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Saber Saw

Small electric saw with a straight blade that cuts back and forth very quickly. Saw may be held by a handle of by directly holding the motor house (barrel) depending on the style. Other options generally available are variable blade speed and an oscillating action, which moves the blade forward slightly on the down (cutting) stroke, increasing cutting speed.

Sack-back Windsor

An American Windsor armchair utilizing a horizontal arm bow (bent, or laminated) with a supplementary back bow mortised into the arm bow. The seat is usually a wide, shallow oval.

Saddling

Descriptive term for carving the upper side of a Windsor seat.

Safflower Oil

A natural oil sometimes used in paint. It is derived from the safflower plant.

Sandpaper

A coated abrasive with a paper backing. Originally the term applied only to flint paper, but now is applied to any type of abrasive paper.

Sap

The water in a tree which is rich in minerals and nutrients.

Sapwood

The new wood in a tree that lies between the bark and the Heartwood. Sapwood is usually lighter in color and becomes heartwood as the tree ages. Also see heartwood.

Sash Planes

A special molding plane used to make windows .

Satin

A term used to describe a finish that is not as dull as a flat finish, but does not have a high gloss.

Saw

A toothed tool for cutting wood. Can be filed for ripping or crosscutting. Teeth are measured in either the number of teeth or points per inch. The finer the teeth the smoother and slower the cut. Also divided between Hand saws, which are human powered, and power saws, which plug in. See Azebiki, Back Saw, Band Saw, Bow Saw, Circular Saw, Compass Saw, Coping Saw, Crosscut Saw, Dovetail Saw, Dozuki, Frame Resaw, Frame Saw, Gent's Saw, Hack Saw, Hand Saw, Japanese-Style Saw, Keyhole Saw, Miter Box Saw, Pit Saw, Radial Arm Saw, Razor Saw, Rip Saw, Ryoba, Saber Saw, Table Saw, Tenon Saw, Veneer Saw, Western-Style Saw

Saw Nut

Special nut and bolt the holds the handle to the blade on a hand saw.

Saw Set

A mechanical tool for bending the teeth of a saw to create set. Used because a saw wrest was too difficult.

Saw Vice

Tool for holding a saw blade while jointing, shaping and sharpening the teeth

Saw Wrest

A manual tool for bending the teeth of a saw to create set. Compare to saw set, above.

Sawhorse

A trestle usually used in pairs to hold wood for cutting.

Scarf Joint

A woodworking joint that is made by cutting or notching two boards at an angle and then strapping, gluing, or bolting them together.

Scary-Sharp (SS)

Method of sharpening using automotive sandpaper on glass instead of sharpening stones.

Scorp

A variation of an inshave with a blade that makes three-quarters of a circle. An Open Scorp has two handles, a Closed Scorp has a single handle at the top.

Scotia

A curved molding profile of greater than one-quarter radius.

Scraper

A tool used for the final smoothing of wood.

Scraping

The easiest and safest of all lathe turning cuts in which the chisel is usually held perpendicular to the workpiece and fed slowly into the rotating stock. Although the gradual easing of the chisel into the stock during scraping produces the least gouges and errors, a finished turning that has been scraped will require more sanding than one that has been sheared.

Scratch Beader

Simple tool used to scratch a decorative bead on D-section Windsor bows.

Scratch Stock

A scraping tool used to cut moldings.

Scribing

Shaping one member to the surface which it touches, for example, to fit a board snugly to a surface which is not straight

Scrub Plane

A short jack plane generally used to rough-out wood close to its final dimensions and to remove large bumps and warps in the board.

Sealer

A finishing material used to seal the pores of bare wood. Also, a coat used between two incompatible products or a type of primer that prevents bleeding.

Seasoning

The process of removing the moisture from green wood to improve its workability and stability.

Secondary Wood

These are the woods used in furniture that are not seen or on the sides or back of an object. These are the materials that make up the drawer sides, dust panels, backs and other parts that are not view. While relegated to a lesser position, these woods are essential to the overall results and final presentation.

Selects

In softwood, lumber which has been graded strictly for its appearance. In hardwood, lumber which is one grade below first and second.

Self Closing Hinge

This type hinge will have a design feature to help pull the door shut and keep it closed when the door is brought within a few inches of being closed. Sometimes called snap-closing.

Semi-Concealed

This term is applied to a hinge where some of hinge shows on the outside of the cabinet, but a portion of it is hidden behind the door.

Set

1 On a plane, the amount by which the cutter projects beyond the sole. 2. On a saw, the amount that the upper parts of saw teeth are bent alternately sideways so that the cut is wider than the saw blade. See Saw Set.

Set Back (Saw Handle)

A method of saw construction where the user's hand is behind the heel of the saw, rather than above it, as in a Let In handle.

Settee

A wide chair, for two or more persons.

Shading Stain

A lacquer-based product that contains dyes or pigments to color it. It is a semi-transparent surface coating that does not penetrate into the wood. Used extensively on mass-produced furniture.

Shaker tape

Cloth tape used by the Shakers for seating chairs sold to the public. Early examples used woolen tape woven by the Shakers. Later chairs had cotton tape which was purchased.

Shaper

A machine with an interchangeable rotary cutter head to cut profile shapes on the edge or face of material.

Shaping

1. The process of creating a decorative edge on a workpiece. The term shaping can be applied to operations performed on a shaper, molder, lathe, router or virtually any tool used to create such an edge or surface. 2. Filing the sides of saw teeth to the proper rake and fleam angles.

Sharpening Angle

The angle that you hold the blade at while you hone it on a whetstone.

Shaving Aperture

The gap between the front lip of the mouth and the cutting edge.

Shaving Horse

A wood holding device based on a low bench which the woodworker sits on. A foot operated swinging arm acts as a clamp. Two basic versions are the German dumbhead -- utilizing a single member mortised through the bench; and the English bodger's bench -- having a bridle like arrangement of spars that pivot on either side of the bench. In both, the jaw clamps down onto a raised ramp or platform.

Shearing

In lathe turning, shearing is accomplished by holding the chisel at an angle and moving it parallel to the work to slice away a layer of wood from the surface of the stock. Shearing is the fastest cutting and most difficult of all lathe operations to master. If performed properly, shearing will produce super-clean cuts that seldom require sanding.

Shellac

Resin flakes derived from the secretions of the lac beetle and dissolved in alcohol used as a finish for wood. See button shellac, orange shellac, blond shellac, and white shellac.

Shock Washer

Small leather washer on some chisels to absorb some of the impact of being struck by a mallet.

Shoot

Describes the act of making a molding with a hand plane. To Shoot a molding is to run a molding plane along the edge of a board until it forms a molding.

Shooting Boards (Chute Board)

Boards with straight, true edges that are used to guide the plane. Used for cleaning up sawn edges. A variation called a Miter Board is similar but set up to guide the plane at a 45-degree angle to the length of the stock. See Bench Hook.

Short Bent or Spoon

A gouge, chisel or V tool where the blade is straight with a curve at the end, like a spoon. Use for work in deep or inaccessible areas.

Short grain

Areas whose fibers are so short that the workpiece is weakened

Short Oil Varnish

Varnish that contains 5-12 gallons of oil per 100 pounds of resin. The high percentage of resin makes the dry film very hard and glossy, but it is not as elastic or durable as varnish that contains more oil. Short oil varnishes are used when a rubbed finish is desired. Also called piano varnish, rubbing varnish, or polishing varnish.

Shoulder

The part of the joint that is cut 90 degrees to the face or edge of the board. A joint only has a shoulder when that part of the board that fits into a joint must be thinner or narrower than the rest of the board.

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