We’ve put together a glossary of commonly used Carpentry & Joinery terms. Some of the terms have a couple of different meanings and some you will be familiar with and some maybe not so. Due to the sheer amount of Carpentry and Joinery terms, we will spread it over a couple of posts so we can include as many as possible.We begin with A-B

A

Air Dried
Refers to the method of drying out timber naturally using the circulation of air. The pieces of timber to be dried are stacked on top of each other, seperated by lathes or sticks to allow the air to circulate. This method of drying takes considerable time. Also known as In Stick.

Angle Rafter
Another name for a Hip Rafter

Annual Rings or Annular Rings (Pictured right)
The concentric rings of wood fibre added annually as the tree grows. The wood fibre is made up of alternating rings, the darker rings being formed during the summer and the lighter rings during the winter. Also known as Growth Rings or Tree Rings, the Annual Rings can be used to determine the age of the tree, this is known as Dendrochronology.

Applique
Ornamentation planted on, instead of being worked on, in the solid.

Apron
An ornamentation on the middle rail of a door. It is usually planted on, but may be moulded/carved in the solid.

Apron Rail
The middle, or lock rail of a door, with raised ornamentation.

Architrave
The ornamental mouldings mitred round a door or window frame. The Architraves cover the joint between the plaster and wood framings.

Arris
The corner where two plane surfaces meet, this is generally removed either with sandpaper or by way of a moulding on finished Joinery.

Arris Rail
A triangular rail used in fencing.

Auger
A long twist bit turned with the hands, usually by means of a handle.

Awl
A hand tool for piercing small holes, normally as a starter hole for screws or nails. Also known as a Bradawl or Sprig Bit

B

Back Flap (pictured right)
A hinge with large flaps for screwing onto the face of a door and framing.

Balanced Sashes
The vertically sliding sashes in a sash and frame window.

Balk or Baulk
Any overly large sections of rough-sawn timber.

Balustrade
A row of Balusters / Bannisters with a base and handrail forming a protective enclosure.

Balusters or Bannister
The small vertical timbers supporting the handrail to stairs.

Band and Gudgeon hinges
Sometimes referred to as Hook and Band hinges or Hook and Eye, these are heavy duty hinges usually found on wooden gates and garage doors. They are in two pieces, the hinges being the band and the gudgeon or hook being the pivot which the hinge swings on. Band and Gudgeon hinges come in two different types, cranked (pictured below) and straight; the cranked version being used when it is required to keep doors of gates flush with the face of the frame or posts.



Barefaced Tenon
A Tenon with only one side shouldered.

Barge boards
The inclined timbers on the gable of a building, used to cover the ends of the roof timbers when they project over the face of the wall. Sometimes referred to as Verge Boards or Gable Boards.

Bark Pocket
A well defined opening containing bark between the annual rings of a tree, which develops as the tree is growing.

Base Mould
An alternative name used for a Skirting Board.

Battening
Narrow timbers fixed to a wall for wallboards, matchboarding, Skirting Board etc to be fixed to. Also known as Grounds.

Batter
Inclined from the vertical.

Bay Window (pictured right)
A window projecting over the face of the wall and continued from the ground.

Bead
A round moulding with a quirk, used to remove the sharp arris, and to break the joint between boards. When several beads are placed together, they are called Reeds. If the bead lies below the surface, it is referred to as a Sunk Bead.

Bench Hook
Used for holding and steadying small stuff while being cut.

Bind
The term applied to to any hung frame, that fits too tightly on to the stop or rebate and so prevents easy closing. Hinge Bound.

Birds Mouth
A V cut or fork in the end of a piece of timber, so that it sits astride the corner of another piece.

Blind Mortice
A Mortice for a stub tenon.

Board
Converted timber of small size, but very wide relative to the thickness.

Borrowed Light
An interior window obtaining light from another usually exterior window.

Box Window
A semicircular or segmental Bay Window.

Box Tenon
A tenon in the form of a rectangle for corner posts. For more information on the Box Tenon, please see our previous post on this and other woodworking angle joints.

Bow (pictured right)
A deviation/curvature in the flat of the timber from one end to the other, eg. if the timber was lying on a flat surface, then the centre would be slightly lifted.

Brace
A member of a framed structure crossing a space diagonally, and able to resist either compression or tension. Also a cranked handdrill for boring.

Brad
A small oval nail.

Bradawl
A hand tool for piercing small holes, normally as a starter hole for screws or nails. Also known as a Awl or Sprig Bit

Breaking Joint
Arranging the consecutive heading joints in floor boards and matchboarding so they will rest on different joists or studs.

