Clearing the Air about Woodworking Terms
KiddervilleAcres
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hi Folks,
I’m sure this topic has been covered B4 but let’s have another go at it.
Also, I sometimes think toolmakers hire folks to document their tools with no thought given to their experience(s) in a woodshop. Many times I have referred to things using terms that are familiar to me but mean something else others.
Example: Sides of a cabinet. Some call them the ends of a cabinet.
What about bevel vs chamfer? Let’s hear you folks’ definitions of various woodworking terms.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Replies
Here's the stuff that seems to cause confusion in posts every year, the terminology for different lumber defects. I offer an illustration from Borden and Erikson Cabinetry and Furniture: This page describes the terms and a few others.
View Image
Excellent!
With all the woodworking terms this discussion should go a Looooonnnnnnnng ways doncha think!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Kerf is the width of the cut whichis the width of the blade plus blade runout. saw wobble and feed varaiation.
fg, 'Crook' is also correctly called 'edge bend'.
'In winding' is an alternative and correct term for 'twist'.
Missing from the list is 'kink', a bit like crook or edge bend, but characterised specifically as a sharp deviation at the edge, frequently caused by a knot.
My pet peeve is the all too common misuse of the word dado to describe a groove, channel or slit. A dado, also known as housing or trench goes across the grain, never with it. Grooves, channels and slits go with the grain.
However, it's a bit trickier when describing such recesses in grain-free material, eg, MDF. For most people the usual convention, but not always, is to describe a dado, trench or housing going across the narrow dimension, and a groove, channel, or slit runs with the long dimension. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Long time ago when I read Joyce's classic furniture tome, I first came across the term "cheeks" for what you call cabinet sides. That made me smile, even though his meaning was quite clear. What made me laugh out loud was when he suggested solving a glue-up problem by "throwing a cramp across its cheeks"!
I for one, much prefer the arcane terms (with their patina), even at the price of occasional misunderstandings.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
David, carcase (or carcass) sides are not only known as cheeks in Brit English, we call them 'gable ends' too. Don't ask me why, but it's common enough, ha, ha. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Richard,
Unfortunately there are WEBsites that simply add to the confusion too: Woodzone.com http://www.woodzone.com/glossary-2.htm#sectD They describe dado as:
Dado: A rectangular channel cut partway into a board
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob, that, to me anyway, is an incomplete description. So you're right; even if you turn to what you'd hope are reliable sources, they're not, and things get more confusing.
It's hard to know what to say, even if we accept the fact that language evolves; does it have to evolve into meaninglessness-- see my example of 'gable end', a phrase well understood in these parts. It's wrong in many senses, but the term is pretty common currency in the furniture making circles I'm involved with. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Hi Richard,
Yeah I know what you mean about supposed authorities definitions. This kinda started in another discussion and I thought it might be kind of interesting to see what definitions there are, realizing that there may be regional variations, such as gabel ends.
Another one I've run into is bungs. Some refer to what I call burls as bungs.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I thought "gable ends "were on houses.
GW52, they are. That's why I said, "don't ask me why." Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Richard,
Gable ends, sides, cheeks, case ends, were also called "heads" in one shop where I worked. A rose by any other name...
Ray
Ray & All ,
An old timer I knew called the cabinet ends " bulk heads " I didn't want to act like I didn't understand .
How about Broom grain , case hardening , cell collapse , mineral streaks , Timber bound or spring wood , hey sounds like a description of App Red Oak .
regards dusty
Edited 1/22/2008 3:45 pm ET by oldusty
Dusty,
What do they mean, esp. cell collapse?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Hi Bob ,
Cell collapse refers to hollow cracks that run along the grains mostly noticed in Oaks . It can reveal itself at most inopportune places .
Commonly believed to be caused from improper drying .
Looks like checks that you see on the ends of boards , only may be anywhere on the board .
dusty
This is also called "honeycombing."
-Steve
dusty,
Bulkheads. Musta been a ships carpenter.
Ray
Ray,
Or a transformer?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
Robots in disguise?
or US Marine. They know all that nautical lingo. Most of 'em can cuss like a sailor too.
