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The Wonderful World of Wood:
Timber merchants have evolved their own jargon which is often abbreviated in catalogues and
price lists.
The following list gives the typical terminology
used in the timber trade.
Abbreviations and Definitions:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- Air Drying
- A method for seasoning timber that permits covered stacks of sawn wood to dry naturally in the open air.
- Autoclave
- A sealed pressure vessel used in the production of dyed veneer.
B
- Backing Grade
- The category of cheaper veneers that are glued to the back of a board in order to balance better quality veneers glued to the front face.
- Banding
- A plain or patterned strip of veneer used to make decorative borders.
- Blockboard
- A man made building board with a core of approximately square section solid wood strips sandwiched between thin plywood sheets.
- Burl & Burr
- A warty growth on the trunk of a tree, When sliced it produces speckled burr veneer.
OR An extremely thin strip of metal left along the cutting edge of a blade after honing or grinding.
- Buttressed
- Having roughly triangular out growths at the base of the trunk to give increased stability.
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C
- Case Hardened
- A term used to describe unevenly seasoned timber with a moisture content that varies throughout its thickness.
- Cauls
- Sheets of wood or metal used to press veneer onto groundwork.
- Checks
- Splits in timber caused by uneven seasoning. See also knife checks.
- Clear Timber
- Good quality wood that is free from defects.
- Close Grain
- A term to describe wood with small pores or fine cell structure, Also known as fine textured.
- Comb Grain
- Another term for quarter sawn.
- Core
- The central layer of plies, particles or wooden strips in a man made board.
- Cross Banding
- Strips of veneer cut across the grain and used as decorative borders.
- Cross Grain
- Grain that deviates from the main axis of a workpiece or tree.
- Crotch Figure
- Another term for curl figure.
- Crown Cut
- A term used to describe veneer that has been tangentially sliced from a log, producing oval or curved grain patterns.
- Cup
- To bend as a result of shrinkage specifically across the width of a piece of wood.
- Curl Figure
- The grain pattern of wood that has been cut from that part of a tree where a branch joins the main stem or trunk.
- Curly Grain
- Wood grain exhibiting an irregular wavy pattern.
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D
- Dimension Stock
- Prepared timber cut to standard sizes.
- Dressed Stock
- Another term for dimension stock.
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E
- Earlywood
- That part of a tree's annual growth rings that is laid down in the early part of the growing season
- Edge Grain
- Another term for quarter sawn.
- End Grain
- The surface of wood exposed after cutting across the fibres.
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F
- face Quality
- A term used to describe better quality veneers that are used to cover the visible surface of a workpiece.
- Fibreboard
- Arange of building board made from reconstituted wood fibres.
- Figure
- Another term for grain pattern.
- Flat Sliced
- A term used to describe a sheet of knife cut veneer produced on a machine with a sliding action.
- Flat Grain
- Another term for plain sawn.
- Flitches
- Pieces of wood sawn from a log for slicing into veneers,orThe bundle of sliced veneers.
- Flat Sawn
- Another term for plain sawn.
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G
- Grain
- The general direction or arrangement of the fibrous materials of wood.
- Greenwood
- Newly cut timber that has not been seasoned.
- Groundwork
- The backing material to which veneer is glued.
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H
- Hardwood
- Wood cut from broadleaved, mostly deciduous, trees which belong to the botanical group Angiospermae.
- Heartwood
- The mature wood that forms the spine of a tree.
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I
- Inlay
- To insert pieces of wood or metal into pepared recesses so that the material lies flush with the surrounding surfaces.
or The piece of material itself.
- Interlocking Grain
- Bands of annual rings with alternating left hand and right hand spiral grain.
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J
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K
- Kiln Drying
- A method of seasoning timber using a mixture of hot air and steam.
- Knife Checks
- Splits across veneer caused by poorly adjusted veneer slicing equipment.
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L
- Laminate
- A component made from thin strips of wood glued together.
or To glue things together to form a component.
- Laminboard
- A man made building board with a core of narrow strips of wood
- Latewood
- The part of a tree's annual growth ring that is laid down in the latter part of the growing season.
- Lipping
- A protective strip of solid wood applied to the edge of a man made board panel or table top.
- Long Grain
- Grain that is aligned with the main axis of a work piece.
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M
- Marquetry
- The process of laying relatively small pieces of veneer to make decorative patterns or pictures.
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N
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O
- Open Grain
- A term used to describe ring porous wood with large pores. Also known as coarse textured.
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P
- Parquetry
- A similar process to marquetry but using veneers cut into geometric shapes to make decorative patterns.
- Particle Board
- Building board made from small chips of wood bonded together with glue under pressure.
- PEG
- Polyethylene glycol a stabilzing agent used in place of conventional seasoning processes to treat green timber.
- Photosynthesis
- A natural process that takes place when energy in the form of light is absorbed by chlorophyll, producing the nutrients on which plants live.
- Plain Sawn
- A term used to discribe a piece of wood with growth rings that meet the faces of the board at angles of less than 45 degrees.
- Plywood
- A building board made by bonding a number of wood veneers together under pressure.
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Q
- Quarter Sawn
- A term used to describe a piece of wood with growth rings that meet at no less than 45 degrees to the face of the board.
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R
- Rift Sawn
- A term used to describe a piece of wood with growth rings that meet the faces of the board at angles of more than 30 degrees but at less than 60 degrees.
- Rotary Cut
- A term used to describe a continuous sheet of veneer peeled from a log by turning it against a stationary knife.
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S
- Sapwood
- New wood surrounding the denser hardwood.
- Seasoning
- Reducing the moisture content of wood.
- Short Grain
- A term used to describe where the general direction of wood fibres lies across a narrow section of timber.
- Slash Sawn
- Another term for plain sawn
- Softwood
- Wood cut from coniferous trees which belong to the botanical group Gymnospermae.
- Straight Grain
- Grain that aligns with the main axis of a work piece or tree.
- Stringing
- Fine strips of wood used to divide areas of veneer.
- Summerwood
- Another term for late wood.
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T
- Tangentially Cut
- Another term for plain sawn.
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U
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V
- Veneer
- A thin slice of wood used as a surface covering on a less expensive material such as a man made board.
- Vertical Grain
- Another term for quarter sawn.
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W
- Wavy Grain
- A term used to describe the even wave like grain pattern on wood cut from a tree with an undulating cell structure.
- Wild Grain
- Irregular grain that changes direction, making it difficult to work.
- Winding
- A warped or twisted board is said to be winding or in wind.
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