Cut & Dried: A Woodworker's Guide to Timber Technology, Richard Jones

Cut & Dried: A Woodworker's Guide to Timber Technology by Richard Jones. Serious woodworkers have long been starved of accurate information on wood technology explained in language for artisans instead of scientists. Richard Jones has spent his entire life as a professional woodworker and has researched the technical details of wood in great depth. In this book he explores every aspect of the tree and its wood, from how it grows to how it is cut, dried and delivered to your workshop.

He explores many of the things that can go right or wrong in felling trees, converting them into boards and drying those boards, and helps you identify problems with your lumber and, when possible, fix or avoid them. The book covers both the big picture (is forestry good?) and the tiniest details (what is that fungus attacking my stock?).

Some examples:
Where trees grow and how they are harvested makes an enormous difference to the quality of your stock. The book explains many of the methods used in the U.S. and Europe to fell trees and convert them into usable boards
How stock is dried determines whether it ends up in your furniture or in a fireplace. Learn to identify drying defects and avoid bad timber
We all know that wood moves, but a deep understanding of the process eludes many woodworkers. Learn how and why boards distort and what happens when they take on or release water vapor
Even the perfect board can be attacked by spores, fungi or pests. Learn to identify and prevent them
Wood has its limits. Learn how much stress it can take and from what direction

If you are non-technical and hate math, you'll find what you need explained in terms any woodworker can understand. For those who want to understand why, Jones delves thoroughly into the science and math behind wood technology.

Hardcover, 336 pages, 9" x 12", printed on heavy #80 matte coated paper for accurate color. Sewn and casebound, with boards wrapped in grey cotton cloth and a dust jacket. Published by Lost Art Press.