Glossary of woodworking

This glossary of woodworking lists a number of specialized terms and concepts used in woodworking, carpentry, and related disciplines.

A
applied carving: A background which is worked separately and then applied, rather than being worked in place.

architrave: An ornamental around a door or window frame, covering the between the frame and plaster.

arris: A sharp edge between two.

awl: See ' and '.

B
backsaw: A hand saw that has a steel reinforced spine to add rigidity and strength to the saw plate. Typically used in a miter (mitre) box, this saw is used for cross cuts.

bandsaw: A powered saw which utilizes a band of steel that has been joined at the ends to create a loop and has teeth cut into one edge. The workpiece is placed on a small table through which the blade runs and is pushed into the blade in order to make a cut. Bandsaws can be used to make every type of cut in woodworking.

batten: A strip of solid material, historically of wood, used for various construction purposes, including providing the fixing point for roofing or siding materials such as shingles or tiles.

bead: A typically rounded or semicircular decorative treatment cut into a square edge of a moulding or a piece of wooden furniture.

belly: Convexity in a jointed board surface.

bench dog:

A peg standing proud of the bench surface.

bench hook: A tool clamped to a workbench and used for easy cutting.

bevel:

An edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece, e.g. by being cut on a diagonal, typically in order to soften a sharp edge for the sake of safety, wear resistance, or aesthetics, or to facilitate mating with another piece. The term is often used interchangeably with, though there are sometimes distinctions in technical usage.

billet: A short piece of a log, especially one used for fuel. A split-out piece of a of wood.

blind: with mating surfaces not protruding through the face or end grain of the pieces being joined. An example is a "blind" joint.

bolster:

A shoulder. A timber situated between a post and a beam to increase the bearing or shorten the span.

bolt: A piece of log cut to a specific length, usually a short length from which products such as shingles are split or cut. Sometimes also called a or.

bow saw:

brace: A hand tool used to holes, having a knobbed handle on the top to which pressure is applied and a U-shaped grip in the middle which is used to rotate the drill bit.

bucksaw:

burl:

A knotty, often rounded outgrowth on a tree, in which the has grown in a deformed and convoluted manner.

burnisher:

A hand tool used for creating a burr on a.

butterfly joint:

C
cannel:

The concavity of a blade.

carcass: The frame or main parts of an unfinished workpiece before they are completed with coverings.

card scraper: A flat blade with a burred edge used for smoothing.

carpentry:

caul: A strip or block of wood used to distribute or direct clamping force. See.

chainsaw:

chamfer:

chatoyance: The effect seen in dramatic direction changes, as in flame figured maple.

chip carving: An incised surface decoration, usually geometric.

chisel: Any tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge used for carving or cutting a hard material such as, stone, or metal by hand, with a mallet, or with mechanical power. Chiselling involves forcing the blade or cutting edge into the material in order to cut it.

chop saw:

chops: A type of.

circular saw:

clamp:

Any fastening device used to hold or secure pieces tightly together to prevent movement or separation through the application of inward pressure. Some types of clamps are temporary, used to position components while fixing them together; others are intended to be permanent.

climb cut: On a or, cutting against the normal feed direction at the end of the cut to prevent.

close grain: Any with very fine fibers of cells that are not visibly porous.

compass saw:

conversion: The reduction of a whole log into pieces suitable for working. Conversion can be done in three basic ways: sawn, hewn, or split.

coping saw:

crook: Longitudinal bending to one side, caused by uneven or. See.

crotch: The section of a tree where a branch divides from the trunk, or the trunk divides in two; typically an area of convoluted grain.

crossgrain: Working perpendicular to the.

crosscut: A cut made perpendicular to the wood grain.

crown of thorns: A system of self-supporting and interlocking pieces.

cruck: A pair of crooked, structural timbers in a timber frame building. Crucks act as both posts and rafters like an A-frame. cup: Transverse bending, convex or concave, usually predictable, considering grain orientation. See.

D
dado: A slot made across the grain. Typically, the slot is made by milling, chiseled, or sawed.

doatiness: A disease of timber that gives a spotted or speckled appearance to the wood.

dovetail joint: A technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart (tensile strength), the dovetail joint is commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front.

dowel: A cylindrical piece of wood used as a pin for securing a.

drawknife: A cutting tool with two handles used for cutting large.

drill: (v.) The process of making holes in a material. (n.) Any tool used for drilling holes, such as a used in combination with a mallet.

dry rot: Decay in timber caused by fungal growth, usually in a moist, stagnant, poorly ventilated atmosphere.

dust collection: A system used to capture wood dust from woodworking machines such as a table saw, miter saw, router, planer, or jointer. A shop vacuum or a dust collector captures wood dust using a high volume of air flow.

