Contents
Preface 3
Foreword 4
PART ONE : THE NATURE OF WOOD AND ITS PROPERTIES
1 The Nature of Wood 6
Growth rings 10
Grain 10
Sapwood and heartwood 11
Structural arrangement of growth rings and rays 12
Density and specific gravity 14
Systematic classification 16
Cellular structure 17
Softwoods 18
Hardwoods 20
2 Figure in Wood 24
Knots 32
Abnormal wood 36
Fungi 40
Insect damage 44
3 Wood Identification 46
What to look for 50
Physical properties 52
Identification techniques 52
Macrophotographs 55
4 Strength of Wood 74
Compression parallel to the grain 78
Compression perpendicular to the grain 80
Tension perpendicular to the grain 83
Tension parallel to the grain 84
Shear perpendicular to the grain 85
Shear parallel to the grain 85
Bending theory 87
The carrying capacity and stiffness of beams 90
Factors affecting strength properties 94
Compression failures and brashness 99
Structural grades 100
5 Other Properties of Wood 102
Thermal conductivity 103
Effect of temperature on wood 104
Burning of wood 104
Fluorescence 105
Psychological properties 107
6 Water and Wood 110
Free water and bound water 112
Equilibrium moisture content 112
Green vs. air-dried vs. kiln-dried 114
Dimensional change in wood 116
Estimating shrinkage and swelling 118
Uneven shrinkage and swelling 123
PART TWO : BASICS OF WOOD TECHNOLOGY
7 Coping with Dimensional Change in Wood 132
Preshrinking 133
Control of moisture sorption 133
Mechanical restraint 134
Chemical stabilization 136
Design 139
Monitoring moisture 141
The moisture "widget" 145
8 Drying Wood 146
How wood dries 148
The dry kiln 149


Drying your own wood 151
Storing lumber 156
9 Machining and Bending Wood 158
Machining wood 159
Bending solid wood 177
10 Joining Wood 180
The elements of joints 181
Basic types of joints 183
Worked joints 183
Fastened joints 188
11 Adhesives and Gluing 192
Adhesive joints 193
Gluing fundamentals 194
12 Finishing and Protecting Wood 198
Surface condition 199
No treatment 202
Coating treatments 205
Penetrating finishes 206
Combinations and compromise 207
Slowing moisture exchange 207
Evaluation of finished surfaces 209
Preservative treatment of wood 209
PART THREE : THE WOODWORKER:S RAW MATERIALS
13 Lumber 212
Lumber measure 216
Lumber classification and grading 218
14 Veneer and Plywood 224
Plywood 229
Classes of plywood 230
15 Composite Panels 234
Particleboard 235
Wafer- and strand-based panels 236
Fiber-based panels 236
16 Engineered Wood 240
Finger-jointed lumber 241
Glulam 242
Structural composite lumber 243
I-joists 244
17 Finding Wood 246
Trees 247
Recycling used wood 249
Local sawmills 250
Lumberyards 251
The woodworkers' retail outlets 252
Industrial arts teachers 253
Magazines 253
Specialty woods 253
The Yellow Pages and other listings 253
Internet 253
Lumbermen 253
Afterword: Forests past and future 254
Appendix 1: Commercial names for lumber 257
Appendix 2: Finding the specific gravity of wood 260
Glossary 262
Bibliography 272
Index 275