Wood Terms for Veneers or 3D Laminates

Last month I spoke about linear wood designs and outlined the difference between rift cut oak and quartersawn.

Often as I speak to our customers about the design elements we incorporate in our 3D Laminates I use terms such as cross-firing, pine knots and so forth. For this month's blog I'd like to list a complete dictionary of common used terms in regards to the design of wood grains.

3D Laminates	3D Laminates are laminates that are able to form 3D around contoured MDF panels. They are primarily used for Kitchen Door and Drawer fronts as well as Desk tops and Store Fixtures. 3D Laminates are extremely popular in Europe due to their look of real veneers, ease of cleaning and durability. They are growing in popularity in North America for use in closets, apartment and condo projects.
Bird's Eye	Birds Eyes are caused by local sharp depressions in the annual rings, accompanied by considerable fiber distortions. Once the depressions are formed, succeeding growth rings follow the same contour for many years. Rotary veneer cuts the depressions crosswise, and shows a series of circlets called bird's eyes. It occurs only in a small percentage of Maple trees.
Bee's Wing	Small and tight mottled figure similar in appearance to a bee's wing. Occurs mostly in East Indian Satinwood, also occasionally in mahogany and eucalyptus as well.
Blister	Produced by an uneven contour of the annual rings. The design has the effect of being blistered. Must be cut rotary or half-round.
Block Mottle	An irregular variegation in the cellular structure of the wood which shows as blocky patches across the grain of the design. It is commonly found in makore and anigre.
Book Matching	Typically for veneers. Achieved when successive veneer leaves in a flitch are turned over like the pages in a book and are glued in this manner. Since the reverse side of one leaf is a mirror image of the succeeding leaf, the result is a series pairs. Individual panels can be matched this way or you can achieve this look over many panels by sequence-matching the panels. Book matching is the most common match. A common problem in book matching is when the "tight" and "loose" sides are matched and reflect light and stains differently. This may yield color variations in some species which may be minimized by proper finishing techniques.
Burl Design	Produced from a large, wartlike growth on the trunk of the tree. The grain pattern typically resembles a series of eyes laid side by side. Very difficult to work with in the veneers but easy to accomplish with 3D Laminates.
Butt Matching	Achieved when veneers are matched as described for book matching but the ends of the sheets are also matched. At times, the veneer being used is not long enough to cover the desired panel heights. In this case the veneer leaves can also be flipped end for end and the ends matched.
Button Figure	Wood species with large medullary rays are quarter cut to reveal the harder and shiny rays which show up as flakes or buttons on the straight grained background.Species such as white oak, lacewood and American sycamore are cut this way specifically to reveal this figure.
Cathedral	A grain appearance characterized by a series of stacked "V" and inverted "V". Pattern common in plain-sliced (flat-cut) veneer.
Center Matching	Each panel face is made with an even number of flitch sheets with a center line appearing at the midpoint of the panel and an equal number of veneer sheets on each side of the center line. The number of leaves on the face are always even, but the widths are not necessarily the same.
Checks	Small slits running parallel to the grain of wood, caused chiefly by strains produced in seasoning.
Cross Fire	Figures which extend across the grain as mottle, fiddle-back, raindrop and finger-roll are often called cross figure or cross fire. A pronounced cross fire adds greatly to the beauty of a wood design.
Crossbar	Type of figure or irregularity of grain resembling a dip in the grain running at tight angles, or nearly so, to the width of the wood design.
Crotch Veneer	Produced from the portion of the tree just below the point where it forks into two limbs. The grain is twisted, creating a variety of flame figures. Often resembles a well formed feather. The outside of the block produces a swirl figure that changes to full crotch flame figure as the cutting approaches the center of the block.
Crown Cut	See Flat Cut (below)
Curly Figure	Found mostly in Maple or Birch, and is due to the fibers being distorted and producing a wavy or curly effect in the wood.
Exotic Wood Veneer	A common reference to wood veneers not indigenous to or grown in North America. Some burls and figured woods might also fall into this category.
Fiddle Back	A fine, strong, even, ripple figure as frequently seen on the backs of violins. It is found principally in Mahogany and Maple; cut occurs sometimes in other woods.
Figure	The pattern produced in a wood surface by annual growth rings, rays, knots, deviations from natural grain such as interlocked and wavy grain, and irregular coloration. Appears across the grain. Mottle, fiddleback and raindrop are often called cross figure or cross fire.
Flake, Fleck Figure	Flake figure is developed only in those species which have very heavy medullary ray growth, specifically Oak, Lacewood, and Sycamore. When the saw or knife cut is directly on or near to the radial, it is close to parallel with the medullary ray and therefore develops the "Flake" effect.
Flat Cut	When the wood is cut flat to reveal the cathedrals of the wood. Because each leaf in the flitch is similar, a consistent and even matching pattern is possible.
Flitch	A Section of a log made ready for cutting. After cutting, all bundles are laid together in sequence as they were sliced.
