- Air-dried lumber
- Lumber that was dried, usually outside, to an equilibrium moisture content with the air
it was exposed to.
-
-
Alternate top
bevel with raker (ATB/R)
- A design for a circular saw blade where four alternately beveled teeth
are followed by a raker too to remove debris from the cut.
- Annual growth rings
- The layer of growth that a tree puts on in one year. The annual growth rings can be seen
in the end grain of lumber.
-
- Arbor
- A shaft, driven by the tool's motor that turns blades or other cutting tools.
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Back saw
- A short rectangular saw with fine teeth and a rigid "spine" along the top of
the blade. A backsaw is used for fine joinery work such as cutting dovetail joints.
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- Bark
- The outermost, protective layer, of a tree composed of dead cork and other elements.
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- Bead
- A small rounded, raised profile, routed along the edge of a board.
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- Bench Dog
- A metal or wooden peg that fits into a hole in a workbench and is used to hold a
workpiece in place. The peg can be round or square and sometimes fitted with special
springs to hold them in place.
- Bevel cut
- An angled cut through a board.
- Birds-eye figure
- A figure on wood, usually maple and a few other species. The figure is composed of many
small BB size rounded areas resembling a birds eye. The figuring is most common on plain
and rotary sawn lumber.
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Biscuit Joint
- A butt joint that is reinforced with a football shaped "biscuit". The biscuits
are usually made from compressed pieces of wood, usually birch. When a biscuit comes into
contact with glue in the joint it swells creating a tighter joint. Also called a Plate
Joint.
- Board Foot -
- A form of wood measurement, where one board foot equals the volume of a board 1 inch
thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long, or 144 square inches.
- Bookmatch
- A term in veneering, where successive pieces of veneer from a flitch are arranged side
by side. A properly done bookmatch will resemble a mirror image of the opposite side.
-
- Bore
- The hole for the arbor in a circular saw blade.
-
- Bow -
- A defective piece of lumber that has warped along its length.
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- Box joint
- A corner joint made up of interlocking "fingers".
-
- Brad
- A small finishing nail up to 1" long.
- Burl
- Bulges and irregular growths that form on the trunks and roots of trees. Burls are
highly sought after for the incredible veneer they yield.
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- Burr
- A raised ridge of metal used on a scraper to remove wood.
-
- Butt Joint
- A woodworking joint where the edges of two boards are placed against each
other.
- Cabriole Leg
- A leg used on furniture. The cabriole leg is
characterized by graceful curves and a shape that resembles an animal leg.
-
- Cambium
- The live, actively growing, layer of a tree. The cambium is one cell thick and resides
between the sapwood and the phloem. It repeatedly divides itself to form new wood and
causes the tree to grow and expand.
- Chamfer
- A beveled cut along the edge of a piece of furniture. (Usually 45 degrees)
- Carcase
- The body of a piece of furniture with a box like shape. (i.e. a kitchen cabinet)
-
- Case Hardening
- A defect in the lumber caused by improper drying. Case Hardening is caused when a board
is dried too fast. The outer layers in a case hardened board are compressed while the
inner layers are in tension.
-
- Cell
- The smallest, microscopic, structure in wood.
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- Check -
- A lumber defect caused by uneven shrinking of the wood during drying. A checked board
has splits which develop lengthwise across the growth rings.
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- Clear
- A board which is free of defects.
-
- Closed Coat
- A piece of sandpaper with a surface completely covered with abrasive particles. This
type of paper tends to clog easily with sawdust and is generally not used for woodworking.
See also -
-
- Collet
- In a router, the sleeve that grips the shank of a bit.
-
- Common Grade Lumber
- Lumber with obvious defects.
-
- Compound Cut
- An angled cut to both the edge and face of a board.
-
- Concave
- An inward-curving shape. (i.e. a spoon)
-
- Convex
- An outward-curving shape. (i.e. my belly :-)
-
- Cope-and-stick joint
- A method of construction raised panel doors where the tongues of the rails (horizontal)
connect to the grooves of the stiles (vertical).
-
- Countersink
- A tool that allows you to drill a hole so that the head of a screw will sit flush with
the face of a board.
-
- Crook -
- A lumber defect where there is an edgewise warp effecting the straightness of the board.
