For the beginner woodworker the terminology of the woodworking can be rather confusing. There is a plethora of acronyms and terms that only make sense within the woodworking world. Without understanding the initial jargon of woodworkers it is hard to understand and communicate without feeling out of place.
Here is a short list of terms and acronyms that I have compiled to level set woodworkers.
Rough Cut – Lumber that has been cut into rough form. This lumber requires additional planing before it can be used in project, unless you like splinters. It is specified in nominal thickness.
Nominal Thickness – Denotes the thickness of a board in its rough state. The final thickness will be 1/4 inch thinner. It is typically specified in quarters of an inch, so 4/4 stock will yield a board with an actual thickness of 3/4 inch after final surfacing.
S1S – Surfaced on one side
S2S – Surfaced on two sides
S4S – Surfaced on four sides. Lumber that is S4S is typically in nominal thickness.
The above S?S acronyms are used in the fine hardwood lumber yards. The grading tells you how many sides of the lumber have been planed to a smooth finish.
Board foot – Approximately 144 square inches of wood. In the US it is the volume of wood that occupies the space of 12 inches by 12 inches by 1 inch thick. Rough cut lumber is sold by the board foot.
Liner foot – Twelve inches in length. S4S lumber is typically sold by the liner foot instead of by the board foot.
Dado – A channel that is cut into a piece of wood. It is used extensively in cabinet making to secure shelving and other pieces.
Feather board – Is used on a table saw or router to hold the stock against the fence or table top to provide a clean cut. When cutting a rabbet using a feather board on the table saw fence to keep the stock from being pushed up by the dado head cutter makes it easier to get a clean cut.
Rabbet – Is a groove that is cut on the edge of the wood. The only difference between a rabbet and a dado is the location of the cut.
Kerf – Is the thickness of the saw blade’s cut. Saw blade’s teeth extend slightly to either side of the saw blade to prevent the stock from binding the saw blade when the stock is being cut.
Miter – Describes the joint where two pieces of wood are joined at an angle.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Talking firewood. I know a cord is a stack of wood 4 feet wide by 4 feet tall and 8 feet long. What is a ric (rick?)of wood definition? Thanks. Scott
September 18th, 2008 at 11:57 am
That one stumped for a while, until I came across firewoodcenter.com. A rick or a rack is only part of a cord of wood. The volume of wood will vary based on the length of the sticks in the stack. All of the sticks within the single rick are to be of the same length.
So you could purchase a rick of twelve inch sticks which would be one row of four feet tall by eight feet long by twelve inches wide. Total volume is 32 cubic feet.
A rick of sixteen inch sticks is a volume of 42.6 cubic feet of wood.
Basically a rick of wood is a single row that is four feet tall, eight feet long and all of the sticks are of the same length.