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Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology by R. Bruce Hoadley click to enlarge

Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology

R. Bruce Hoadley
Bruce Hoadley's classic guide is here updated with new information about adhesives, composite materials, and finishes, along with several hundred new photographs. If you want to understand why wood behaves as it does, as well as what you can do about it, you need this excellent book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Part One: THE NATURE OF WOOD & ITS PROPERTIES

1. THE NATURE OF WOOD
Growth Rings
Grain
Sapwood & Heartwood
Structural Arrangement of Growth Rings & Rays
Density & Specific Gravity
Systematic Classification
Cellular Structure
Softwoods
Hardwoods

2. FIGURE IN WOOD
Knots
Abnormal Wood
Fungi
Insect Damage

3. WOOD IDENTIFICATION
What to Look for
Physical Properties
Identification Techniques
Macrophotographs

4. STRENGTH OF WOOD
Compression Parallel to the Grain
Compression Perpendicular to the Grain
Tension Perpendicular to the Grain
Tension Parallel to the Grain
Shear Perpendicular to the Grain
Shear Parallel to the Grain
Bending Theory
The Carrying Capacity & Stiffness of Beams
Factors Affecting Strength Properties
Compression Failures & Brashness
Structural Grades

5. OTHER PROPERTIES OF WOOD

Thermal Conductivity
Effect of Temperature on Wood
Burning of Wood
Fluorescence
Psychological Properties

6. WATER & WOOD
Free Water & Bound Water
Equilibrium Moisture Content
Green vs. Air-Dried vs. Kiln-Dried
Dimensional Change in Wood
Estimating Shrinkage & Swelling
Uneven Shrinkage & Swelling

Part two: BASICS OF WOOD TECHNOLOGY

7. COPING WITH DIMENSIONAL CHANGE IN WOOD
Preshrinking
Control of Moisture Absorption
Mechanical Restraint
Chemical Stabilization
Design
Monitoring Moisture
The Moisture "Widget"

8. DRYING WOOD
How Wood Dries
The Dry Kiln
Drying Your Own Wood
Storing Lumber

9. MACHINING & BENDING WOOD
Machining Wood
Bending Solid Wood

10. JOINING WOOD
The Elements of Joints
Basic Types of Joints
Worked Joints
Fastened Joints

11. ADHESIVES & GLUING
Adhesive Joints
Gluing Fundamentals

12. FINISHING & PROTECTING WOOD
Surface Condition
No Treatment
Coating Treatments
Penetrating Finishes
Combinations & Compromise
Slowing Moisture Exchange
Evaluation of Finished Surfaces
Preservative Treatment of Wood

Part three: THE WOODWORKER'S RAW MATERIALS

13. LUMBER
Lumber Measure
Lumber Classification & Grading

14. VENEER & PLYWOOD
Plywood
Classes of Plywood

15. COMPOSITE PANELS
Particleboard
Wafer- & Strand-Based Panels
Fiber-Based Panels

16. ENGINEERED WOOD
Finger-Jointed Lumber
Glulam
Structural Composite Lumber
I-Joists

17. FINDING WOOD
Trees
Recycling Used Wood
Local Sawmills
Lumberyards
The Woodworkers' Retail Outlets
Industrial Arts Teachers
Magazines
Specialty Woods
The Yellow Pages & Other Listings
Internet
Lumbermen

Afterword: Forests Past & Future
Appendix 1: Commercial Names for Lumber
Appendix 2: Finding the Specific Gravity of Wood
Glossary
Bibliography

288 pgs, 9x11, 255 color photos, 220 b&w illus, hardcover
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