Millwork Terms

Hardwoods

General term used to designate lumber or veneer produced from deciduous trees in contrast to softwood, which is produced from evergreen or coniferous trees.

Ply

A term referring to any layer of veneer in a piece of plywood. A 3-ply panel has three layers of veneer, 5-ply has five layers, etc.

Grain

The size, alignment, and color of wood fibers in a piece of lumber. The fibers in wood and their direction, size, arrangement, appearance, or quality.

Architectural Woodwork

Fine custom woodworking specified for special applications and functions by architects and other design professionals and created by woodworkers.

Particle board

A type of manufactured wood product made from wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even saw dust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Particle board is very dense, heavy, and flat.

Edge Band

Lumber, veneer, or plastic laminate attached to the edge of a plywood or particleboard panel.

Special Match

Special matching or sketch matching (per a submitted sketch) of veneers that may be done in an infinite number of patterns, including the more common diamond match, box match, checkerboard, herringbone, and a host of others.

Crown Moldings

Moldings used to accent ceiling intersections and traditional pediments and casework tops.

Slip Match

Method of matching veneers whereby consecutive sheets of veneer are laid out side by side (in contrast to turning them over for book matching) and joined together with a repetition of the same grain appearance.

Running Match

Each panel face is assembled from as many veneer leaves as necessary. Any portion left over from the last leaf may be used as the start of the next panel.

Reverse Slip Match

The variation from slip match is that every other piece of veneer in the face is reversed, end for end, with the adjoining sheet that “balances” the characteristics of the pieces of veneer in the face.

Book Match

A term in veneering, where successive pieces of veneer are arranged side by side. In a properly done book match, each leaf of veneer will resemble a mirror image of the previous leaf.

Particle board

A type of manufactured wood product made from wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even saw dust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Particle board is very dense, heavy, and flat.

Finish

The process of refining or protecting a wooden surface, especially in the production of furniture, cabinets and other millwork.

Quartersawn

Method of cutting lumber where the annual rings are relatively perpendicular to the face of the board. Quarter-sawn lumber tends to be more dimensionally stable than other forms of lumber, such as plain sawn.

Center Match

An even number of veneers of equal width matched (usually book, but also slip or reverse slip) in the face so that an equal number of veneers are on either side of the center point (i.e., a veneer joint) of the face.

Casing

Generally, a molding placed around a door frame or window frame.

Architectural Woodwork

Fine custom woodworking specified for special applications and functions by architects and other design professionals and created by woodworkers.

Hardwoods

General term used to designate lumber or veneer produced from deciduous trees in contrast to softwood, which is produced from evergreen or coniferous trees.

Millwork

Architectural woodwork and any woodmill-produced building construction interior-finish components. The terms millwork and woodwork are synonymous.

Book Match

A term in veneering, where successive pieces of veneer are arranged side by side. In a properly done book match, each leaf of veneer will resemble a mirror image of the previous leaf.

Casing

Generally, a molding placed around a door frame or window frame.

Substrate

Generally used to describe a panel product upon which a decorative finish material is applied.

Slip Match

Method of matching veneers whereby consecutive sheets of veneer are laid out side by side (in contrast to turning them over for book matching) and joined together with a repetition of the same grain appearance.

Special Match

Special matching or sketch matching (per a submitted sketch) of veneers that may be done in an infinite number of patterns, including the more common diamond match, box match, checkerboard, herringbone, and a host of others.

Finish

The process of refining or protecting a wooden surface, especially in the production of furniture, cabinets and other millwork.

Particle board

A type of manufactured wood product made from wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even saw dust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. Particle board is very dense, heavy, and flat.

Grain

The size, alignment, and color of wood fibers in a piece of lumber. The fibers in wood and their direction, size, arrangement, appearance, or quality.