Ray
I was just thinking about R. Bruce Hoadleys article in FWW a while back about grain. Great line at the end, "Frankly that goes against my grain".
Never knew there were so many definitions, variations or misuses of the term grain.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Ray,
Ever heard a British sailor curse?
Can't understand a word they say!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
Never had the...pleasure.
Heck I didn't understand half of mufti's last post. Maybe he was cussin at me...
Ray
Do not worry, Ray, you are in good company. Mine for a start.
There was a time when Michael Dunbar went on a bit about the words bevel and bezel, insisting the latter should be used. Yet they have different origins and specialist applications.
I do keep taking the pills albeit with quaffs of whisky to restore the balance.
And now comes tidgy from Lataxe.
I think it is an acronym/synonym for smidgeon or just a hair? Perhaps a skosh?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 5/10/2008 9:00 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
cusious: That's when you're curious about a tool and cussing at the same time cause you don't have it!
Not a typo :-),Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
How about Rabbit .vs. Rebate ?
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Do you mean what goes into rabbit stew vs what the government might do with our taxes?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
So when the politicians talk about giving us all a tax rebate, they're really talking about rabits? (Or is that pulling rabbits out of a hat?)
Bob
"So when the politicians talk about giving us all a tax rebate, they're really talking about rabits? (Or is that pulling rabbits out of a hat?)
Bob"
No, I doubt I'll see any check. That's called bend over grab your ankles smile and ... you can finish the rest!Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
bones,
Don't make things worse-- it's spelled rabbet. Not to be splitting hares ;-))
Heh,heh,
Ray
Ya'll have me completely lost. I thought:
A kerf was a first cousin to a smerf.
A rabbit was hunted for dinner or layed easter eggs.
A Dado was extinct.
A channel was out in the river.
"A rabbit was hunted for dinner.."see attachment
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
Dang! That was funny!
I got that in an email from a friend. The original caption was "Fox hunting. Should it be stopped?"Cheers,Peter
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
Believe it or Knot
Bark pocket = Dogs throat. Check = What to do with your E-mail. Shake = What not to do with your canned finishes. Stain = What you do when you get a kick back. Tight Knot or Loose Knot = Won't go there. Wane = Invisible helper in the shop that you talk to.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Shucks folks, wait til you get into boatbuilding. You need dictionaries from each nationality.
When y'all get ready to get out a scarfed harping piece for your sneakbox, give me a buzz. ;)
http://www.geocities.com/cjstein_2000/dictionary.html
http://www.hmssurprise.org/Resources/SteelSWVMLex.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/books/nnv/abbrev.htm
http://www.hmssurprise.org/Resources/LeverSALex.html
The one which Mr Dunbar had a thing about amused me. By our understanding a bevel fits into a bezel in the fashion of a watch glass for example. Thus if a chisel was bezeled it would be most peculiar.
Bevel may have been Beveau whilst Bezel is related to the O.French Biseau, but this is just one instance of where we in England wonder what on earth Americans are talking about. Yours is the more original version of english useage of course in many examples, but we do not speak the same language and we have to be very careful.
By the way, pompous does not mean a British moggy.
Edited 1/23/2008 1:17 pm ET by mufti
mufti,
...what..?
Ray
mufti,
When are you folks going to learn how to speak English? Is it because you live so close to all those other countries and can't decide which is which?
:-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Have a care, Bob. I have for fun been reading the speechifications of the current occupant of The White House, and am now looking for translations. I may ask your help!
mufti old top,
You know, it's been nearly eight years that we here have been trying to figure out what in tarnation the current occupant is about. It's quite sad when you come to the conclusion that it's only a matter of time before he is gone.
Then a choice to make with the new crop making a run for the office. We have two on one side that seem to relish in verbal fisticuffs that serve no purpose to anyone. Very childish I say. I shudder to think that either one might potentially be facing other world leaders, much less terrorists!
I may need your help instead! :-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
We are lucky in that our world status is such that our leaders could not organise a piss-up in a brewery. Or recognise a futile war.
There is so much reason and common sense allied with intelligent humour here that I reckon those who think they are in charge could do a lot worse than listen to what I regard as the voice of America on matters of note.
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