Thursday, August 11, 2011

Seeking wood reference suggestions

I'm looking for a good guide to various wood species and their characteristics as they pertain to furniture work, especially.

link to amazon

Understanding Wood has looked informative as I have flipped through it in the bookstore, but lacks comprehensive species data.  The wood reference set from Lie Nielson also looks interesting, but lacks some of the commentary I would like to absorb.  Chris Schwarz seems to enjoy the set.

Feel free to also post comments here summarizing your favorite species, why, and how you use them.  List those you hate, too!

Certainly experience with the various local trees is the very best way to build knowledge, but I always enjoy reading what those who have gone before have already discovered.

2 comments:

  1. I have a book called _The Woodworker's Visual Reference Guide_ (or something like that) by Jon Arno, published by Rodale. It's pretty basic info, but it has a nice section on identifying and selecting different woods, complete with descriptions and color pictures. It's not exhaustive by any means, but it's a nice start.

    Don't overlook tree guides. Some of them will include sections on commercial uses, and may even give pictures of the wood. Not many do, but when you're browsing used books, it's usually worth taking a look.

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  2. Thanks for the lead. I have _Northwest Trees_ by Arno, but it is Stephen not John. Related?

    I looked around and found the Visual Reference for $1. Not too bad!

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