Grain	Size and arrangement of the cells and pores of the living tree. Grain is not synonymous with figure. Woods fall into three groups: Fine grained (Birch, Cherry, Maple, etc.), medium grained (Walnut, Mahogany, etc.) and coarse grained (Oak, etc.).) Coarser grained woods can usually be cut to develop a more conspicuous pattern.
Gum	Patches or black spots occurring primarily in American Cherry. This undesirable characteristic is acceptable in varying degree in most grades of Cherry.
Half Round Slicing	Similar to rotary peeling, also producing a high yield with the wood. Used primarily to add width to narrow stocks by increasing the plane of cut. Also used to enhance a particularly wild grain pattern. Matching is possible because the leaves can be kept in sequence.
Hardwood	General term used to designate lumber or veneer produced from broad-leafed or deciduous trees in contrast to softwood, which is produced from evergreens or coniferous trees.
Heartwood	The non-active center of a tree generally distinguishable from the outer portion (sapwood) by its darker color.
Herringbone	Veneer strips are used and matched to both sides of the center line, at an angle. The resulting appearance is reminiscent of the bones of a fish as they are attached to the back bone.
Holes, worm	Holes resulting from infestation of worms.
Joint	The line between the edges or ends of two adjacent sheets of veneer or strips of lumber in the same plane.
Knots, Pin	Sound knots 1/4 inch or less that do not contain dark centers. Inconspicuous or blending pin knots are barely detectable at a distance of 6' to 8', do not seriously detract from the overall appearance of the panel, and are permitted in all grades.
Knots, Open	Opening produced when a portion of the wood substance of a knot has dropped out, or where cross checks have occurred to produce an opening.
Knots, Sound, Tight	Knots that are solid across their face and fixed by growth to retain their place.
Mineral Streak	A dark patch or discoloration in the wood which occurs because of the presence of minerals in the soil in which the tree is growing.
Mottle Figure	A variegated pattern which consists principally of irregular, wavy fibers extending for short distances across the face. If there is also some irregular cross figure in a log with a twisted interwoven grain, the broken stripe figure becomes a mottle.
Peanut Shell Figure	A type of figure occurring in some woods similar to quilted or blistered figure. These woods are typically cut to promote a random and wild grain effect with a three dimensional feel. Occuring most commonly in Tamo Ash and Bubinga.
Pecky	Pockets of disintegrated wood caused by localized decay, or wood areas with abrupt color change related to localized injury such as bird peck. Peck is sometimes considered as a decorative effect such as bird peck in pecan and hickory or pecks in cypress.
Pin Knot	See Knots, Pin
Plain Sliced	See Flat Cut
Pommele Figure	Comes from the French word, "Pomme" (Pomme = Apple). The term given to a regular wood marking which resembles apples.
Quarter Slicing / Cut	This cut requires the largest diameter logs and produces straight grained veneers. The quarter slicing of oak can result in the appearance of flake.
Quilted Figure	A larger , more exaggerated version of pommele or blister figure. The cellular figure is elongated and closely crowded giving it a pillowy three dimensional effect. It is most commonly found in Maple, Mahogany, Moabi and Sapele.
Random Matched / Planked	A panel having the face made up of specially selected dissimilar (in color and grain) veneer strips of the same species to stimulate lumber planking.
Raw Veneer	Wood veneer cut from any log by any slicing method that is dried and then used as a natural flitch or leaf of wood. Much production and machining of this veneer has to be accomplished prior to the final application to a substrate.
Reconstituted Veneer	A man-made veneer which uses real wood fiber with natural colorants to simulate various color, figure and grain seen in real wood veneers.
Ribbon Stripe	Result of quarter-slicing a log and the appearance actually is between broken stripe and plain stripe. It gives the general appearance of a ribbon sometimes slightly twisted.
Rift Cut	Produced by cutting at a slight angle to the radial to produce a quartered appearance without excessive ray flake. The rift cut method, commonly used for Oak, can only be used on sizable logs. Rift cut veneer can easily be sequenced and matched.
Ropey Figure	If the twist in the grain of broken stripe is all in one direction, a rope figure results.
Rotary Slicing	The log is turned in a circular motion against a knife, peeling off a continuous thin sheet of wood (like unrolling wrapping paper). It is the most economical method of cutting wood, or in wood print
Sapwood	This is the outer portion of the tree. As additional layers of growth accumulate on the outer perimeter, the inner layers of the sapwood becomes heartwood. Sap is lighter in color and the differentiation in color and thickness of the sap layer varies considerably by species.
Streaks, Mineral	Natural discolorations of the wood substance.
Swirl Grain	A lesser degree of crotch figure. The grain tends to swirl around in a random pattern. This figure frequently appears in cherry, mahogany, walnut and maple.
Veneer	A thin sheet of overlay. Typically this term is used as an abbreviated form of "Wood Veneer". Wood Veneers are typically rotary cut, sliced or sawn from a log or flitch. Veneering goes back to the early days of the Egyptians, about 3,500 years ago and as since developed into more efficient forms of laminate and 3D laminates which give the look of a Wood Veneer but with increased design capabilities, lower cost and higher durability.