Bridle Joint
A reverse joint to the Stub Mortice and Tenon joint. For more information on Bridle Joints, please see our previous blog post on these and other woodworking angle joints.

Bulls-Eye
A small circular or elliptical window.

Bullnose
A step having the end shaped to a quarter circle.

Burr (Pictured right)
A tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner, usually found round a wound or deformed bud. The burrs produce highly decorative, yet hard to work wood, which are used in veneers, turning, etc.

Butt Hinge
Hinges that are intended to be sunk into the edge of a door or casement.

Butt Joint
Two pieces of timber jointed together with a square joint.

Button
A small piece of wood secured by one screw so that it is free to revolve. Used to secure one piece of framing to another and tabletops/counter tops to the carcasses. Buttoned joints.

We will be back shortly with part two of our Carpentry and Joinery glossary, in the mean time, if you have any terms to add, then please use the comments box below and we shall then add them.

We all know trees help climate change by absorbing and storing CO₂ from the atmosphere, but did you know that they continue to store the CO₂ even after they have been used in a item of joinery, and the longer they stay in use as say a window or a door (or even paper!) then the longer they hold onto the CO₂ they have abosrbed as trees? At the end of its life span, the timber can either be recycled or used as a bio-fuel.

In comparision with other buildling materials, converting trees into usable timber requires lesser energy and produces very few harmful waste products. There is also very little waste in the manufacturing processes of timber, as almost all by-products are used as either a raw material or as a source of energy.

Further reading -

Tackle climate change: Use wood

If you can provide us with a drawing, sketch or picture of the design you would like, along with sizes and dimensions, we can provide you with a personalised recommendation and costing, as well as individual advice about the design and appearance of the final door. Our impressive service will ensure that you can have the distinct and beautiful garage doors of your dreams!

For more information on manufacturing your own designs of wooden garage doors, please see our website at Bespoke wooden garage doors

Rebated joints

Rebated joints (Fig A.) are usually found on pairs of doors that meet when closed, such as our wooden garage doors, French doors etc. The rebated joint is the simplest of the hinging and shutting joints. Two simpler shutting joints (Fig B.) normally used in cabinet work, such as book-cases and show-cases, or they can be used if the timber is too thin to rebate. For cabinet work, these are used to relieve the plainess of the joint.

Knuckle joint

A Knuckle, Rule or Table joint (Fig C.) is used for a drop, or hanging table. The centre of the hinge (1) which is a backflap hinge, is placed at the intersection of the two inside faces if a close joint is required. When the falling table (2) is horizontal, the top (3) surfaces of the two pieces are flush.

Hook joint

A Hook joint (Fig D.) is used in airtight show-case work. It was sometimes used in casements (windows etc.) but it is not a suitable joint for framing, which is subject to varying climatic conditions.

Shutting joint

The principle in construction of a shutting joint is that the knuckle of the hinge (1) or centre of the pivot, is the centre of a circle. The picture of the door (Fig E.) illustrates the principles. An arc of a circle struck from the hinge, with a radius equal to the width of the door, will give the shutting joint (2) shown.

That finishes our look at woodworking joints for the time being, though we will return to them again in future posts.

Everyone here at Gate Expectations would like to wish all our loyal customers, suppliers and readers of our blog a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you back here in 2010, where we hope to unveil some exciting new products in our range on our website, alongside our trusted bespoke gates and garage doors!

Butt joint

This is the simplest and most common form of joint where the square edges of the pieces of timber are glued together (Fig.A). To strengthen the butt joint it can either be dowelled (Fig.B) or biscuited (Fig.C)

Tongued joints

An improvement of the butt joint is tongued joint. Both pieces of timber are grooved out and a loose plywood tongue is inserted (Fig.D). This joint is used mainly for cabinet work and counter tops.

Tongue and groove joints

The tongue and groove (T&G) joint (Fig.E) is similar to the tongued joint, but rather than using a loose tongue, one of the pieces of timber to be jointed has a tongue cut onto it. Other variations of this joint include the tongued, grooved and veed (TG&V) joint (Fig.F) and the tongued, grooved and beaded joint (Fig.G). The joints can also be rebated (Fig.H) and rebated and filleted (Fig.I). A tongue and grooved joint is suitable for secret nailing (Fig.J) as it has a projection below the groove, which is more convenient for nailing. There are several modifications of this joint for secret nailing, but they have no special advantages. A rebated tongued and grooved joint (Fig.K) is one of this type.

