Glossary of Woodworking Terms


Alcove
A recessed area in a room
Antique
Art, buildings, furniture, accessories, or personal possessions that are more than 100 years old
Appliance Garage
A common name for a roll-up or single door unit placed under a wall cabinet. Roll-up doors are sometimes called "tambours".
Appliqué (Onlay)
An intricately carved decorative element installed on the surface of a cabinet.
Bead (Beaded)
A small double groove routed out around the perimeter of a cabinet frame or door giving the appearance of an added rounded, narrow molding. (Beaded panel - a panel with a vertical double groove routed at intervals across it's width). (Beaded inset - a style in which the cabinet door closes within the frame which has a double groove routed around its perimeter.)
Bevel
The slant of a surface, as on a beveled edge door.
Burled wood
A hard wood cut from a large rounded growth on a tree characterized by a large swirl and often used as a veneer or inlay
Butt Joint
Joint formed by butting the ends of two pieces of wood together. Usually attached by glue or staples or both.
Capital
An architectural term for the crown or top element of a column.
Casing
An enclosed frame around a door or window opening
Classic Crown (Moulding)
A wide, intricately carved piece of molding usually used on top of wall cabinets or furniture.
Concealed Hinge
A hinge that is attached to the door and the inside end panel of a cabinet, making it not visible from the exterior of the cabinet.
Continuous Pull
The door handle is an integral part of the door style and runs the full width of the door. The handle is not a separate piece of decorative hardware.
Conversion Varnish
An element of a finishing process, used as intermediate and/or top coats. This sprayed-on chemical material is bonded to the wood when heated in special ovens.
Cup Hinge
Used to hinge full-overlay doors, the hinge is set into a round recessed area routed into the back of the door. The hinge is also attached to the door frame.
Dado
A groove recessed into a board into which another board edge is inset to form a joint, usually with glue to secure it. Used to join cabinet backs to cabinet floors or sides (end panels) to face frame.
Decorative Hardware
Any device used to open and close a cabinet door. These include knobs, latches, minimum edge pulls, and touch latches.
Dentil (Moulding)
A pattern of tooth-like cuts often used on trim moldings.
Diagonal Cabinet
A cabinet used to span across a corner. Other terms for this type of cabinet are WALL ANGLE or LAZY SUSAN ANGLE or CORNER WALL cabinet.
Door Frame
Surrounds the center mirror or panel of the door.
Dormer
A window set vertically in a structure projecting through a sloping roof
Dovetail
A method of fastening boards together by fitting pieces shaped like a wedge into like opposing cavities. Used most often in drawer assembly.
Dowel
A wood peg inserted into a corresponding glue filled hole.
Exposed Hinge
A hinge attached to the door and the front frame
Finish
A finish refers to how shiny the paint looks when it has dried. There are four main types of finish: flat, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss.
Flush
Even, or level with
Flute
A groove routed into a wood part. Flutes may have a functional purpose, as with fluted dowels, into which glue is disbursed, or a decorative purpose as in fluted fillers.
Fretwork
Ornamental carving or fancywork.
Frieze
Decorative running design or cutout (fretwork) running along the top of a cabinet.
Full-overlay
Door style which leaves very little reveal of the frame or front edge around the perimeter. (In framed cabinet construction, the face frame is concealed.)
Galley Rail (Also spindle rail or gallery rail)
A decorative element often used to create a front retainer on a plate rail.
Green Design
A design, also referred to as a sustainable design or eco-design, which conforms to environmentally sound principles of building, material, and energy use. A green building, for example, might make use of skylights, recycled building materials, and energy efficient appliances.
Heartwood
Heartwood is wood that may contain deposits of minerals that may result in streaks of much darker colors than the sapwood portions of the tree area closest to the bark.
Kerf
A saw cut on the surface of a board to relieve stress. Used to create a curve in wood, as with toe kick cover around a base cabinet.
Kiln-dry
The removal of moisture from lumber using a heat chamber (kiln).
Knot
A naturally occurring whorl in lumber created where a branch extended from a tree.
Laminate (noun)
A surface covering, usually affixed to a substrate with glue. May be any thin surface material. This word does not necessarily indicate "plastic" or "melamine" as is commonly believed. Paper or aluminum may also be a laminate.
(Verb): To affix a surface covering to a substrate with glue.
Lattice
Wood, wrought iron, or other material formed in a cross-hatch design
Linoleum
An all natural flooring material made of linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, tree resins, ground limestone, and pigments; regarded as environmentally friendly flooring.
MDF
An engineered wood offering an extremely tight, smooth surface. Exceptionally stable, MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) is favored for laminating with thermofoils.
Melamine
A low pressure laminate thermofused to a smooth substrate.
Millwork
Machined woodwork.
Mineral Streak
Discoloration in lumber caused by chemical oxidation of minerals naturally occurring in the wood.
Miter
Two angles cut and joined forming a continuous profile. (Sometimes spelled mitre)
Mortise and Tenon
A joint between two pieces of wood in which a protrusion on one piece is inserted into a groove or channel in the other. Similar to "tongue and groove".
Mullion Door
Mullion doors have vertical and horizontal wood rails within the frame forming a grid pattern.
Muntin
The short bar extending from stile to stile. As in a tall cabinet door divided by a horizontal muntin.
Nominal
The "rounded" dimension number used in a cabinet order code. Actual dimension may differ by a fraction either greater or smaller.
Nose
Rounded edge on a wood member.
O-gee (ogee)
Edge trim or cut characterized by one 180 degree radius bead extending further out than another below it.
Onlay (Appliqué)
An intricately carved wood decorative element installed on the surface of a cabinet.
Overlay
The degree or amount a door overlays the frame or front edge of a cabinet.
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