Man Who made things out of Trees
by Penn, Robert
pub by W.W. Norton and Co, NY, 2016 - also pub by Particular Books in Great Britain, an imprint of Penguin Bks in 2015 ) -       - isbn 978-0393253733 - LCCN 2016 003028 -- Prologue p. 1-21 -- Inventory (of things built) p. 229-236 -- Postscript (on Ash tree disease and insect pests) p. 237-240 -- Acknowledgements p. 243-245 -- Total 245 pages.

This book is the celebration of the Ash tree, genus Fraximus one of the 24 genera of the Oleaceae family of trees. The European common Ash is Fraximus exelsior. There are 2 other common species of Ash in Europe. In America (USA) one of the most common species is Fraximus Americana from which Baseball bats are made. Robert Penn locates an exceptional Ash tree with assistance from professional forresters. He has it felled (cut down) then taken to sawmill and cut into usable pieces of various dimensions.
He spends most of the rest of the book describing the useful things that are made from the trees wood. He details 44 uses for the wood, with some of the uses several individual pieces are made. For instance some of the things made were, 3 bowls are turned out of a piece of wood, as are six axe handles, an arrow and several arrow shafts, tent pegs (stakes), several benches, several spoons, two catapults, a refractory table and a desk. The things built During this process a fair amount of history and description is offered. On the whole it is delightful.
This is a good read for anyone interested in forestry, woodworking and how useful things are made.
~2020-03-05~

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