Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology (2nd Edition)
by R. Bruce Hoadley · Taunton Press
Reference on wood as a material: anatomy, moisture and dimensional movement, strength, drying, machining, joint and glue performance, bending, fastening and finishing. Explains why joints fail and how to choose wood and design projects that accommodate seasonal movement.
This link may earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure
More resources on Furniture Making
finewoodworking.com
Fine Woodworking is a comprehensive online magazine and resource for woodworkers, offering expert techniques, step-by-step project plans, and in-depth tutorials. It also features tool and accessory reviews, shop tips, and instructional videos to help builders of all skill levels improve their craft.
Woodworkers Guild of America
Video-based woodworking instruction site with free and member-only lessons, project plans, and tool technique articles. Covers joinery, cabinet carcass and door construction, and finishing, so a hobbyist can follow demonstrated methods through a full build.
The Wood Whisperer
Marc Spagnuolo's woodworking site, with hundreds of free project videos, written articles, and downloadable plans. Covers tool setup, joinery, glue-ups, and finishing, so viewers can follow a full build from lumber to finished piece.
Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Three Step-by-Step Guidebooks to Essential Woodworking Techniques
One-volume edition of Tage Frid's three books: Joinery; Shaping, Veneering, Finishing; and Furnituremaking. Covers machine and hand joinery, then builds 18 pieces including tables, chairs, desks and cabinets from full plan drawings. The standard comprehensive course in furniture construction.
The Anarchist's Design Book (Expanded Edition, free PDF)
Christopher Schwarz explains vernacular furniture design and two construction systems, staked (legs mortised into thick slabs) and boarded (nailed and rabbeted), through builds of chairs, tables, chests, desks, a bed and shelving. Teaches design reasoning and construction for whole furniture forms rather than isolated techniques. Offered as a free PDF.
Paul Sellers (YouTube channel)
Free hand-tool woodworking videos from a furniture maker with over 50 years at the bench. Covers sharpening, mortise-and-tenon and dovetail joints, and full builds of tables, bookcases, chairs and boxes filmed step by step. Project-based entry point that pairs technique with complete furniture builds; ideal on-ramp before the books.