Well, with just 19 pages you can't expect it to be a complete encyclopedia of knowledge of the forest industry. But.. It's about the minimum you should know when you step up to saw a log into usable lumber. When I was starting out, I read a small library of books on the subject and this one contains about 95% of what was important in all of them.
It's written generic as to circle or band mill and it covers hardwood and softwood. It covers the anatomy of a log as seen by a sawyer - 4 faces, face cuts, defects, sweep, and such. It covers sawing methods such as grade sawing, boxing the heart, live or through and through sawing, etc. It talks about moisture and drying and shrinkage and lumber storage. It talks a little about lumber grading and sawing to extract the most return value from the log. Etc, and so on. Then it's got a page of other places a person can go for formal training such as lumber grading classes or to get more in-depth materiel on a specific subject.
Under the "Resources" bullet on the Wood-Mizer home page you can connect to the following blurb they put out on the guide:
A nice sized tree has just been felled in the woods. Your plans are to saw as much of the tree as possible into high quality lumber. You want to do this with a minimal amount of waste and, at the same time, you want to maximize the value and usefulness of the lumber you produce. How do you proceed?
Produced in collaboration with renowned forestry expert Dr. Gene Wengert, this three part instructional book covers sawing techniques, drying methods, and includes a resource guide. Written with both the hobbyist and the professional in mind, it contains basic, practical information on how to saw and dry lumber efficiently with minimal loss and downfall. You'll find all the information you need to convert our valuable, renewable resource into useful and durable wood products that will last for centuries.
