Glossary: Terms in Intarsia and Veneer Work

A

Acclimatising

Leaving veneer and substrate in the workshop for a few days to about two weeks before working them, so that they reach the same moisture content. German: Akklimatisieren.

Ageing by light

The change in the colour of wood caused by light and air. Ash and oak become more yellow, mahogany darker, walnut rather lighter. German: Lichtalterung.

Assembly jig

A fixture with stops that sets where each piece lies during assembly. German: Montagelehre.

B

Balancing veneer

A veneer on the back of a panel that balances the pull of the face side, so that the panel does not cup. German: Gegenfurnier.

Bird’s-eye maple

Maple with small, eye-like dots across the surface, mainly in sugar maple. Rare and expensive, more a decorative surface than a material for small pieces. German: Vogelaugenahorn.

Book-matched

Two consecutive veneer leaves opened out like the pages of a book, so that the figure mirrors at the joint. Every second leaf looks lighter in the light. German: Gestürzt.

Buckling

A veneer leaf that does not lie flat, for example from uneven drying or being stored without weight. Slight waves can be flattened under weight after dampening. German: Welligkeit.

Burl

A knobbly growth on the trunk with wildly running fibres. As veneer it has a very lively figure, but is wavy and hard to get flat. German: Maserknolle.

C

Card scraper

A thin steel plate with a fine burr that takes off very thin shavings. Good for removing glue residue without smearing it. German: Ziehklinge.

Caul

A flat board between the press or clamps and the workpiece that spreads the pressure evenly. German: Zulage.

Certosina

A northern Italian inlay technique of the 14th and 15th centuries made of very small polygons of wood, bone or ivory, an early forerunner of geometric intarsia.

Cherry

A warm, reddish-brown wood with a silky surface that darkens in the light more clearly than any other Reihax wood. German: Kirsche.

Colour reversal

The same pattern once light on a dark ground and once dark on a light one. The reversal also changes the weighting, because dark areas look heavier. German: Farbumkehr.

Colour temperature

Whether a wood looks warm or cool, independent of its lightness. Walnut and mahogany are warm, ash is cool. German: Farbtemperatur.

Contrast

The visible difference between neighbouring woods, above all in lightness and also in colour temperature. It makes a pattern readable. German: Kontrast.

Crown cut

Veneer cut tangentially to the growth rings, which shows flame or cathedral figure as a result. Lively, but less predictable in the light than quarter-cut veneer. German: Fladerschnitt.

Cumulative drift

Small deviations in the same direction that add up over many pieces until the pattern is visibly shifted at the edge. German: Kumulativer Versatz.

D

Dry fit

Laying out all the pieces without glue to check fit, contrast and figure before anything becomes irreversible. German: Trockenprobe.

E

End check

A crack at the short edge of a veneer leaf, where the wood loses moisture fastest while drying. It runs along the grain and can tear further when cutting. German: Endriss.

F

Finish

The surface treatment at the end, such as oil, hard-wax oil, wax, shellac or lacquer. It protects the wood and changes colour, contrast and sheen.

See also: Hard-wax oil, Lacquer, Shellac

Flitch

The veneer leaves from one section of a log, in the order in which they were cut. Leaves from one flitch have almost the same colour and figure. German: Bund.

G

Glide reflection

A symmetry in which a shape is shifted and at the same time mirrored on the axis of the shift, alternating above and below. German: Gleitspiegelung.

Glue bleed-through

Glue that is pushed through pores or joints to the surface during pressing. Under the finish it stays visible as a light, dull spot. German: Leimdurchschlag.

Grain direction

The direction in which the wood fibres run in a piece. Because fibres throw back light differently depending on their direction, the same wood looks lighter or darker depending on how it lies. German: Maserungsrichtung.

Grain filler

A paste that closes open pores before the actual finish is applied, for a closed, smooth surface. German: Porenfüller.

H

Hard-wax oil

A finish of oils and waxes that soaks into the surface and forms a thin, protective layer. It leaves the wood tangible and can be touched up locally. Every Reihax piece is finished with hard-wax oil in a satin sheen. German: Hartwachsöl.

Hide glue

A traditional glue made from animal protein, also called animal or bone glue. It is used warm and can be released again with heat and moisture. German: Glutinleim.

I

Inlay

Setting wood or another material into a prepared recess in a base. In the wider sense the umbrella term for intarsia and marquetry. German: Einlegearbeit.

Intarsia

Pictures and patterns made of woods of different colours whose pieces are fitted exactly together. Today usually made of veneer on a substrate, geometric or free.

J

Joint

The line where two pieces of veneer meet. In intarsia it should be closed; between light and dark wood every gap shows at once. German: Fuge.

K

Kerf

The narrow gap that a laser or a saw removes when cutting. If it is not compensated, every piece lacks half its width along every edge. German: Schnittfuge.

Knot

The place where a branch sat in the trunk. A sound, firmly grown-in knot can be part of the picture; a loose one breaks out when cutting or sanding. German: Ast.

L

Lacquer

A film-forming finish that forms a closed layer on the wood, such as water-based, nitrocellulose or polyurethane lacquer. It protects strongly, but is usually repaired only across a whole face. German: Lack.

Laser cutting

Cutting veneer pieces with a laser directly from a file. Precise and repeatable, but with a narrow kerf and slightly browned edges. German: Laserschnitt.

Loose and tight side

When slicing, the leaf bends over the knife, and fine checks form on the stretched side, the loose side. The smoother tight side usually becomes the face. German: Offene und geschlossene Seite.

M

Maple

A very light, almost white wood with very fine pores and a calm surface. An ideal ground for fine lines and lettering; it yellows over time. German: Ahorn.