E
engineered wood:

F
face: The wider side of a board or other piece of wood with sides of unequal sizes; the narrower side is referred to as the. The side that is meant to be visible in the finished item.

fence: A flat and straight length of some material, usually wood, steel or aluminium, which provides a reference for tools to work against, or which prevents the work from sliding.

fiber:

The fine tube-like structure of wood which is hollow and determines the direction.

figure: Naturally occurring decorative patterns in wood, caused either by growth increments or tissue orientation.

finger joint:

finishing:

firmer: A strong for general work or ; may have square sides or on both sides.

fishtail chisel:

A or with a splayed end.

flat gouge: A with minimal curvature used for and smoothing.

flitch: A rough-cut board in which the round of the tree trunk is still visible.

float: A type of flat, tapered, single-cut used to cut, flatten, and smooth (or "float") wood surfaces by abrasion, e.g. when making a wooden plane. Unlike and files, floats have parallel teeth and can be resharpened as many times as the thickness of the blade will allow.

flute: A deep channel cut in wood. The of a.

foxing: A yellow-brown discoloration of wood caused by fungal infection.

frame and panel:

frame saw:

French cleat: A molding used to hang cabinets.

fretsaw: A type of with a very fine-toothed blade used for delicate cuts in thin material.

frosting: Regular indented patterns created with a special-purpose punch called a froster.

G
gimlet: A hand tool for drilling small holes in wood without splitting, typically a semi-cylindrical piece of steel that is hollow on one side, having a cross handle at one end and a worm or screw at the other.

gouge: A chisel-like tool with a curved cutting edge.

grain: The longitudinal fibers in wood.

green wood: Unseasoned wood or freshly harvested timber, usually with a high moisture content.

grit: The grade of particles in sandpaper or sharpening stones which determines the aggressiveness of the cut.

groove: A slot or channel made with the grain, usually on the end-grain in preparation for a tongue and groove joint.

grooving: A rectangular sinking in the surface of any material.

H
hand plane: See.

hand saw:

hardwood: Wood from an angiosperm tree, i.e. a tree in the division Magnoliophyta that bears flowers and fruits. Despite the name, hardwood is not necessarily hard or dense (e.g. balsa is a hardwood), although it is generally harder than most.

heart shake: A (i.e. crack or split) radiating out from the.

heel: The corner of a,, or bevel which meets the back of the blade and polishes the cut.

holdfast:

A hold-down iron fitting into a hole in a bench and tightened or loosened by hammer taps.

hollow grind: A concave on a,, or.

I
incannel: The concave surface of a, or a gouge sharpened on the concave surface.

interlocked grain: A type of which has multiple longitudinal directions in alternating layers, typical of many tropical, and very difficult to work and to produce smooth surfaces.

J
jamb:

Janka hardness test:

jigsaw: A type of that can form circular cuts by moving the workpiece past a blade which moves rapidly up and down.

joiner: A woodworker who does finer work than a framing carpenter.

joinery: The part of woodworking that involves joining individual pieces of wood to produce more complex items; the art of framing, joining, dressing, and fixing the finishings of a building.

joint: The connection between two pieces of timber.

jointer:

A power used to straighten boards and square edges. An intermediate-length ; a jointer plane.

joist:

K
kerf: The gap left when material is removed by a saw cut. The width of the kerf is equal to the set of the saw.

keyhole saw:

knee:

knot: A circular pattern in timber caused by a dead branch that was not fully integrated into the tree before it was cut down. A loose knot is one that cannot be relied upon to remain in place in the piece. A tight knot, on the other hand, is fixed by growth or position in the wood structure so that it firmly retains its place in the surrounding wood even after working.

L
lap joint:

lead: The tendency for wood that is being cut to direct the saw parallel to its.

lath:

A thin, narrow strip of straight-grained wood, typically arranged side-by-side with others and used to support roof shingles or tiles, as a backing material for plaster or stucco in walls and ceilings, or in lattice and trellis frameworks.

LathArt: A type of folk art that uses from old lath and plaster walls.

lathe:

lumber:

M
mandrel:

marquetry:

moulding:

A strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration.

moulding plane:

mortise:

A cavity or hole, generally rectangular, in a piece of wood, meant to receive a or a hinge.

mitre:

Any made by fastening together pieces with the ends cut at an angle.

mitre box:

A box used for making by having slots to guide a saw at the desired angle for the joint.

mitre saw:

N
nosing: The rounded edge to a flat or other surface.

P
panel saw: See.

plane:

(v.) The process of removing material from an object in thin shavings in order to make it flat. (n.) Any tool used for planing.

plane iron: The cutting part of a.

planer:

A machine used to reduce the thickness of boards.

plank: Any piece of that is flat, elongated, and rectangular with parallel that are higher and longer than they are wide.

Q
quarter-sawn: A with tree growth rings perpendicular to the wider. See.