Strengthening jointed boards

It is often necessary to strengthen jointed boards by placing battens on the rear. Three different methods are shown below that will allow for the movement of the boards whilst shrinking or expanding. This free movement is to prevent the joints from breaking or the boards from splitting.

Dovetailed batten

The dovetailed batten or key (Fig.K) is an uncommon joint because it is difficult to fit the batten accurately in all the boards, so as to make it effective throughout (though when fitted well it is a efficient joint). The batten is fixed at the small end so the boards are free to contract. The batten can be driven further in, if necessary, when the boards are seasoned and refixed.

Buttoned batten

Another good method of strengthening boards is buttoning (Fig.L). Generally used for fixing counter tops to carcasses or pedestals, the batten is rebated, and a number of hardwood buttons (shown right) are used, which engage with the rebates and are screwed to the boards. Several buttons engage with the batten and they are placed alternately on each side. It is common to make the buttons so that they can be swivelled when they are screwed in position. This makes the framing easy to take to pieces after fitting together.

Slot-screwed batten

When boards are joined to form wide tops, it is advisable to use slot-screwed battens (Fig.M) on the underside. The use of the slot-screwed batten stops the top from distorting, whilst still allowing a certain amount of moisture movement in the top (shrinkage and expansion). The postion of the screws in the slots depend upon the conditions. If they are intended to allow for shrinking only, the screws should be at the outside of the slots. If they are to allow for both expansion and contraction of the timber, then the screws should be in the centre of each slot (as shown above right). One or two fixed screws are placed at the centre of the batten without slotting, so that the boards may contract at each edge.

We shall conclude our series on woodworking joints in our next part by looking at hinging and shutting joints

Each individual door page can be accessed from our main garage door page, which can be found at wooden garage doors

Scarf joints

These are the most important joints for the lengthening of timbers, and the most difficult to construct. They are used where it is required to keep the section of the timbers uniform in size. The two pieces in a scarfed joint are cut and fitted to each other, so that the same breadth and thickness are retained. For jointing wide boards (Fig.A) shows the type of Scarf joint that would normally be used. Where additional strength is required (purlins or beams) then scarf joints can be bolted and plated – this is also known as a fished joint (Fig.B).

Laminated joints

This method of jointing is used to mainly utilise short lengths of timber. It can also be used for making up curved and shaped work. Fig.C shows a glue-laminated beam used for structural work. The joints in length are staggered to obtain maximum strength. Fig.D shows the head of a semicircular frame which has been glue-laminated from a number of separate pieces of timber.

Handrail bolts

The handrail bolted joint (Fig.E) is a secret fixing for lengthening timbers. Two pieces of timber are placed together and the postions of the nuts are marked. Holes are mortised on the least important side of the timber to receive the nuts. Holes are then marked out on the ends of the timber and drilled a little beyond the mortises for the nuts. The square nut is placed in one piece and the bolt screwed into it. The other piece of timber is put onto the projecting part of the bolt, so that the thread engages with the slotted circular nut. The two pieces of timber are then screwed together as far as possible and then the circular nut is tightened with a handrail puch until the joint is tight. To strengthen the joint, two small pieces of dowel can be used in conjunction with the bolt; this helps to prevent the joint from twisting when completed. The mortises for the nuts are then filled in with ‘timber joiners’ to hide the joint.

Splayed joint

Sometimes reffered to as a bevelled, spliced, heading or splayed joint, this joint is used when lengthening floor boards, skirtings and mouldings and would usually be secured using either glue, nails, screws or bolts. When used to lengthen floorboards (Fig.F) then the joint must be placed over a floor joist. Fig.G shows a heading joint in skirting board.

In our next post will be looking at joints for joining timber in width.

The Tusk Tenon

Another type of mortice and tenon joint used is the Tusk tenon. Arranged to weaken the timbers as little as possible, the tusk tenon is used in floor and roof construction. The tenon – which usually has a thickness of one-sixth the width of the material – is strengthened by projections left on the shoulder. The tenon projects through the timber that it is being jointed to and is secured with a wedge or key. A vertical section and plan are shown below (Fig A), and an isometric view (Fig. B). The tusk tenon, although not used as commonly as it once was (due to the likes of joist hangers), can still be found in floor joists.

1. The wedge or key
   
2. The tenon
   
3. The tusk
   

Box tenon

Sometimes used for corner posts in latern light windows, the Box tenon (Fig. C) is more complex to make than it looks. The easiest way of cutting the tenon is to cut using a tenon saw, giving, infact, three seperate tenons.

