A lexicon of furniture architecture and woodworking design
Terms we use often across the journal, gathered on one sheet. Most come up in articles about measurement, joints, and squaring — the vocabulary of the drawing table more than the vocabulary of the finished piece.
The single reference surface a part is measured and marked from. Once chosen, every related dimension on that part should trace back to it rather than to a second, competing surface.
A dimensioned list of every part in a project, usually including length, width, thickness, material, and quantity, checked against stock before cutting begins.
A deliberate, consistent gap left between two components, such as a drawer front and its case opening. An uneven reveal is usually the first visible sign of a measurement or squaring error.
The way small, individually acceptable errors across several parts can add together into one larger error at the point where those parts finally meet.
The main box structure of a piece of furniture — the sides, top, bottom, and back that form its shell, before doors, drawers, or a face frame are added.
A stepped recess cut along the edge of a board, often used to seat a back panel or receive a mating piece flush to a surface.
A groove cut across the grain of a board, typically sized to house the end or edge of a shelf or divider.
An interlocking joint made of angled pins and tails, commonly used at drawer corners and case corners for its mechanical resistance to being pulled apart.
A joint pairing a cut socket (the mortise) with a matching projecting tongue (the tenon), widely used where a rail meets a leg or post.
Checking and adjusting an assembly so its corners meet at true right angles, commonly verified with a try square on small parts or a diagonal check on a full carcase.
A method of confirming a rectangular assembly is square by comparing the two corner-to-corner measurements; equal diagonals mean equal, true angles.
A pair of matched straight sticks laid across a board at each end and sighted along, used to reveal twist that is hard to see by eye alone.
A tool set once to a fixed distance from an edge or face, then used to scribe a repeatable line for a joint or dimension across several parts.
A stick or strip of stock marked directly with a project's actual dimensions, used instead of a numeric measurement to avoid conversion or reading errors.
The line marking where a joint's visible face meets its cut section, such as where a tenon's cheek begins — its accuracy controls how tightly the joint closes.
The orientation of a board's wood fibers, which affects how it should be cut, planed, and joined, and how it is likely to move as humidity changes.
The expansion and contraction of solid wood across its width as ambient humidity changes through the year, largest across the grain and smallest along its length.
A matched pair of reference surfaces — one face and one edge, planed true and marked — from which every other dimension and angle on a board is measured.
The size of a board as bought, versus its size after planing and jointing; a cutlist that confuses the two tends to leave a project short on thickness or width.
A horizontal structural piece running beneath a tabletop between the legs, providing rigidity and often a surface for attaching the top.
The width of material removed by a saw blade during a cut; small on its own, but worth accounting for across a cutlist with many repeated cuts.