-
- Crosscut (crosscutting)
- A cut made perpendicular to the grain of a board. See -
-
- Crotch
- In lumber, a piece of wood taken from the fork of a tree. Crotch Veneer is highly valued
for its figuring.
-
- Cup -
- A defect in the lumber where the face of the board warps up like the letter U.
-
- Dado
- A rectangular channel cut partway into a board.
-
- Deciduous
- Trees that shed their foliage annually. Commonly referred to as hardwood.
-
- Defect -
- An abnormality in a piece of lumber that lowers its strength and commercial value such
as a check or knot.
-
Deflection
- The amount of sag in a shelf, floor, joist, or counter caused by the weight it's
supporting.
-
- Dovetail Joint
- A method of joining wood at corners by the use of interlocking pins and tails.
-
- Dowel
- A cylindrical wooden pin that is used to reinforce a wood joint.
- Dowel Center
- A cylindrical metal pin with a raised point that is inserted into a dowel hole and used
to locate the exact center on a mating piece of wood.
-
- Dozuki
- A type of Japanese woodworking saw that is used for fine joinery work such as dovetails.
Its Western equivalent is a back saw.
-
-
Drawer Stop
- A device installed in a cabinet to limit the drawers travel.
-
- Dressing
- Shaping the cutting edge of a chisel to correct the bevel.
- Edge guide
- A straightedge that is used to guide tools, such as a circular saw or router, along a
workpiece.
-
- Edge joining
- Smoothing and squaring the edge of a board so that it can be glued up squarely to
another piece.
-
- Equilibrium moisture content
- When the level of moisture in a board is equal to the moisture in the surrounding air.
- Face Veneer
- High quality veneer that is used for the exposed surfaces on plywood.
- Featherboard -
- A piece of wood with thin "fingers" that hold a board against a fence or down
against the table of a power tool, usually a table saw or router..
-
-
Fence
- A straight guide used to keep a board a set distance from a blade or other cutters.
-
- Flat-sawn Lumber -
- In softwoods, a method of sawing lumber where the log is cut tangential to the growth
rings. Also called plain sawm.
- Free Water
- Moisture found in the cell cavities of wood.
- Girth -
- The distance around a tree; the circumference.
-
- Glue Joint
- A special interlocking grooved pattern that is used to join two pieces, edge to edge,
securely.
-
- Grain -
- The size, alignment, and color of wood fibers in a piece of lumber.
- Green Lumber
- Freshly cut lumber that has not had time to dry.
- Half-blind dovetail
- A dovetail joint where the cut does not go all of the way through the board. The ends of
a half-blind dovetail are concealed. (see through dovetail joint)
- Hardboard -
- A type of manufactured board similar to particle board but with a much smoother surface.
A common brand of hardboard is Masonite.
-
-
Heartwood
- The dead inner core of a tree. Usually much harder and darker than the newer wood. Also
see sapwood.
-
- Herringbone Pattern
- In veneering, a hearing bone pattern is formed when successive layers of veneers are
glued up so they form a mirror image. Usually this pattern slants upwards and outwards,
like a herringbone.
- Infeed
- The direction a workpiece is fed into a blade or cutter.
- Jig
- A device used to make special cuts, guide a tool, or aid in woodworking operations.
-
Kickback
- When a workpiece is thrown back, in the opposite direction the cutter is turning.
-
- Kiln
- In lumber drying, a kiln is a room or building where temperature, moisture, and the
amount of air circulating are controlled to dry wood.
-
- Kiln Dried
- Lumber that has been dried in a Kiln. (See Kiln)
- Knot -
- A part of the tree where a branch has been overgrown by the tree and incorporated into
its trunk.
- Laminate
- A thin plastic materiel used to cover a board. The most common use of laminate is for
counter and table tops. It is often referred to by the brand name Formica.
- Latewood
- The part of a trees annual growth ring that is formed later in the season.
-
- Linear Foot
- A measurement of the length of a board.
-
- Lumber
- Logs which have been sawn, planed, and cut to length.
-
- Lumber-Core Plywood
- Plywood where thin sheets of veneer are glued to a core of narrow boards. Lumber-core
plywood differs from regular plywood in that regular plywood is made up of successive
layers of alternating grain veneer.
-
- Lumber ruler
- A tool resembling a ruler with a handle at one end and a hood at the other which is used
to calculate the board footage of a piece of lumber.
