| WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Woodspeak -- A Basic Woodworking Glossary |
| Don't know a mortise from a tenon? Here are 30 basic woodworking terms to get you off on the right foot. |
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 A mortise-and-tenon joint.
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 Mortise and tenon.
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Mortise-and-tenon joint -- A joinery technique where the cut end -- or tenon -- from one board fits into the matching opening -- or mortise -- of another. A common and reliable form of wood joinery. Joinery techniques are featured in just about every episode of DIY's series Wood Works. Wood Works Episode GuideMortise -- An opening chiseled, drilled or routed into a board to receive the end of an intersecting board. The opening or socket that receives the tenon in the classic woodworker's mortise-and-tenon joint. The mortise is the female part of the joint. See also tenon. Kiln-dried -- Seasoned timber (lumber) that has been dried in the kiln to a low moisture content of approximately 10 percent.
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 A 2-step rabbet cut in the back of an elliptical mirror-frame.
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 This thin shim is used to raise a plywood substrate for edge-banding with veneer.
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Rabbet -- A rectangular, stepped recess cut along the edge of a section of wood. (May be used as a verb or noun.) Example: A rabbet might be cut along the back, inner edges of the four wooden pieces making up a square or rectangular picture frame. As seen in: Wood Works, episode 406, Sculpted Elliptical Mirror, segment 3: Sculpting the Wood FrameRail -- The upper or lower horizontal member in a door or panel. (See also stile.) Shim -- A thin, wooden wedge -- often used for bracing or leveling another piece of wood. Squeeze-out -- A bead or drops of glue that are forced out of a joint when pressure is applied. Tip: Typically, when working with ordinary woodworker's glue, excess glue squeeze-out can be cleaned up with a damp cloth as long as the glue hasn't hardened.
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 A spline joint strenthens the frame's corner.
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Spline -- A thin piece of wood that fits in the mating grooves cut into two pieces of wood. (Example: The corners of picture frames are sometimes reinforced with decorative spline joints. As seen in: Wood Works, episode 208, Cherry and Maple Medicine Cabinet, Segment 2: Door FrameStile -- The vertical member in a panel or door. (See also rail.)
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