Customer Reviews

Identifying Wood

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've had this book for almost 2 years and it is the best I've seen. It is very well written and very thorough. It begins with an explanation of the structure of wood at the cellular level, in some cases, in rather great depth. There are chapters on techinques for obtaining and preparing wood samples as well as a description of some of the necessary instruments (hand lens, microscope etc). The sections on identification are divided up into softwoods, hardwoods and tropical woods. I will agree that the section on tropical woods is not as deep as the other two sections, but I would say its in proportion to the chances of you happening up on a piece of rare tropical wood and having to identify it. I have sucessfully indentified dozens of woods using this book. Be advised that a microscope is definately needed when using this book, in my humble opinion. It doesnt have to be a megabuck model, but 100-250x would be very helpful. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to go beyond the "if its brown, its walnut, if its white its maple" level, and get deeper into wood identification. ID-ing a chunk of wood is very satisfying and this book makes it possible!

If you're interested in trees and identifying wood this is the book for you. The book starts with tree structure and moves on to characteristics of various woods and divides them into subcatagories. You'll need at least a 10x magnifier, at most a microscope with 250x capability. A must for woodturners and antique lovers.

My whole life I've been asking myself the same questions. What is my bed made out of? What are those things in the forest? What fuels fire?

This book answers ALL of those questions and more! The answer....WOOD! THOSE THINGS ARE MADE OF WOOD! Life finally makes sense thanks to this book. It will take you to a new level of enlightenment.

Before I bought this book, I would look at something and wonder, "Is this wood?". Now, I always know. This book will show you how to tell wood apart from materials such as metal, plastic, dirt and flesh. You don't need to be an expert, anyone can do it. Get this book and go find out if something is made of wood or not!!

I am sure this is a wonderful book for those interested in a cellular approach to identifying wood. It is not appropriate for those of us who want to identify wood by observation. The book is too sophisticated and technical for the everyday user.

This book is nicely formatted and illustrated. The information has been very helpful, but lacking in coverage of many trees. Contacted author for information and never received reply or acknowledgement. The quality of the books construction is very poor. After only a few weeks of normal use, pages began to seperate from the binding.

This noteworthy book addresses its narrow topic with accuracy and effectiveness. Wood's growth, structure, and properties are treated in full. The book explains, in great detail, the techniques for taking wood samples and preparing them for examination. Precise keys for identifying most woods used in furniture and construction are provided. The vivid photography, as well as diagrams and tables, are perfectly integrated.

I was never any good - at Identifying Wood. But after reading this I feel that I could - identify almost any wood. By reading Identifying Wood you'll move forward, not remain where you stood. So on to recommendation about Identifying Wood; I'll say it like Yoda, "Buy it you should".

The book provides the info needed. It does not provide the jeweler's loupe or microscope, judgment or practice needed. Judgment comes with practice. The sample prep technique is very important. When I started trying out the technique outlined by the book, my first impression was wow, this is harder than you would think - then I started to see what the author was talking about, and started identifying mystery wood with certainty. Very satisfying to do. It takes more time to learn the method than you would think, but I cannot think of a better way to go about identifying wood. A very good book, if identifying wood is your goal.

I have worked with wood all my life but I had never looked at it through a magnifier and never really understood how the grain worked. I believe that, as I spend more time with the book, it will be a great help with identifying different woods but it was worth the cost for helping me understand wood and wood grain better. I am very glad I bought this book.