Carpentry Glossary - B
Backband: Narrow, rabbeted molding installed on the outside edge and corner of an interior window or interior door casing. Used to create a heavy trim appearance.
Backing Board: (1) In two layer drywall systems, the base panel of gypsum wallboard. Not suitable as finiah surface, since it uses grey liner paper facing.
(2) In a cutting operation like sawing or routing, a board put behind the work piece board so the the first board will not chip out from the blade moving out of it.
Backsaw: any hand saw which has a stiffening rib on the edge opposite the cutting edge, allowing for better control and more precise cutting than with other types of saws. Typically used used in woodworking for precise work, such as cutting dovetails, mitres, or tenons in cabinetry and joinery.
Balloon Framing: Building contruction method using long continuous framing members (studs) extending from the foundation sill to the rafter plate. Has been largely replaced by platform framing and other construction methods.
Ball Peen Hammer: a type of peening hammer used in metalworking. It is distinguished from a point-peen hammer or chisel-peen hammer by having a hemispherical head. Useful for many tasks such as tapping punches and chisels.
Baluster: a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, in stone or wood and sometimes in metal, standing on a unifying footing and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase.
Balustrade: Railing comprised of a series of balusters resting on a base, supporting a continuous rail.
Base Shoe: The small and narrow molding around a room's perimeter where the base of the wall meets the finished floor surface.
Band Saw: Powered saw having a blade that consists of a continuous band of metal with teeth along one edge. Workpieces are fed into the cutting edge on vertical machines. The bandsaw blade rides on two wheels rotating in the same plane. Band sawing produces uniform cutting action as a result of an evenly distributed tooth load.
Banister: a moulded shaft standing on a unifying footing and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Synonymous with the term Baluster
Barrier Coat: a layer of wood finish which is used to isolate finish coating layers from either each other or from the surface of the wood, for the purpose of increasing adhesion, preventing contamination or otherwise improve compatibility.
Baseboard: a strip of molding or board covering the lowest part of an interior wall. Its purpose is to cover the joint between the wall surface (usually plaster or drywall) and the floor. Also known as skirting board, skirting, mopboard, floor molding, or base molding
Batten: a thin strip of wood used for various purposes in carpentry and woodworking, such as providing a fixing point for roofing sheet or roof tiles, strengthening panels made up of multiple boards,or covering joints.
Batter Board: Temporary framework for assiting locating corners when a foundation is being laid out.
Bay: One of the spaces or intervals into which a building floor plan is divided by division walls, piers or columns.
Beam: Structural member capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. Beams generally carry vertical gravitational forces but can also be used to carry horizontal loads (i.e., loads due to an earthquake or wind). The loads carried by a beam are transferred to columns, walls, or girders, which then transfer the force to adjacent structural compression members. In wood frame construction the joists rest on the beam.
Bed: the flat surface of a stationary power tool, such as a table saw or radial arm saw, where the wood rests during operation of the tool.
Bearing Partition: A partition that supports vertical structural load in addition to it's own weight.
Bearing Wall: An exterior or interior wall that supports vertical structural load in addition to it's own weight.
Bed Molding: A molding installed where two surfaces join at an angle. Typically used in cornice trim such as between the frieze and plancier.
Bench Dog: an accessory used on a woodworking workbench to allow clamping of wooden items whilst being worked. At its most basic a bench dog is simply a peg which is installed in a corresponding dog hole in the top of a bench. The holes are arranged in a line perpendicular to the vice, perhaps three or four inches apart but certainly no further apart than the fully open distance between the vice's jaws.
Bench Grinder: a machine used to drive an abrasive wheel. Depending on the grade of the grinding wheel it may be used for sharpening cutting tools such as lathe tools or drill bits. Alternatively it may be used to roughly shape metal prior to welding or fitting.
Bevel: An angle cut at other than a right angle, like the edge of a door or board.
Bevel Siding: Siding used as finish covering on a structure's exterior, typical made by re-sawing square, surfaced boards diagnollay to produce two wedge-shape pieces.
Bifold Door: a type of sliding door having two or more hinged panels which fold as the door is slid open.
Bird's Eye: a figure that occurs within several kinds of wood, most notably in maple (bird's eye maple). It has a distinctive pattern that resembles tiny, swirling eyes disrupting the smooth lines of grain. It is somewhat similar to burl, but it is different in that it is not composed of small knots.
Bird's Mouth: Notch cut on the underside of a rafter to allow fit into the top plate. If rafter ends flush with the top plate rather than overhangs, then not a full notch.
Bit: Any of several small rotating pieces of metal or other hard material fitted to a larger tool for drilling or shaping material, or manipulating small parts or fasteners- i.e. drill bit, router bit etc.
Blemish: any scar, defect, or mark which detracts from the appearance of wood, or other materal.
Blind Nailing: In tongue and groove flooring, nails being placed at the root of the tongue to hide them. Nails penetrate the subfloor at 45 degree angles.
Blind Stop: any member installed at the exterior edge of a window's side and head jamb to serve as a stop for the top sash. Also forms a rabbet for storm sash, blinds, screens and shutters.
Blue Stain: in unseasoned lumber, a stain caused by fungal growth; does not affect strength of the wood. Also known as sapstain, as the fungus feeds on nutrients in the sap. Most common in pine and maple.
Board: lumber less than 2 inches thick
Board Foot: unit of volume for measuring lumber in the United States and Canada. It is the volume of a one foot length of a board one foot wide and one inch thick. Board-foot is abbreviated FBM (for "foot, board measure").
Box Nail: a wire nail with a head; box nails have a smaller shank than common nails of the same size and are used on thin materials in lieu of regular larger nails or finishing nails.
Brad: small diameter finishing nail
Bridging: Pieces fitted in pairs from top of one floor joist to the bottom of adjacent floor joists, in a cross pattern to distribute floor load.
Built-up Roof: roofing composed of multiple layers of rag felt or jute sauturated with pitch, asphalt or coal tar, finished on the top with gravel or crushed slag. Used typically on low pitch or flat roofs.
Burl: tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.
Butt Joint: a joinery technique in which two members are joined by simply butting them together. The butt joint is the simplest joint to make since it merely involves cutting the members to the appropriate length and butting them together. It is also the weakest because unless some form of reinforcement is used it relies upon glue alone to hold it together. Because the orientation of the members usually present only end grain to long grain gluing surface, the resulting joint is inherently weak.