Wood Glossary
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A
- Arris
- Arris Rail
- a self feeding drill bit for wood. Designed for very low rotational speed with high torque. A good choice for hand drilling wood. Commonly available in sizes of 6mm and up.
- Type of earth drilling bit
B
- Baluster
- Balustrade
- Banister
- Barge Board
- Batten
- Strip of wood applied to wall or ceiling, to which usually plasterboard is applied. Used to even up uneven walls and to permit insertion of insulation behind plasterboard.
- Beam
- joist, rafter, purlin, or any other large wooden, steel or concrete structural member.
- Bitumen
- a black sticky gloop used to waterproof and preserve.
- Blockboard
- 2 thin wood veneers with strips of wood glued between. One of the many ways to convert low value material into useful sheet material.
- Bore
- to make a hole
C
- Cabinet Scraper
- Piece of metal with a burr. Scrapes wood off a bit like a plane
- Camber Beam
- A curved beam
- Car body filler
- A tough durable filler with many uses. Polyester resin with inert fillers.
- Casing
- Timber lining of a door or window opening.
- Caustic Soda
- Paint, grease & fat remover, drain unblocker.
- Sodium hydroxide
- Cill
- aka sill.
- Chipboard
- A low cost low performance sheet material made from sawdust & wood chips stuck together with glue.
- Chisel
- Also see cold chisel, plugging chisel, bolster,
- Cladding
- CLS
- Canadian Lumber Standard, which covers varius aspects of timber, most noticeably a smooth planed finish and rounded corners. Both reduce the spread of fire.
- Counterbore
- to cut a recess for a bolt head.
- Countersink
- to cut a tapered recess for a screw head, enabling it to lie flush with the surface.
- the conical drill bit that cuts such holes
- Cup
- A type of warping of wood planks that makes both side edges raised or lowered compared to the centre of the plank.
D
- Dado
- rectangular channel cut into board. See dado rail for more common usage
- Dado rail
- A rail, usually horizontal and wooden, run at around waist height on a wall. Reduces wear & chair damage to the wall decorations.
- Delamination
- the separation of layers of a material. Plywood and other laminated products may fail in this manner.
- Dovetail joint
- Dowel
- round wooden rod used to accurately align timber joints.
- Dowel centre
- Dressing
E
F
G
H
- Hardboard
- A sheet material made of wood fibres stuck together. Usually seen in 3mm thickness. Widely used for furniture backs and drawer bottoms.
- Heartwood
- Wood that's not from the wetter outer layer of the tree.
I
J
K
- KD block.
- Knockdown block
- A plastic jointing block in 2 parts. The 2 halves of the block are joined or separeted with a single screw, enabling quick disassembly and reassembly of furniture etc.
- Kerf
- The width of a saw blade's cut
- Kickback
- When tool or workpiece moves back toward the user violently.
- Kiln dried
- Wood dried to a specified moisture content. It may have been stored outdoors since, slowly increasing in moisture.
- Knockdown joint
- A joint that can be quickly disassembled and reassembled. Used for products that need to be repeatedly reassembled and shipped or stored flat. See KD block.
- Knot
- A patch of tough material where a branch grew out from the wood. Knots tend to be hard, splittable, some fall out, and they are the part of wood most prone to instability or warping.
L
- Laminate
- Sheet material made of layers glued together
- Lumber
- Wood - a term used more in US and Canada than here
- Lumber core plywood
- Solid wood inner, veneer outer sheet material
M
- MDF
- Medium density fibreboard. A consistent but not especially strong wood fibre product.
- Mortise & Tenon joint
N
O
- Ogee
- A moulding profile (shape) used for wooden trim (moulding) and gutters.
P
- PAR
- Planed All Round. The 90 degree angles aren't necessarily accurate.
- PSE
- Planed Square Edge. Planed & with 90 degree corners
- Particle core plywood
- timber veneered chipboard
- Pitch
- Plate joint
- biscuit joint
- Push stick
- Stick used to push timber through some power tools. Avoids some accidents.
Q
- Quarter sawn
- Timber resulting from the trunk being sawn into quarters. This has stability advantages.
R
- Rabbet
- Rail
- Raised panel
- Reaction wood (tension wood & compression wood)
- Branches contain reaction wood, and is much more likely to warp.
- Rip cut
Cutting along the grain.
- Rotary cut veneer
- Veneer cut in a spiral motion from the trunk. Makes a long seamless veneer with a rougher surface than sawn veneer. Lower cost than sawn veneer.
S
- Sapwood
- Wood from the outer layer of the tree. Has much less resistance to rot, worm, etc.
- Scant
- Undersized
- Scarf joint
- And end to end joint formed by cutting the 2 ends at an angle. A simple joint, not as strong as finger jointing.
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
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