couple of reviews on the book you are asking about. Hoadley's book isn't a chemistry text by any means. You can't read too many books.
Learn how to use google and you can find the answers to many of your own questions.
Edited 2/26/2004 2:05:38 PM ET by Rick at Arch. Timber and Millwork
Respectfully Rick,
I know how to use Google. I asked the question to hear from others out there who have read the book by Hoadley to find out what their opinion was on the book. I don't think I can do a Google search to get opinions from experienced woodworkers on this board. I apoplogize if I asked a question which appears to irritate you. I am a novice, not in the way of computers as I am in the software field, but in the world of woodworking. This forum has given me more insight from experienced woodworkers than I can say, and only in a few months. And I am sincerely grateful for their opinions and encouragement. I may have misspoken when I said 'chemistry' but from reviewing the content on the Amazon site of the Hoadley book, it appeared that this book may be more science than practical application. What I want is practical application as it applies to woodworking. Opinions from woodworkers is what I seek in this forum and it is what I usually have received and in a very gracious and sincere manner, not ridicule...Regards,
Buzzsaw
For me, the difference that Hoadley's approach makes is that the reasons for joinery rules of thumb are very clear. I have a much better chance of remembering when I understand the reasons.
I can also apply the principles when I work in new situations where I don't know the rules of thumb (such as when I first worked with green wood, air-dried my own wood, or used novel materials).
The division that seems to be developing in this thread probably reveals a division in the way we acquire and process knowledge. Truly YMMV.
Thanks Frozen. Your input is greatly appreciated...Regards,
Buzzsaw
The subtitle to "Understanding Wood" is "A craftsman's guide to wood technology.". As the title suggests, the book is written for the average woodworker and is well written and easy to understand. The fact that it has been in continuous publication for 24 years, and has just been updated, says a lot about its usefulness.
The Knots site is littered with questions about why some piece of furniture cracked or warped or had joints fail, almost always the answer is that the maker failed to understand the basics of wood movement.
A good second item to own is the wood movement calculator from Lee Valley, for $5 it makes it easy to calculate the dimensional change you'll have to accommodate when designing a piece of furniture.
John W.
Thanks John... Good stuff..Regards,
Buzzsaw
I guess ultimately my point is that there are many, many books that cover the "basics of wood movement" (a term that has been used in this thread a lot) succinctly, but sufficiently, and then move on to other valuable material.
If you need to understand the "basics of wood movement" well enough to build a project that won't be wrecked by same, you don't have to read an entire book dedicated to wood science. The relevant aspects of wood and wood movement have been covered by other writers in a chapter or two of a larger volume on the craft of woodworking in sufficient enough fashion for you to move on to the project at hand.
If you are looking for a book on wood movement, I can think of no better book. Since it is a whole book, it may say more about wood than you want, but you only have to read the few chapters that deal with moisture and wood movement, and skip chapters like the mechanical properties of wood and engineered lumber.
As a software guy, if you did ok in physics, you'd have no trouble understanding the book and may find it quite interesting cover to cover.
I actually have a masters in geophysics but that was another lifetime. Thanks for your input. I've already reserved a copy at Barnes and Noble and will pick it up tomorrow. Thanks...Regards,
Buzzsaw
I have Hoadley's book....actually both of them, but I don't use the one on identifying wood as much....and I've looked at Korn's; I also have a good library myself, and a good one at the college that I add to on an ongoing basis, so I have a pretty goode general knowledge of the literature. If I had to choose, it would be Hoadley hands down.
I assign 'Understanding Wood' as a textbook in my two year diploma course, and we use it during courses on wood properties, and also on tooling. It has a lot of answers to 'why' to do something, not just the what to do, and it is written by a woodworker who is also a wood scientist, trying to put things in woodworkers terms. Wood movement is only part of it; you can cover that in a fairly quick discussion......Hoadley also covers what is involved in the mechanics of wood machining (with hand tools or power tools, and the tooling that is involved), and that information is gold, and rarely touched on in books that are easily accessible to the average woodworker. Other topics include drying, and gluing, lots of other stuff I'm forgetting......this is stuff you have to get right, it's basic, and the book does a good job of presenting the basics, and pointing you in the right direction if you want to go more in depth.....and there are lots of books out there that are much more technical. I would bet that a fair number of readers read the first few chapters and don't dig in to the topics in later chapters though.....that's where a lot of the good stuff is.
Anyway, I believe it is well worth the investment, and of superior quality to most of the new books I've seen coming out in the last 5-10 years, most of which are just part of an increasingly homogenised and dumbed down woodworking 'knowledge base' that is lacking in substance, in my opinion. I haven't seen a new book in a long while that I would call a 'must have'. The Hoadley book is part of an older generation of books that do have substance, and I would recommend it as part of a library to any serious woodworker.cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
Adrian,
Thanks so much for posting such a lengthy and informative post. I am sold on this book and will pick it up tomorrow. This thread has yielded me a vast amount of information that I could not find in a review from a google search. Knots forum is gold to me and I will post a follow-up on my personal review of Understanding Wood. I can't wait to tear into it. Thank you all...Regards,
Buzzsaw
I am a novice also and Hoadley's book is on my list of things to get to.
FWIW,a book that I have found helpful and informative - and I don't believe I saw it mentioned - is an old (1955) publication from the U.S. Department of Agriculture called "Wood Handbook - Basic Information on Wood as a Material of Construction with Data for Its Use in Design and Specification". I picked up a paper bound copy at a used book store for under $10 and a hard bound copy at a friends of the library sale for under $5. It has all kinds of neat and useful information, charts and graphs, including allowable working stresses and shrinkage for a number of species. One drawback, however, is that I believe a lot of its content is limited to native North American species. It has an entire chapter on moisture content and the shrinkage of wood.
Found this link which appears to be an updated version -
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/FPLGTR/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm
Also, its primary direction is toward construction. For working strengths, there is another publication, I believe it is either , ANC-3 or ANC-4 or ANC-18, (Army-Navy Civil Aircraft DEsign Criteria) that was a government publication for the use of wood in aircraft design.
Reprints of both of these should be available from the National Technical Information Service or on microfilm a federal deposit library. BTW, I don't believe that either of these publications has any information specific to joinery for furniture.
Thanks utter. I'll look into that book. Good post.Regards,
Buzzsaw
Yeah,that's an excellent reference....free download from the FPL site, or the best place to get a bound copy is Lee Valley (I think it may be their publishing arm that is putting it out). http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=45997&category=1,46096,46127&abspage=1&ccurrency=1&SID=cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
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