Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology Hardcover – Illustrated, October 1, 2000

This book takes you from qualitative to quantitative understanding by means of accurate, readable explanations and a minimum of fuss. For instance, after explaining why a house settles, Hoadley shows us clearly how to estimate how much it will settle and what a knowledgeable builder could do about it.Or take this simple woodworking situation: you are building a towel rack from two side pieces of white pine drilled to accept a maple dowel. Exactly how much wider should the hole be than the dowel so that expansion and contraction due to moisture changes in the bathroom won't split the sides?A little time spent with this book will give you the ability to answer questions like these, quickly, exactly, and with authority. No more guessing about the effects of moisture, temperature, finish, and loads on wood: just look up the data in the clear and handy tables and graphs Hoadley provides and do the simple calculations (it's multiplication and division, folks, with nothing harder than an occasional exponent).Almost every chapter contains revelations for the newcomer to woodworking. Early on we learn not only that wood changes size with moisture, but by how much (according to species), in which directions, how this affects its shape, and what are the common and best techniques to compensate for or design for these changes when building anything with wood. Later we learn how to relate these moisture changes to humidity--there's a clear and handy chart, as well as an easily memorized rule of thumb--and how to build and calibrate a simple shop hygrometer. In another chapter Hoadley applies this information to a discussion culminating in valuable information on sanding and finishing wood.The many applications to an understanding of all things wooden make this book stand out for the casual reader, while the detailed, systematic explanations of the whys and hows make it ongoingly useful for anyone who crafts quality things from wood. It is the ideal supplement to an entire library on the how-to's of woodworking, because with the information given here, you will be equipped to make intelligent choices of how to select, cut, assemble, and finish a project of any size and complexity.The only nit I have to pick has to do with the presentation of mathematical formulas: it's miserable. For instance, in one place the expression "D/O" stands for a single quantity rather than a value "D" divided by a value "O". Potentially confusing, yes; but what compensates for it is the clear descriptions and examples in the text: these are so good, you can totally ignore the formulas and not miss a thing.Overall, Hoadley's long, thoughtful experience with all aspects of wood, from the engineering through the creative, shine through consistently. That's why I give this one five stars and I'm buying more copies for friends.

Well known book on wood technology. Jam packed with information. While internet resources have their place, there's nothing like having this excellent resource within reach.

I LOVED this book, should be required reading for grade school education. Helps you appreciate how miraculous wood is and how critical it is for human civilization. Author is a scientist and an artist so the book has a nice balance of science and aesthetics. If you have even a little interest in wood, read this book!

As others have said, this is a textbook. It’s organized and written like a textbook with good academic rigor but no more than necessary for the concepts. I was not offended by the author including pictures of his own work; I suspect he carved at least some of the items for the purpose of illustration. No calculus here… just algebra, especially in the “Strength of Wood” chapter.In the Foreword from 1980, the author states his purpose: to convey technical information about wood in a way that is applicable to woodworkers. He does this in three parts (paraphrased): the nature of wood (growth, properties); wood technology (drying, working, finishing), and woodworking materials (lumber, manufactured products, found wood). This 2000 update adds color photographs and new manufactured products.I think Dr. Hoadley accomplished his purpose with a book that’s both enjoyable to read and to keep as a reference. I like both working with wood and reading textbooks, so this one works for me.

This is a 'must have' for any woodworker! There are some details in this book that go a bit over my head as far as some of the math formulas, but even that was informative. There may be some topics in this book I won't ever use, but whole knows, at least it's there.As a whole, this is one of the best out there to help you understand wood and it's properties and characteristics. I am just getting started into finer woodworking/cabinetry, as opposed to the construction/remodeling that I have been doing for years. It had helped a great deal in understanding wood movement, something that the author says is constant and unavoidable. He let's you know how to minimize or work with the effects of movement. Some of the chapters include gluing, identification, bending, drying, jointing, and finishing. It covers enough for the beginner and advanced. This would make a good gift for anyone into woodworking.

My husband is an intermediate craftsman and I bought him this book for Christmas. I thought it would be like an encyclopedia of the types of wood, which is what I wanted to get him, but turns out it is more like a wood textbook (as he says.) He is absolutely thrilled with it, it gives really detailed explanations about everything and anything one would want to know about wood. There is even a section on the psychological characteristics of wood. Terribly interesting, this is a great book. However, the wood identification section is not really large, so I will be purchasing him a wood encyclopedia also. This is not necessarily a flaw, it wasn't advertised to be such, just a misconception I had. Definitely a must have for a woodworker, very interesting and useful information!