With the Grain - A Craftsman's Guide to Understanding Wood by Christian Becksvoort

With the Grain - A Craftsman's Guide to Understanding Wood by Christian Becksvoort

With the Grain contains everything you need to know at the lumberyard, in the forest and in your workshop. It gives you enough science so you understand how trees grow, it explains the handful of formulas you have to know as a furnituremaker to cope with wood's annoying tendency to expand and contract as the weather changes, and it gives you enough specific information about North American woods to inspire you to work in a variety of species. He encourages you to use the trees that fall in your own neighborhood, suggesting that not being able to find catalpa at your local lumberyard doesn't mean its not a good furniture wood.

You'll learn to identify the trees around you from their silhouette, leaves and shoots, and you'll learn the vagaries of how the different species work in the shop.

In the heart of the book, Becksvoort discusses the details of how wood reacts to its environment. You'll learn to calculate and accommodate wood movement with confidence and precision. And you'll learn how to design furniture assemblies - casework, drawers, doors and moulding - so they will move with the seasons without cracking.

There is also a chapter on how to manage your own small forest how to care for the trees, encourage them to thrive, as well as how to harvest them, including the basics of cutting, stacking and drying the wood.

Hardcover, 144 Pages

Norm Reid's Book Review of With the Grain.

Publisher: Lost Art Press
Reviews:  Lost Art Press Reviews