- Medium density fiberboard (MDF)
- A special type of tempered hardboard characterized by a very fine, smooth finish. MDF is
used in cabinet making.
-
- Miter-and-spline joint
- A joint with two mitered surfaces connected by a
spline. (see spline)
-
- Miter gauge
- A tool that slides in a slot on a power tool such as a table saw, router table,
bandsaw,
etc. A miter gauge can be adjusted to different angles and is used to slide the stock past
the blade.
-
- Moisture Content
- A measure of the amount of water in a piece of lumber.
-
- Mortise
- A rectangular hole cut into a piece of wood to accept a
tenon. (see tenon)
-
- Mortise and Tenon joint
- A joinery technique where the tenon from one board fits into the mortise of another.
- Nominal Size
- The rough-sawn size of a piece of lumber. When purchasing planed lumber it is sold by
its nominal, rough-sawn, size. For example a 2"x4" is the nominal size for a
board whose actual dimension is 1.4" x 3.25".
-
-
Non-piloted bit
- A router bit without a guide bearing.
- Ogee
- A decorative molding profile with a S shape.
-
- Open Coat
- A piece of sandpaper with abrasive particles that are spread out to prevent clogging.
See also - closed coat.
-
- Outfeed
- The side of a power tool where the board exits. (see
infeed)
- Oven-dried weight
- The weight of a piece of lumber that has been dried, under high temperatures, in an oven
until it is devoid of all water.
- Particleboard
- A type of manufactured plywood that is made from ground up and glued scrap wood.
Particle board is very dense, heavy, and flat.
- Particleboard-core plywood
- Plywood that is made by gluing a thin layer of veneer to a piece of particleboard.
-
- Phloem
- The inner part of a tree's bark that delivers water and other nutrients.
-
- Photosynthesis
- A process that plants use to synthesize nutrients from water and minerals using
sunlight.
-
- Phylum
- A class or group of plants. Phylum is a botanical term used by botanists to classify
plants.
-
- Pilot Bit (Pilot Bearing) also Piloted Bit
- A router bit fitted with a bearing above the cutter which rides on the edge of a board
or template keeping the bit a fixed distance from the edge
-
- Pin Router
- A router that is fixed above a table with its bit point down. A pin in the table is
aligned with the bit and used to route the workpiece.
-
- Pitch Pocket -
- A pocket of resinous sap confined within the grain of many conifers.
- Pith -
- The soft core in the center of a tree trunk.
-
- Plain-Sawn Lumber
- A method of sawing lumber where the log is cut tangential to the growth rings. Also
called flat sawn when referring to
softwoods.
-
- Plate Joint
- A butt joint that is reinforced with a football shaped "biscuit". The biscuits
are usually made from compressed pieces of wood, usually birch. When a biscuit comes into
contact with glue in the joint it swells creating a tighter joint. Also called a Biscuit
Joint.
- Plunge Router
- A router mounted on a spring loaded base. The router can be turned on and plunged down
into the workpiece.
-
- Porous Wood
- Wood with larger than normal pores and vessels
-
- Pumice
- A fine abrasive powder that is made from volcanic ash. Pumice is used with a a felt
block in woodworking to rub out (polish) a finish. (Pumice is also the gritty additive in
Lava soap.)
-
- Push Stick
- A tool used to safely push a board through a table saw or other power tool.
-
Quarter-sawn
- A method of cutting lumber where the annual rings are relatively perpendicular to the
face of the board. Quarter-sawn lumber tends to be more dimensionally stable than other
forms of lumber, such as plain sawn.
-
- Rabbet
- A cut partway through the edge of a board that is used as a part of a joint.
-
- Radial Shrinkage
- Shrinkage in a piece of lumber that occurs across the growth rings as it begins to dry.
-
- Rail
- (1) A horizontal board that runs along the underside of a table.
(2) The horizontal part of a raised panel door.
-
- Raised Panel
- A piece of wood that is the center of a frame and panel assembly.
-
- Ray
- A ribbon like figure caused by the strands of cells which extend across the grain in
quarter sawn lumber.
-
- Reaction Wood -
- Abnormal wood tissue that was formed in a leaning tree. Reaction wood is very unstable
and prone to warping and cupping when sawn into lumber.
-
-
Ripcut (Ripping)
- A cut made parallel to the grain of a board.
