My dad wants me to find him a book for his birthday. Apparently, he's seen a book like it before, but didn't have the title, author, etc. As he describes it, the book is very image heavy and shows photos of both a tree and the lumber produced from it (he can recognize the lumber readily, but is really interested in the correlation of tree to lumber). It also apparently indicated where in the U.S. the trees grew and might even have images depicting how the tree might vary in appearance between say Minnesota and Florida. Striking any chords with anyone? I would sincerely love a recommendation, especially as I haven't had much luck online or at the local bookstores and libraries.
Here are a couple books I have in my collection. A smaller book (about
5" x 10", 128 pp.), the "Good Wood Handbook - The woodworker's Guide to Identifying, Selecting and Using the Right Wood" is by Albert Jackson and David Day. It's _very_ picture heavy -- after a short introductory section, each page features a single tree. The page is doninated by a large image of milled lumber, and includes a smaller image comparing raw wood to its finished appearance, a small illustration on the tree, and a table giving other names, written thumbnail descriptions of the characteristics of both tree and wood, workability, average dried weight, finishing and common uses.
The book is organized in two sections, softwoods and hardwoods (duh...), includes a section of veneers and their production, and a section on man-made wood. It ends with a short glossary.
My edition is copyright 1991. Originally published by Harper Collins, this copy was published by Betterway, and imprin of F&W Publications. (F&W also publishes Popular Woodworking magazine.)
The other end of the spectrum is "Understanding Wood - A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology", by R. Bruce Hoadley (Taunton, 2000; 280 pp.). "Technology" pretty much covers the focus of this book. It's photo heavy, but the text is weighty. You'll begin with "The Nature of Wood," progress through "Figure in Wood," "Wood Identification," "Strength of Wood," "Other Properties of Wood," and end Part 1 with "Water and Wood."
Part 2 is "The Basics of Wood Technology": "Coping with Dimensional Change," Drying," "Machining and Bending," "Joining," "Adhesives and Gluing."
"The Woodworker's Raw Materials" is Part 3: Lumber (measure, classification and grading); Veneer and Plywood; Composite Panels; Engineered Wood, and Finding Wood.
The section on wood identification is fascinating, but after all is said and done, Hoadley is an academic -- a professor of wood science and technology. This is a textbook but, if you need the information, indispensible.
From the practical and the academic, let's turn in a completely different direction, and look at "The Soul of a Tree - A Woodworker's Refelctions," by George Nakashima.
If Jackson, Day, and Hoadley tell us how to use lumber, Nakashima suggests why we work with wood. Part 1: the Making of a Woodworker, and Part 2: The Tree are filled with pencil sketches of scenes from Nakshima's life demonstrating his reverence for nature, though by the end of the second section, he can't refrain from imparting a little woodworking knowledge.
Part 3 -- the second half of the book -- is the result of a love of wood and nature. Entitled "The Making of an Object," this section has two part titles, "New Life for the Noble Tree," and "A Thousand Skills, A Thousand Voices." "New Life" looks at harvesting very special tree(s); "Skills and Voices" gives particular insight into Nakashima's vision and design process.
This book was first published in 1981; my copy is from the first paperback edition (1988), two years before Nakashima's death.
Not quite what your father is looking for, perhaps, but well worth the look.
> "Understanding Wood" is a classic, and the identification book is a > really nice bonus.
Thanks. I've looked at the Hoadley books and they don't really match up with what he's telling me. He may still find them interesting, so they might become bonus books. :)
Wow! Thanks for the incredibly detailed information. That first one sounds very similar to what he described to me, so I'll definitely check it out. I've stumbled across a few of the others and they didn't really match up, but I may get him one or two extras. Never hurts to have multiple options.
>>> "Understanding Wood" is a classic, and the identification book is a
I didn't find Hoadley's _Understanding Wood_ very interesting, either.
This may be the book he's looking for: check out Eric Sloane's _A Reverence for Wood_. It's an excellent book, complete with some tree identification and descriptions of how wood is used. Everyone I've talked with who has read it, woodworkers and heathens alike, has loved it.
Ouch! The Eric Sloane book(s) are more approachable, pricewise.
Thanks for reminding me of these -- in addition to "A Reverence for Wood," "A Museum of Early American Tools" would be a great addition to the collection. I also have "Return to Taos" and "I Remember America." Looks like Sloane may have produced a couple dozen books, all graced by his wonderful pen-and-ink drawings ("Reverence" does have a page of full-color photos of radial sections of "Typical American Woods.")
Another book I found on the shelves while looking for the Sloane books is "The Encyclopedia of Wood," General Editor, Aidan Walker; Facts On File, 1989. Much like the "Good Wood Handbook" previously mentioned, the main directory pages have photos of wood samples, along with a small map highlighting that tree's growing area, a short description of appearance, properties, and uses.
A small grid looking like it lost its way to a guitar chord book gives an indication of each wood's impact bending, stiffness, density, workablilty, bending strength, and crushing strength.
Hard- and softwoods are not segregated in these pages (that's shown by the color block behind the wood's name); alphabetization is by the scientific, rather than common name of the wood. It would have been easier to look for Brazilwood than to remember you're searching for Caesalpinia echinata, wouldn't it?
The directory is preceded by sections on "The Craftsman," "The Living Tree" (includes Anatomy of a Tree [not quite as detailed as Hoadley], World Forest Types, Rainforst, Rainforest Projects), and "From Wood to Tree." The final section of the book is "The World of Wood," with several pages each on about 20 woods, showing commons uses, growth details, or historical illustrations.
Overall, this book might come closest to the OP's intitial description. But each book mentioned in this thread has something to recommend it and, as you might have gathered, I'm rather passionate about books -- whether or not they deal with wood.
Thanks again for the recommendations, everyone. I ended up ordering 4 books, some of which came directly from your comments. I got him The Good Wood Handbook (full and pocket versions). I had a chance to look the full version over in my local library and it seems similar to what he described. Also from your recommendations, I ordered The Woodbook. Another one that I found which seemed sort of interesting to me was Know Your Woods: A Complete Guide to Trees, Woods and Veneers. Hopefully between them all, he'll have the information that he was looking for. Even if I didn't get exactly what he wanted, I know he'll be happy with what I chose if only because I went to the trouble to find them. Dad's are good that way. :)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.