Vocab - B

Backsaw

Handsaw with a thin rectangular blade that is stiffened with a reinforcing spine along its length on the side opposite the teeth; used primarily for mitering and cutting dovetails

Baltic Birch (Plywood)

A high-quality birch plywood made from veneer of equal thickness. It has no voids. Widely used for furniture, it’s also known as “Finnish birch.” Unlike domestic plywood, such as “apple ply,” which comes in 4′ x 8′ sheets, Baltic birch is made in 5′ x 5′ sheets.

Band Clamp

A flexible strap connected to a ratcheting mechanism used to tighten it around irregularly shaped objects; also called a web clamp

Band Saw

Powered saw that cuts by means of a thin metal blade running in a continuous loop around two or more large drive wheels, used for making tight- radius curved cuts or for resawing wood

Bar Clamp

A clamp composed of a metal bar with a fixed jaw on one end paired to an adjustable jaw, usually tightened with a screw together with a ratchet mechanism

Barleycorn

An old unit of measure equal to one-third of an inch

Basswood

A close-grained wood – heavier than balsa – used in carving

Batten

A thin narrow strip of wood used to seal, reinforce or support a joint or panel

Beam

The handle of a square as opposed to the blade; or the part of a marking gauge that holds the point

Bearing

A wheel mounted on a router bit shank that guides a router bit through a cut; sometimes called a rub bearing. A bearing can also 

be mounted on a fixture or jig to guide a tool or workpiece through a cut.

Belt Sander

Handheld electric sander using an abrasive belt; used for rapid stock removal and for leveling panels

Bench Dog

A round or square peg fitted to matching holes in a workbench surface; used as a stop to hold a workpiece in place

Bench Grinder

A machine consisting of a motor and a shaft with a spinning wheel on one or both ends. Most commonly the wheel is an abrasive disk used to sharpen tools, but it can also be a wire wheel for cleaning or a cloth wheel for buffing.

Bench Plane

A plane with larger footprint and wider cutter, e.g. smoothing plane, jack plane

Bevel

An angle measurement; can apply to lumber cuts, or to the angle of the cutting edge on chisels and other tools

Bevel-Edge Chisel

The type of chisel used for paring and light chopping; edges are beveled to allow access to inside corners of joints

Bird's-Eye

A type of wood figuring that resembles dots or small eyes; most commonly found in maple

Biscuit

Small, flat, football-shaped pieces of compressed wood glued into slots on opposing workpieces to align and strengthen joints

Biscuit Joiner

Portable power tool used to cut slots for biscuits; sometimes called a plate joiner

Biscuit Joint

Biscuits help align the faces during glue-up, especially with a longer panel such as a tabletop.

Bisect an angle

Quite often during finishing or trim carpentry and when fitting fascias for example angles need to 'bisected', or halved. Go to the bisect an angle page for more information.

Bit

Any cutter designed to work while spinning, such as a router bit or drill bit; bits are mounted in a tool's chuck or collet

Blade Guard

A protective shield covering the portion of a table saw blade or other cutter that protrudes through a table top, or a similar shield on a portable power tool

Blind

Refers to a recess that is not cut completely through a workpiece; sometimes referred to as “stopped”

Blind Dovetail Joint

This corner joint offers all the strength of a dovetail, but the joinery is hidden inside the corner and only a narrow band of end grain shows. This joint is for the purist who demands strength, but doesn’t want to show off.

Blind Mortise-and-Tenon Joint

This is a strong, invisible joint for use in framework. One extra benefit is that the shoulder on the tenon hides any imperfection in the mortise cut. This joint can be used at the corners of frames and can be made to look more primitive by adding decorative and structural pegs. It requires practice to perfect by machine or by hand.

Block Plane

A small utility plane usually used one-handed

Board Foot

A measurement of lumber equal to a board 1' long, 1' wide, and 1" thick; usually abbreviated bf when combined with a numeral

Book Match

The pattern created when adjoining pieces of veneer or resawn wood are opened like a book, resulting in grain that is mirror-imaged

Bow

Wood defect where a board bends from end to end along its flat axis

Box Joint

A corner joint made of interlocking square cuts on the ends of workpieces

Box Nail

A wire nail with a sharp point and flat head similar to a common nail but with a thinner shaft and a slightly dulled point to prevent splitting thin wood

Brace

Sometimes called bit and brace, a manual drilling tool consisting of an articulated crank-style handle and a chuck into which an auger bit is mounted

Brace and Bit

A hand drill with a cranked shape handle with a flat knob on the end, special auger bits with a square tapered shank fit into a two jaw chuck. Replaced by cordless/battery drills.

Brad

A nail with a very small head designed to be driven flat with, or slightly below, the surface

Brad-Point Bit

A twist drill bit having a center spur to guide the bit in an advancing pilot hole

Break

To remove a sharp corner edge of a board, usually by sanding; also known as “ease”

Bridle Joint

This joint offers great strength and protection against racking. It also has improved gluing surface in a cross-grain application. It’s most easily produced on a table saw or band saw. The strength is increased when the joint is placed in the center of a stile or rail because of the trapped second side.

Buildup

A piece of wood added to an existing edge to make it thicker

Bullnose

To mill an edge to a half-round, convex shape

Burl

A rounded, often gnarled, protrusion on a tree trunk usually the result of disease; the highly figured wood cut from such a growth, often used for veneer

Burr

A wire-like edge formed on a blade as a result of sharpening

Butt Joint

A very basic woodworking joint. While still used extensively, this joint is weak and difficult to align during glue-up. It can be set up as end-grain-to-face-grain, end-grain-to-long-grain or long-grain-to-long-grain.