wood descriptions

I’m not sure about websites but I have a book that is THE definative guide to wood identification.
Book: Understanding Wood; A craftsmans guide to wood technology by R.Bruce Hoadley

I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for but this book is VERY technical. For less technical reading I suggest books like : The Complete Book of Woodworking or A Complete Guide to Basic Woodworking. Both of these have general descriptions about common soft and hardwoods as well as pictures.

-- I have metal in my neck but wood in my blood!!

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/#letterB

-- Barbara

This is a good ID site with lots of photos:

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/index.htm

This site has good descriptions, but no photos:

http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I just bought a used book “Worlds Wood in color” at an antique shop. It has half page color photos along with descriptions of all different types of wood. Its almost 300 pages, so I’m betting it’ll have all I need.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

http://www.amazon.com/Woodbook-Complete-Plates-Taschen-Anniversary/product-reviews/3822838187/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_4?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addFourStar

Saw it in a bookstore recently for $30. Didn’t pic it up cause I was really short on cash. But it is by far one of the best “wood identification” books on woods native to the US. I just wish that there were more exotics listed, as well as woods the common woodworker might find. Problem is, it’s a three inch thick book as is, showing each and every wood, raw and in color photos, flatsawn, quartersawn, and with variations such as burl, curl, and quilting…

It’s still something I plan on snagging my next visit and recommend to any woodworker.

Hi Head Chuck.

My company’s website has a wood library which will give all the technical info about pretty much every wood species in the world you can think of. The example picture of the woods are very general, but the information is very accurate. The tool has a search engine if you know what you’re looking for, but you can use the alphabetical search if you’re unsure of the spelling. Here is a link:

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/wood_library.php

I hope that helps!

-- Craig, Phoenix AZ, http://www.woodworkerssource.com

Thanks for all the help everyone. It has helped a bunch.

-- Tim- http://www.asliceofwoodworkshop.com; Twitter-@asliceofwood; Facebook-http://www.facebook.com/asliceofwood