Marquetry

Pictures and patterns made of thin veneer, fitted together into one surface and glued onto a substrate as a whole. In German usually the same as veneer intarsia. German: Marqueterie.

Matching

The way several veneer leaves from one flitch are laid side by side, for example book-matched, slip-matched or four-way book-matched. German: Fügebild.

MDF

Medium-density fibreboard made of pressed wood fibres. Flat, without grain direction and a common substrate for veneer.

Moisture content

The proportion of water in wood. It adjusts to the humidity of the air; at about 20 degrees and 50 per cent relative humidity, wood settles at around 9 per cent. German: Holzfeuchte.

Multiplex

Plywood made of many layers glued crosswise, stable and strong, as a substrate also for larger surfaces.

O

Open time

The time after the glue is applied in which pieces can still be aligned before the glue grabs. German: Offene Zeit.

P

Particleboard

A panel of glued wood chips with fine surface layers. Raw and uncoated it is a classic substrate for veneer. German: Spanplatte.

Patina

The change that wood and surface take on over time, mainly through light and use. Not damage, but a difference as soon as new meets old.

Plywood

A panel of wood layers glued crosswise, stable and lighter than MDF. Birch plywood and multiplex are common substrates for veneer. German: Sperrholz.

Popping the grain

The deepening of colour and figure by a finish. Oils and solvent-based lacquers bring out the grain strongly, water-based lacquers only a little. German: Anfeuern.

Pore structure

The size and distribution of the vessels in wood. Coarse-pored woods such as oak, ash and wenge take up finish and dark sanding dust differently from fine-pored ones. German: Porenstruktur.

Pressing pressure

The pressure with which veneer is pressed onto the substrate when gluing. Too little leaves hollow spots, too much pushes glue through the pores. German: Pressdruck.

PVA glue

White glue based on polyvinyl acetate, the usual wood glue for veneer indoors. Reihax glues every piece with it. German: PVA-Leim.

Q

Quarter cut

Veneer cut roughly radially to the growth rings, which shows straight, parallel stripes as a result. Calm and predictable in the light. German: Quartierschnitt.

R

Raking light

Light that falls very flat across a surface. It shows waves, differences in height, scratches and glue residue as shadows. German: Streiflicht.

Registration mark

A shared reference point on the drawing and the veneer at which the two are laid exactly on top of each other. German: Registriermarke.

Relief intarsia

Intarsia whose pieces are also carved and stand slightly proud of the surface, especially in 17th-century Eger (Cheb). German: Reliefintarsie.

S

Sanding between coats

A light sanding between two coats of finish, with fine paper or an abrasive pad, so that the next coat lies smooth. German: Zwischenschliff.

Sapwood

The younger, outer wood of a trunk, in many dark woods such as walnut clearly lighter than the heartwood. German: Splint.

Scalpel

A knife with a very thin, replaceable blade, the tool for fine veneer cuts and trimming. German: Skalpell.

Scratch pattern

The scratches a sanding pass leaves behind. Under raking light and under the finish it shows whether each grit has removed the marks of the one before. German: Schleifbild.

Shadow line

A lighter area where something has long kept light off the wood, for example under a box or the rebate of a frame. German: Schattenkante.

Sheen

How strongly a surface mirrors, from matt through satin to high gloss. The higher the gloss, the more clearly the surface shows every fault. German: Glanzgrad.

Shellac

A finish made of a natural resin dissolved in alcohol. It gives great depth and can be repaired almost seamlessly, but is sensitive to water, alcohol and heat. German: Schellack.

Slicing

Cutting thin veneer leaves from a section of log with a large knife. Sliced veneer has a loose side and a tight side. German: Messern.

Slip-matched

Veneer leaves laid side by side in the same direction. The figure repeats, and all leaves look the same in the light. German: Geschoben.

Stain

A liquid that colours wood without forming a layer. Rare in intarsia, because the colour is meant to come from the wood itself; a dark water mark can rarely be disguised convincingly with stain. German: Beize.

Studiolo

A Renaissance study. The studioli of Federico da Montefeltro in Urbino and Gubbio are the most famous examples of wood intarsia in perspective.

Substrate

The panel onto which veneer is glued, such as raw particleboard, MDF, plywood or multiplex. It has to be flat, clean and stable. German: Träger.

T

Taracea

The geometric inlay of Moorish Spain, especially from Nasrid Granada, in wood, bone and metal.

Tarsia a toppo

An Italian technique in which rods of different woods are glued into a block, from which slices with the same pattern are cut.

Template

A pattern that fixes a shape so that it can be cut or laid the same way many times: as a paper template, a rigid cutting template, an assembly jig or a file. German: Schablone.

V

Vacuum press

A press in which the workpiece lies in a bag from which the air is drawn out. Air pressure then presses evenly, even on curved surfaces. German: Vakuumpresse.

Veneer

A thin leaf of wood, usually 0.5 to 0.9 millimetres thick, that is sliced, peeled or sawn from the log and glued onto a substrate. German: Furnier.

Veneer press

A press that pushes veneer onto the substrate with even pressure until the glue has set. Alternatives are clamps with cauls or a vacuum press. German: Furnierpresse.

Veneer tape

A thin, usually gummed paper tape that holds the pieces of an intarsia together on the face side until they are pressed. Afterwards it is peeled or sanded off. German: Furnierband.

W

Wax

A finish that forms a thin, soft protective layer on the wood and gives a gentle sheen. As part of hard-wax oil it combines with the oil. German: Wachs.

Wood pairing

Two woods that stand side by side in a pattern, such as wenge with oak or walnut with ash. The pairing sets the character of a piece. German: Kontrastpaarung.

Y

Yosegi

A Japanese wood mosaic technique from Hakone. Woods in their natural colours are glued into blocks with a geometric pattern and cut into thin slices.