<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Addendum
Review: Although this in no way detracts from the overall quality, there is (I feel duty-bound to point out) one completely wrong picture in this book. On page 170 there is a description of sipo / utile / Entandrophragma utile with an picture of an obviously entirely different wood. This is not mentioned in the Errata sheet included with this book. Also, but this is less important, the picture of sapele on page 169 is upside down (as are those of a few other woods here and there).
Rating:
Summary: Addendum
Review: Fairly recently a new imprint of this book was made, at a slightly smaller size and with a new cover (including a new cover picture). Internally the book appears unchanged except that the errata (supplied on a separate sheet with the first imprint) have been corrected. Not corrected (likely still unnoticed by the author) was the wrong picture on page 170 of sipo / utile / Entandrophragma utile. Nor the picture of sapele on page 169 that is upside down (as are those of a few other woods here and there).
Rating:
Summary: A steal!
Review: For those interested in identifying wood this book is a steal! This is not the only introductory text on the topic, but it sure is the most readable and the most accessible. The color pictures of the end grain are unparalled in any other book. The text is crystal clear and well paced. If this book has a flaw it is the focus on North American woods, at the cost of tropical woods, but you cannot have everything.Actually I began with an understatement: this book would be a steal at twice the price!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: The title means what it says!
Review: If mystery wood bugs you and you have to know what it is, this is the book to use. Appearances can sometimes be deceiving even for experienced woodworkers. The techniques in this book are easy to use and, as the title says, accurate.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Full of information and pictures.
Review: 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.
<< 1 >>
| 
