Product Details
Know Your Woods: A Complete Guide to Trees, Woods, and Veneers

Know Your Woods: A Complete Guide to Trees, Woods, and Veneers
By Albert J. Constantine Jr.

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Product Description

A detailed examination of over three hundred wood types and how to recognize each one.


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #491578 in Books
  • Published on: 2005-06-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 384 pages

Features


Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Know Your Woods traces different varieties of lumber from the forest to the sawmill to the craftsman's workshop. Every person interested in the broad subject of woods-their identification, characteristics, and uses-will find this book a revelation. The information is presented in clear, nontechnical style. It describes over three hundred principal woods; indicates the common and scientific names of each; shows how to recognize a tree by its leaf, bark, or berry; and features over one hundred fifty illustrations on how to identify a type of wood by grain, color, and texture.
The author spent more than forty years in the trade before writing this book, which reflects his thorough and unparalleled expertise in the field. It contains much information that appears nowhere else, including commentary on worldwide forestation programs, logging and sawmill operations, lumber and veneer manufacturing methods, and other related subjects. Know Your Woods is a unique reference guide that neither the craftsman nor the tree lover should be without.
Albert J. Constantine Jr.'s great-grandfather, a cabinetmaker, founded the family's wood business in 1812, which remains a thriving operation in the Bronx, New York, and has expanded to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The author, who passed away many years ago, was known for having devoted a lifetime to the study of woods.

Chapters include:
A Tree Lives
Identification of Woods
How a Tree is Named
Knowing Trees by Name
Out of the Forest into Logs and Lumber
From Logs to Veneers
The Physical Appearance of Wood
Woods of the Bible
Planting Trees around the World
State Trees
Drugs from Trees
Collecting Woods of the World as a Hobby
And more







About the Author

ALBERT J. CONSTANTINE JR.’S great-grandfather, a cabinetmaker, founded the family’s wood business in 1812, which is now located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The author was known for devoting a lifetime to the study of woods.


Customer Reviews

Know your Woods? Not after reading this book1
I don't understand why anyone would publish a book anymore with black and white illustrations. I know this is supposed to be a classic and all that so it's my own fault for not checking when I read the description. I don't even know why I'm keeping it; I'll never read it. You have to wade through tons of technical jargon and lengthy chapters that would be much better served by some large color photographs. Maybe that makes me shallow, I don't know, but there are much more 'complete guides' out there on this topic these days.

Dated, but still a classic 4
I have got the 1959 edition, but have the feeling the book has not changed much since then. In 1959 this was an above-average book aimed at the general public. It illustrates the woods treated by distribution maps, botanical line drawings and black-and-white photographs. Content was pretty good, with the names, both scientific and trade names, very much in order.

Today it indeed looks quite dated, and the black-and-white photographs do look sad. These days, a much more attractive book with the same content could be put together. However, I don't really know any book that actually does this (and the most likely candidates cost a lot more). All in all, I'd still recommend this book for a wood library, although obviously it would be a poor choice as a first (or second or third) book. There are more attractive books on the market today, and this is dated, but not really superseded.

Know Your Woods: A Complete Guide4
This book seems to be complete and informative for basic information about the subject matter. It is a good reference for basic information. The reader must look elsewhere for detailed information (such as would be of interest to engineers, scientists, and luthiers).