R
rabbet (American English):

A recess or groove cut parallel to, and at the edge of, a board.

rail: A horizontal member of a frame on a door, window or panel. Contrast.

rail and stile: See.

rasp: A long and flat steel tool with raised teeth for shaping wood.

reed: A series of arranged in a row.

relief cut: A short, straight cut made at a right angle to a curved layout so that sharper-than-normal curves can be cut with a or.

riffler: A paddle-shaped.

rift sawn: Rip-sawing of lumber perpendicular to the, often confused with.

ring shake: A natural type of (shake) occurring between the annual growth rings.

rip: Any cut made parallel to the.

rip saw:

route:

To cut a or groove.

router:

S
S2S: A type of lumber, usually furniture-grade, with two sides.

sanding:

sandpaper:

saw:

saw rasp: A with saw teeth.

scorp: A with a curved, sometimes completely circular blade, often used for hollowing out objects such as bowls.

scratch awl: A sharp-pointed hand tool used to mark wood for cutting, usually used in or when a more precise mark is needed beyond that provided by a pencil or other method of marking the cut.

scribing:

The technique of shaping the end of a or frame component to neatly fit the contours of an abutting member.

scroll saw: A motorized.

seasoning: The process of reducing the moisture content of wood before working to prevent cracking, splitting, and other damage often caused by drying.

shake: A crack or in wood caused by damage or drying. A split (as opposed to sawn) shingle.

shim: A slender, usually tapered, piece of material used to temporarily adjust the angle of a joint or support; sometimes used permanently as an easy but unsightly way to, for example, correct the plumb of a freestanding piece of furniture.

shooting: The technique of an edge straight or square.

shooting board:

shore: A heavy timber used to support a wall.

skew: Out of or in an oblique position.

slab: A partially round cut from a log. Another name for a.

slab-cut: A with growth rings roughly parallel to the wider. slick: A giant used in framing and traditional building construction.

slip: A shaped stone used for sharpening non-flat blades such as.

snib: A wooden toggle used to hold the work on a table.

softwood: Wood from a gymnosperm tree, i.e. trees in the divisions Pinophyta and Ginkgophyta. Despite the name, softwood is not necessarily soft or lightweight (e.g. douglas-fir is a softwood). Contrast.

spalting: A change in the texture, strength and color of wood caused by colonies of fungus growing within the dead wood. Where colonies of fungus meet, fine black lines, often considered a desirable feature, are visible.

splay: See.

split: To longitudinally separate wood along layers.

spokeshave: A tool used to shape and smooth wooden rods and shafts, often for use as wheel spokes and chair legs.

square: A tool such as a steel square, try square, or combination square. A right angle. A unit of area equivalent to 100 sqft.

sticker: A small block of wood used to separate boards that are in the process of drying.

sticking: A type of moulding that is part of a larger piece of wood such as a frame (as opposed to being applied independently).

stile:

A vertical member of a frame on a door, window or panel. Contrast.

stringer: A, usually 2 x, that supports the and rises in a staircase.

sweep: The curvature of a, ranging from very little curvature (but not actually flat else it would be a ) to deep or quick. A defect in a piece of wood.

T
table saw:

A, mounted on an and driven by an electric motor, that partially protrudes through the top of a table, which is used to support the material being cut.

tear out: Broken or torn fibers resulting from damage as the blade of a tool exits a cut.

tenon: A projection on the end of a piece of wood for insertion into a.

termite barrier: A physical barrier used in construction which blocks subterranean termites from reaching wood.

timber: Another name for, i.e. wood that is newly processed from a forest.

tongue and groove:

tread: The part of a stair that is stepped on.

treen: Made entirely of wood, usually referring to small objects like bowls or utensils.

true: Something which is accurately placed, shaped, or sized. To "true up" two pieces of wood is to make them align.

twist: A longitudinal twisting of wood due to uneven or. See.

two-by-four:

A common size of dimensional lumber named for its unprocessed dimensions, usually measuring 1.5 x in practice.

U
undercutting: Cutting away from an edge to increase the sense of relief or thinness.

V
veiner: A small, deep.

veneer: Very thin slices of wood used for inlay or to cover surfaces.

veneer saw: A specialty tool used for trimming.

vise:

A mechanical apparatus with two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it.

W
wane: An edge of a sawn board where the bark or surface of the trunk remains.

warp: A distortion in a piece of lumber, such as a, or.

warping:

waste: Wood that will be removed in the finished work. It is often retained during working as a handle to conveniently hold and manipulate the portion being worked.

wasting: Quickly removing wood during carving, usually with an adze, knife, or.

wood: A porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and woody plants. Wood is an organic material consisting of a natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression.

wood carving:

wood glue:

woodturning:

woodworking: The activity or skill of making items from wood. It includes many categories and sub-disciplines, such as cabinetry and furniture making,,, , and.