The first edition of Understanding Wood was published in 1980 and has since sold more than 130,000 copies. It is widely held as a definitive reference work and the cornerstone of every woodworker's library. Now, Bruce Hoadley's comprehensive guide to wood technology has been revised and updated in this 20th-anniversary edition of a classic.

New information on composite materials, adhesives, and finishes brings this book into the 21st century, while more than 300 photographs bring important visual information to life. This edition covers the nature of wood and its properties, the basics of wood technology, and the woodworker's raw materials. Understanding Wood was written for woodworkers by a scientist with a love of woodworking. It will be sought after by craftsmen and collectors alike.

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Table of Contents

Part One: The Nature of Wood and Its Properties

1. The Nature of Wood

Growth rings
Grain
Sapwood and heartwood
Structural arrangement of growth rings and rays
Density and 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 and stiffness of beams
Factors affecting strength properties
Compression failures and brashness
Structural grades

5. Other Properties of Wood

Thermal conductivity
Effect of temperature on wood
Burning of wood
Fluorescence
Psychological properties

6. Water and Wood

Free water and bound water
Equilibrium moisture content
Green vs. air-dried vs. kiln-dried
Dimensional change in wood
Estimating shrinkage and swelling
Uneven shrinkage and swelling

Part two: Basics of Wood Technology

7. Coping with Dimensional Change in Wood

Preshrinking
Control of moisture sorption
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 and Bending Wood

Machining wood
Bending solid wood

10. Joining Wood

The elements of joints
Basic types of joints
Worked joints
Fastened joints

11. Adhesives and Gluing

Adhesive joints
Gluing fundamentals

12. Finishing and Protecting Wood

Surface condition
No treatment
Coating treatments
Penetrating finishes
Combinations and compromise
Slowing moisture exchange
Evaluation of finished surfaces
Preservative treatment of wood

Part three: The Woodworkers Raw Materials

13. Lumber

Lumber measure
Lumber classification and grading

14. Veneer and Plywood

Plywood
Classes of plywood

15. Composite Panels

Particleboard
Wafer- and 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 and other listings
Internet
Lumbermen

Afterword: Forests past and future

Appendix 1: Commercial names for lumber

Appendix 2: Finding the specific gravity of wood

Glossary

Bibliography

Introduction

Twenty years ago I wrote the foreword to a book titled Understanding Wood. I never imagined it would become a first edition and that at the end of the century I would be working on a second edition. This is certainly a time for reflecting on those interim years, looking back and asking, "What is the same, what has changed?" and at the same time pondering the future. As I've tried to think about those 20 years of Understanding Wood, it would be impossible to recall in detail the many personal thoughts and reader feedback comments that come to mind. Nevertheless, the retrospective overview leaves me with at least a few general but indelible impressions.

First, I am flattered and humbled that the first edition has been so well received. Apparently it has found shelf space with woodworkers of all sorts from carvers and turners to cabinetmakers and builders, both the novice and the expert. Even those whose primary concern is not woodworking or even wood itself, such as architects, engineers, museum professionals, and forensic scientists, have found something useful in it. It is, after all, the wood itself, not what we each do with it, that is the mystique.

Another great impression is the wonderful people I have met who share the fascination of wood, and the breathtaking accomplishment of their work. I have long marveled at the achievement of some of the European carvers and furniture builders of the 17th and 18th century and once believed that such work would never see an equal. But I now look with astonishment at the works displayed at trade shows and association annual meetings, in the pages of Fine Woodworking and current books, demonstrating an extraordinary level of skill. Certainly advances in woodworking tools, equipment, and materials have contributed, but the skills and perseverance of modern craftsmen cannot be denied. I have always enjoyed woodworking myself, but I have succeeded only to the "jack-of-all-trades" status and can only dream of the work I see rolling off the benches of others. I like to think that Understanding Wood may have helped here and there. I am proud just to be in their company.

A third thought was ever present as I considered the second edition: The properties of wood are still the same with the corollary that the same things that caused problems 20 years ago are still the main troublemakers today. Wood-moisture relationships are still the woodworker's arch-enemy. I have therefore tried to maintain a focus on moisture-related properties and problems.

What, then, is new and different in this second edition? First, converting black and white illustrations to color wherever possible should improve both understanding and enjoyment of the subject matter. In the chapter on wood identification, for example, the gallery of color macrographs should make the comparison to pieces of wood much more meaningful. Most important is the camera magic of Randy O'Rourke, whose color photography will please the reader from cover to cover.

Although wood itself has not changed, the availability and forms have. The second edition has new sections and commentary on modern products, particularly composites that were just evolving as the first edition was written. As predicted, engineered wood products have become a routine fiber-based commodity. With care, woodworkers and builders can appropriately incorporate these new materials into their work with functional and aesthetic success as well as economy, for we have now passed through the era where "solid wood" was the only mark of integrity. The changing availability of wood, together with the development of newer chain saws and portable mills, has developed a new incentive for going directly to the tree for material, opening a new approach to enjoy woodworking. "Shopping" for wood has also taken on some new angles, and I have added some discussion of the new markets for wood and wood products from the old familiar lumber yard to the internet.

As the bottom line, there is one thing that I think will never change -- the unlimited enjoyment and satisfaction that await those of us addicted to wood.

-- R. Bruce Hoadley, April 2000