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Back Bent

A spoon gouge with a reverse bent end. Used for undercuts and reeding work.

Back Bevel

Small bevel made in the opposite side of a plane blade. Said to increase sharpening efficiency.

Back Saw

Any of a class of saws reinforced with a rigid "spine" along the top of the blade. A backsaw is generally used for joinery work such as cutting dovetail or mortise and tenon joints. Types include razor saws, veneer saws, dovetail saws, and miter box saws. Also see Dozuki.

Backing

The material that abrasive particles are attached to in coated abrasives. Paper, cloth, and fiberboard are common backings.

Backing Off

The process of removing the wire edge on a plane blade. The back of the iron rests flat on the face of a fine stone, and the fine stone is used to back off the iron.

Backlash

The slack or play in the adjustment mechanism of the plane. Also known as lost motion. A dead zone in an adjustment system.

Ball Tip

An exposed tip of the pin of a butt hinge that is shaped like a ball.

Baller

A tool used to round over the end of a dowel.

Balloon-back

A bow-back Windsor with the lower portion of the bow pinched in (taking a reverse curve) before entering the seat deck.

Baluster and ring turning

Common name for a fancy turning style commonly found on early American Windsor chairs. Typically combines two vase-shaped "balusters" with a ring and tapered cone at the bottom end.

Bamboo turning

Also called "double bobbin." A simple American Windsor turning based on nodes of bamboo. Dated beginning about 1790.

Band Saw

A saw with a looped blade running around two or three wheels. Used with narrow blades for cutting freehand shapes, and with wider blades and a guide for resawing material.

Barefaced Joint

A joint in which one or more of its shoulders are eliminated.

Bark

The outermost, protective layer, of a tree composed of dead cork and other elements.

Barrel

The part of butt hinge where the two halves come together and are joined with a pin.

Bast

The inner, living layer (phloem) of tree bark. Hickory bast makes excellent seating for post-and-rung chairs.

Bead

A small rounded, raised profile, routed along the edge or in the center of a board. Used to prevent beams from warping by beading all four edges of the beam. Often used with a tongue-and- groove joint to hide the gap between the boards.

Bed

On a wooden plan, the area of the stock onto which the iron rests.

Bedding Angle

The angle at which the frog or bed of the plane holds the plane iron.

Beetle

A heavy wooden maul or mallet used in cases in which material would be damaged by a sledge hammer. Generally 15 to 20 pounds and ironbound to prevent splitting of the faces.

Bench Dog

A metal or wooden peg that fits into a hole in a workbench and is used to hold a workpiece in place. The peg can be round or square and sometimes fitted with special springs to hold them in place. Dogs can be set at various heights above the surface to help secure work in place.

Bench Grinder

A motorized unit, usually turning two high speed grinding wheels. Really an engineer's tool for coarse grinding.

Bench Hook

A board with thin strips of wood on the front bottom and top back. By placing the hook on a workbench, the front, bottom stop keeps the hook from moving forward with each saw stroke, and the back, top stop keeps the stock from sliding off the bench hook. See Shooting Board.

Bench Planes

Planes used to smooth the face and edges of a board. They are characterized by an adjustable, flat blade parallel to the sole of the plane. Metal bench planes have two handles, a tote in the back and a knob in the front. They are the most common types of plane.

Bending strap

A steel strap that is placed along the convex side of a piece of wood to be bent. Strap ends are held in place by stops located at both ends of the wood. During bending, the strap takes most of the generated tension, forcing the wood to bend mostly in compression.

Bevel

1. An angled facet that forms the cutting edge of a tool. Bevels can be flat, hollow ground, or rolled (convex). 2. A bevel at 45°. 3. A tool used to mark angles. It consists of a stock or handle and an adjustable blade. The edge of the stock rests against the edge of a board and the blade rests across the face. Also called a bevel square or sliding T bevel.

Billet

A short thick piece of wood, generally used to describe rivings from a larger piece of stock or rectangular pieces used to make small objects.

Binders

Another name for resins used in paint.

Bird's Mouth

Wooden jig for use with a coping or fret saw. Has open "bird's mouth" from one edge to the center, providing support close to the cut on thin pieces. A bird's mouth with a coping saw is the hand-tool version of scroll saw.

Birds-eye figure

A figure on wood, usually maple and a few other species. The figure is composed of many small BB size rounded areas resembling a birds eye. The figuring is most common on plain and rotary sawn lumber.

Biscuit Joint

A butt joint that is reinforced with a football shaped "biscuit". The biscuits are usually made from compressed pieces of wood, usually birch. When a biscuit comes into contact with glue in the joint it swells creating a tighter joint. Also called a Plate Joint.

Black Sable

A natural filament used for lettering and striping brushes.

Blade Stablizers

Metal disks approx. 3 1/2" in diameter that go on each side of a circular saw blade to minimize flexing and rim vibration.

Blade, Drawer

Horizontal member on carcass of chest separating drawers from each other.

Blaustrade System

A term referring to all the parts (Newels, balusters, and handrail) of a particular stairway.

Bleeding

A paint defect that occurs when natural colors in wood seep (bleed) through the paint film making a stain on the paint surface.

Blistering

A paint defect caused by moisture trapped beneath the paint surface. The moisture breaks the bond between the paint and the wood, lifting the paint film into a blister. It is the result either of interior moisture from a house or painting in direct sunlight which causes the film of the paint to dry before the undercoating.

Block Cushion Grainer

A wood-graining tool used to mechanically reproduce wood grains. It has a rubber face that is covered with concentric, semi-circular grooves.

Block Planes

Small bevel-up planes that generally fit into the palm of your hand. They are used primarily for trimming. Variations include dial adjustable blades and adjustable mouths.

Blond Shellac

A highly refined grade of shellac that is light amber in color.

Board Foot

A form of wood measurement, where one board foot equals the volume of a board 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long. Board footage for boards thinner than 1 inch is calculated using 1" as the thickness.

Bob's Your Uncle

A British slang term that shows up on occasion. It basically means "that's it", i.e. "a couple of final passes on the hone and Bob's your uncle!".

Bodger

An itinerant chair-leg turner. Traditionally a craftsman who produced chair legs, rungs and spindles from green wood. Contemporarily, any craftsman who works green wood.

Bodger's Bench

A type of Shaving Horse with two parallel arms on either side of the horse. The work is held by a crossbar between the arms.

Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO)

Oil derived from the seed of the flax plant. The raw oil is not boiled but heated and driers are added. It is a major ingredient of a variety of finishing products.

Bolster

A flared section of the chisel blade near the tang that keeps the blade from being driven further into the handle.

Bolt

A sizable piece of a log formed by riving.

Bone or Boning

A process of burnishing wood, either flat or turned with an animal bone burnisher.

Bookmatch

A term in veneering, where successive pieces of veneer from a flitch are arranged side by side. A properly done bookmatch will resemble a mirror image of the opposite side.

Bore

1. To create a hole in wood (as opposed to drill, which is to create a hole in metal) 2. The hole for the arbor in a circular saw blade.

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