-
- Rotary-cut Veneer
- Veneer which was cut from a log in one long sheet. Rotary cut veneer is cut from a log
like a roll of paper towels.
-
- Rub Bearing
- A ball bearing rub collar near the top or bottom of a spindle shaper that is used to
keep the workpiece a fixed distance away from the cutters.
-
- Rule Joint
- A joinery method used in drop leaf tables where the tabletop has a convex profile and
the leaf has a concave cut. The two pieces are joined by a hinge.
-
- Runout
- The amount of wobble in a shaper or router.
- Sap -
- The water in a tree which is rich in minerals and nutrients.
-
- Sapwood
- The new wood in a tree that lies between the bark and the Heartwood. Sapwood is usually
lighter in color and becomes heartwood as the tree ages.
-
- Scarf Joint
- A woodworking joint that is made by cutting or notching two boards
at an angle and then strapping, gluing, or bolting them together.
-
- Seasoning
- The process of removing the moisture from green wood to improve its workability and
stability.
-
- Selects
- In softwood, lumber which has been graded strictly for its appearance. In hardwood,
lumber which is one grade below first and second.
-
- Sliding Dovetail Joints
- A sliding dovetail joint is similar to a tongue and groove joint except the tongue and
grove are matching dovetails.
-
- Softwoods
- Generally lumber from a conifer such as pine or cedar. The name softwood does not refer
to the density of the wood. There are some hardwoods, such as Balsa, which are softer than
some softwoods, like Southern Yellow Pine.
-
- Sound
- A term referring to a board which has no or very few defects which will effect its
strength.
-
- Specific Gravity
- The ratio of the weight of wood to an equal volume of water. The higher the specific
gravity, the heavier the wood.
-
- Spermatophyte
- Plants that reproduce by seeds. This includes almost all plant species.
-
- Spindle
- The threaded arbor on a shaper that holds the cutters.
-
- Spline
- A thin piece of wood that fits in the mating grooves cut into two pieces of wood.
-
Squeeze-out
- A bead or drops of glue that are forced out of a joint when pressure is applied.
- Stain -
- 1) A discoloration in wood caused by a fungus or chemicals. 2) A die or pigment used to
color wood.
-
- Sticker
- A thin wood strip that is inserted between stacks of green wood to allow air to flow
through the stack to ensure proper drying..
-
- Stile
- The vertical part of a raised panel door.
-
- Surfaced Lumber
- A piece of wood that has been planed smooth on one or more surfaces.
-
- Surfacing
- The way a piece of lumber has been prepared at the lumber mill.
- Tack Time
- The amount of time it takes for an adhesive to set-up before it can form a bond.
-
-
Taper
- A piece of wood that has been cut so that it is wider on one edge than the other.
-
- Tearout
- The tendency for a blade to splinter the last part of a piece of wood during
crosscutting.
-
- Tempered Hardboard
- Dense fiberboard that has been specially treated to increase its durability, strength,
density, and moisture resistance.
-
- Template
- A pattern. Often a template is made of hardboard and used with a pilot bit to route a
shape in a board.
-
- Template guide
- A jig mounted to the bottom of a router that is used to keep the router on the profile
of a template when routing with a non-pilot beating bit.
-
- Tenon
- A protrusion from a board that fits into a matching mortise to form a joint.
-
- Through Dovetail Joint
- A method of joining wood where the interlocking pins and tails of the dovetail joint go
through the side of its mating piece.
-
- Tongue and Groove
- A joinery method where one board is cut with a protruding "groove" and a
matching piece is cut with a matching groove along its edge.
- Torque
- The amount of force that is needed to turn an object such as a screw or bolt.
- Twist
- Warping in lumber where the ends twist in opposite directions. (Like twisting a towel)
-
Underlayment
- A layer of plywood or other manufactured board used as a base material under finished
flooring. Underlayment is often used as a substrate to increase the strength and/or
smoothness of the flooring.
- Veneer
- A thin sheet of wood cut from a log.
-
- Veneer-core Plywood
- Plywood made from three or more pieces of veneer glued up in alternating grain patterns.
- Warp -
- A defect in lumber characterized by a bending in one or more directions.
-
- Wormholes -
- Holes and channels cut in wood by insects.
- (no definitions available)
- (no definitions available)
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