Tease tenon

The Tease tenon (Fig. D) is used when two rails are at right angles to each other in a corner post Z. The tenon on the piece X has the top part removed, whilst the piece marked Y has part of the bottom removed. The tenons pass over each other and may be also be wedged. When it is required that the tenons shall not be seen from the outside, then the tenons are kept to the full width and mitred at the ends.

Chase mortice

A Chase mortice (Fig. E) is an ordinary mortice for a stub tenon, but the mortice is continued with a chase so that the rail can be swung round into the mortice. It is used for placing intermediate members into postion after the framing has already been fixed. One end of the timber is fixed into postion using a normal stub tenon and then the other end is slid into postion along the chase.

The Bridle joint

The Bridle joint is basically the reverse of the mortice and tenon joint. In bridle joints, the middle part of one piece of timber is cut out so it will fork on to the other timber, which is cut to receive it.The two pictures below show bridle joints for when the two timbers are at right angles to each other (Fig. E) and also the type of bridle joint that could be used in roofing work where the two timbers meet at an angle.(Fig. F).

Notched and cogged joints

Notched joints are similar to halving joints, except that the faces of the two pieces are not flush. A straight forward notched joint is shown below (Fig. G), whilst a notched joint that prevents the movement of both pieces (Fig H) is also shown. A Cogged joint (Fig.I) is an extension of both the notched joints shown and is prevents movement of both timbers.

Bird’s mouth

The Bird’s mouth joint (Fig. J) is used for timbers that are not in the same plane. A common example can be found in a traditional cut roof, between the foot of the common rafter and the wall plate.

This finishes our look at angle joints; our next post will be looking at joints for joining timber in length.

The Mortice and tenon joint

In its varied forms, this joint is used perhaps more extensively than any other. The picture of the mortice and tenon joint (Fig A) shows the names of the different parts of the joint.

1. The Shoulder
   
2. The Tenon
   
3. The Mortice
   

A Stub tenon (Fig B) is a tenon that does not go through the timber. It needs holding in postion by a dowel or metal fastening. This is used for only simple frameworks and in situations where you would not want to see the edge of the finished joint.

In most cases, the tenon would be fixed with wedges, as well as glue. A through wedged mortice and tenon joint (Fig C) increases the surface area of the joint for gluing purposes and is our preffered joint for our wooden gates. Wedge space is cut into the mortice, the tenons are glued and inserted into the mortice and the work is cramped up. Wedges are then driven into the mortice from the outer edge of the timber.

Another method of wedging a mortice and tenon joint is the foxwedged mortice and tenon (Fig. D). Wedges are driven into saw cuts in the tenon; the disadvantage with this method is the fact that if the wedges are driven in with too much force, then the rail (from which the tenon is cut) can split. With this method, it is also best to leave the cramps on the work until the glue has dried, again due to the fact that the wedges cannot be driven too far in.

When the joint is at the end of a piece of framework, a haunched mortice and tenon (Fig. E) is used. Mainly used in door construction and used in the construction of our wooden garage doors, the use of a haunch reduces the width of a tenon and enables it to be wedged without any appreciable loss in strength. For wider centre rails, a different type of haunched tenon (Fig. F) is used for more stability.

Known as Secret Tenons, below are two methods of fixing a stub tenon by fox wedging. The first method (Fig. G), shows the wedges in position in the tenon prior to being fitted into the mortice, alongside a cross section of the timber with the tenon in place in the mortice. The joint requires careful preparation both for length of tenon and size of wedges, as it is difficult to rectify any mistakes after gluing and wedging up. The second method, shown as a cross section through the timber (Fig. H), shows a simpler method. The disadvantage is that the end of the wedge will be seen.

The final joint we will be looking at in this post is the Drawn Tenon (Fig. I). Not to be confused with a dowelled mortice and tenon, the drawn tenon is also known as draw-boring. The drawn tenon is used where there is difficulty in cramping up the joint and in situations where there is a likelihood of the work needing to come apart at a later date; this was the traditional method of making wooden field gates, as if the gate was damged by animals, then the gate could easily be taken apart and the damaged pieces replaced. The pin is used to ‘draw up’ the joint. The hole is first bored into the cheeks of the mortice, when this has been done, the tenon is fitted into the mortice and the centre of the hole is marked onto the tenon. The tenon is removed from the mortice and the hole is bored into the tenon off centre – a little nearer the shoulders of the tenon than the mark made. As the pin is driven through the mortice and tenon, the shoulders of the tenon are brought close to the mortice. If you intend to take the joint apart at a later date, then glue would not be used.

In our next post we shall carry on looking angle joints, including the bridle joint, tusk tenon and a couple more!