Welcome to the Woodworking Glossary, a comprehensive list of woodworking terms and their definitions that will help you understand more about woodworking. Each word has a complete definition, and several have links to other pages that further explain the term. Enjoy. Woodworking Glossary 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 | #'s | A | A-Frame This is a common and strong building and construction shape where you place two side pieces in the orientation of the legs of a letter "A" shape, and then cross brace the middle. This is useful on project ends, and bases where strength is needed. Abrasive Abrasive is a term use to describe sandpaper typically. This is a material that grinds or abrades material, most commonly wood, to change the surface texture. Using Abrasive papers means using sandpaper in most cases, and you can use it on wood, or on a finish in between coats or for leveling. Absolute Humidity The absolute humidity of the air is a measurement of the amount of water that is in the air. This is without regard to the temperature, and is a measure of how much water vapor is being held in the surrounding air. Acetone Acetone is a solvent that you can use to clean parts, or remove grease. Acetone is useful for removing and cutting grease on a wooden bench top that has become contaminated with oil. Across the Grain When looking at the grain of a piece of wood, if you were to scratch the piece perpendicular to the direction of the grain, this would be an across the grain scratch. Going across the grain is going over the grain lines at 90 degrees to their visual direction. Actual Dimensions The dimensions written on a board and the actual dimensions can be two different things. The actual dimensions are the dimensions you measure on the individual piece itself, no matter what the tag says. These are piece specific, and represent the actual piece in question. Adhesion When one piece of material is glued to another with an adhesive, it is said to have adhered to the second piece, which is called adhesion. It's essentially one piece sticking to another piece, which is done with glue most of the time. Adze The adze is a small wood carving tool that looks like a hatchet but with the head turned 90 degrees. It's used to rough wood to shape and remove lumps and high spots. This leaves a hand hewn look, which is very popular for some types of woodworking projects. African Blackwood This is a very dark wood species that is found in central and southern Africa, and it is commonly seen in clarinet and oboe bodies and horns. It's a difficult wood to work by hand, but it turns exceptionally well, and is a very dense species that smooths out really nicely. African Mahogany This species of wood comes from Africa, in the more tropical areas, and is a less expensive alternative to Honduran Mahogany. The wood has a nice brown coloring, can have ribbon figure, and is easily found in most hardwood and fine woodworking stores. Africal Padauk This fun species is a very interesting wood that starts out as bright orange when freshly cut, then slowly oxidizes down through the reds into finally a brown. The red coloring is the most common, and it's actually a fairly inexpensive wood for the beautiful coloring. Against the Grain Most frequently noticed when planing a piece of wood, the direction of the grain when encountering a bit or blade is said to be against the grain when the cutting action lifts out and separates the wood along the grain lines. In contrast, when you cut with the grain, it the wood cuts cleanly, and does not cause internal wood damage. Air Cleaner This is a device that has a fan and a filter, which pulls in air from the shop, passes it through the filter, and returns it to the shop. These are nice to have, and they can significantly improve the air quality. You can buy one of these, or there are lots of plans online for making one with a furnace filter and a box fan. Air Compressor An air compressor is a pump and a tank that stores compressed air. The air is then sent through an air line and to a pneumatic tool that uses the air as a power source. These come in small sizes as well as very large units. They are not expensive, and they are convenient to have in the shop. Air Dried Lumber that is dried in the outside air, without any additional effort other than the surrounding air is said to be air dried. This is a slower process than kiln drying, but it can result in less cracking and warping of the wood as the process is a lot slower. This is one way of removing moisture from wood, also called seasoning. Air Dried Lumber This is lumber that has been dried naturally with air, and is at a low enough moisture content to sell to woodworkers and carpenters for making into projects. This will still need to acclimate to the shop before using, but will balance faster than green wood or wet wood. Air Gun This is a term used to describe an air nozzle, which is an attachment for an air hose that blows compressed air for use in cleaning and dust removal. High pressure air comes through the air gun and can be used for drying finishes, cleaning, and any other instance where high pressure air is needed. See Air Nozzle as well. Air Hose This is a long hose that is connected to the air compressor and an air tool. The air hose gets the air from the tank to the tool, providing the power. There are different grades of air hose, and in general you get what you pay for. Look at the rating so you know it can handle the pressure your compressor can supply. Air Line Another name for an air hose, the air line brings the air from the compressor to the tool. See Air Hose for more details on this term. Air Nozzle An air nozzle is an attachment for the air line that allows you to blow high pressure air. This is useful for cleaning and helping finishes dry a little faster. See Air Gun as well for more information. Air Quality This is a general term used to describe the overall quality of the air in a given area. For the sake of woodworkers, this is typically the shop. It's a good practice to do everything you can to ensure that the air quality in your shop is excellent, because it will be better for your body. Air Tool Any tool that uses air as the source of power can be called an air tool. These are also called Pneumatic Tools, and they include wrenches, spray guns, drills, and more. These are some of the most powerful tools you can use, and they run completely on pressurized air. Alder This North American hardwood is a lighter weight, light colored species that is commonly used in cabinet making and electric guitar bodies. It's easy to work, readily available, and you can even find pieces with lots of knots that have a great look on a woodworking project. Aliphatic Resin Glue Also referred to as AR glue, this is the primary type of glue used for wood to wood joints. Titebond, and many other woodworking glues are Aliphatic Resin glues. This is the familiar yellow glue that you see in woodworking applications, and it's made by several companies. All Purpose Blade This is for table saws mostly, but you can use the term for other saws as well. An all purpose blade is a blade that is good in many different applications like rip sawing, cross cutting, fine and smooth cuts. This is a blade that is good for everything but excellent at nothing. It's a compromise blade that stays on the tool most of the time. All Thread All thread is a long piece of metal rod that is threaded from end to end. It's all threads, with no shank, and no head at all. You can use this as is, or you can cut it to length and use as much as you need. Lengths can be as short as a foot and as long as several feet. They also come in lots of widths and thread sizes. Allen Head Bolt A machine bolt or machine screw that takes an allen key to turn is called an allen head bolt. These are common in furniture that you have to assemble yourself. The size of allen key for the bolt can vary depending on the size of the bolt, and you can find them in metric and standard sizes. Allen Wrench An allen wrench is an L shaped piece of metal with six sides, and used to turn an allen head bolt. These come in a number of sizes, as well as being metric and standard. They can have flat ends, or ball ends that allow the tool to turn a bolt from an angle rather than being inserted directly into the opening. Alternate Top Bevel This is a style of creating the teeth that are on a table saw blade. The alternating top bevel is where one tooth is beveled to the left and the next tooth is beveled to the right.