SANFOOT – Reference – Terms and Definitions

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Welcome to our Reference and Defintions. Here you will find all of the important links and information you will need in order to get started with choosing and installing your SanFoot veneers. Below is a collection of words and terms that are commonly used in the industry, as well as some important documents that will better help you with Sanfoot venture.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
FACE TYPES AND NAMES
FIGURE TYPES AND NAMES

TERMS DEFINITIONS
BACK The side reverse to the face of a panel, or the poorer side of a panel in any grade of plywood calling for a face and a back.
   
BALANCED MATCH Two or more veneer components or leaves of equal size to make up a single face.
   
BARK POCKET Bark around which normal wood has grown.
   
BLENDING (Inconspicuous) Color change that is detectable at a distance of 6 ft. to 8 ft., but which does not detract from the overall appearance of the panel.
   
BLUEPRINT MATCHED When the doors, cabinets, and other components are all manufactured from the same veneer flitch or similar flitches, in sequence, so that matched pattern continues around the room or area.. Architectural grade veneer is required.
   
BOOK MATCH Adjacent pieces of veneer from a flitch or log are opened like a book and spliced to make up the face with matching occurring at the spliced joints. The fibers of the wood, slanting in opposite directions in the adjacent sheets, create a characteristic light and dark effect when the surface is seen from an angle.
   
URL, CONSPICUOUS A swirl, twist or distortion in the grain of the wood, which usually occurs, near a knot or crotch. A conspicuous burl can often be associated with abrupt color variation and/or a cluster of small dark piths caused by a cluster of adventitious buds. Burl is also used to describe a figure in wood.
   
BURL, BLENDING A swirl, twist or distortion in the grain of the wood which usually occurs near a knot or crotch but does not contain a knot and does not contain abrupt color variation. A blending burl is a swirl or roundel.
   
CATHEDRAL A grain appearance characterized by a series of stacked and inverted "V" or cathedral type of springwood summerwood patterns common in plain-sliced (flat-cut) veneer.
   
CENTER MATCH An even number of veneer components or leaves of equal size matched with a joint in the center of the panel and the pattern projecting both left and right to achieve horizontal symmetry.
   
CHECKS Small slits running parallel to the grain of wood, caused chiefly by strains produced in seasoning.
   
COMB GRAIN A quality of rift-cut veneer with exceptionally straight grain and closely spaced growth increments resembling the appearance of long strands of combed ladies hair.
   
COMPONENT (Of Face) An individual piece of veneer that is jointed to other pieces to achieve a full length and width face. Terms used interchangeably with component in the context of the face are piece and leaf.
   
CROSS BREAK Separation of the wood cells across the grain. Such breaks may be due to internal strains resulting from unequal longitudinal shrinkage or to external forces.
   
CROSS GRAIN Applied to wood in which the grain is not running lengthwise of the material or in one direction. The irregularity is due to interlocked fiber, or to uneven annual rings, or to intersection of branch and stem.
   
CROTCH The top or skyward portion of the junction of a branch where the branch collars and trunk mesh with each other.
   
CUTTER MARKS A raised or hollowed cross grain cut caused generally by a nick in the veneer knife.
   
DISCOLORATION Stains in wood substances. Common veneer and plywood stains are sap stains, blue stains, stain produced by chemical action caused by the iron in the cutting knife coming in contact with the tannic acid of the wood, and those resulting from exposure of natural wood extractives to oxygen and light, to chemical action of vat treatments or the adhesive components, and/or to the surface finish.
   
FACE The better side of any plywood panel in which the outer plies are of different veneer grades. Also either side of a panel in which there is no difference in the veneer grade of the outer plies.
   
FEATHERED SHEETS The top outer sheets of some flitches, generally containing sapwood, that do not run full length.
   
FEW A small number without regard to their arrangement in the panel.
   
FLAKE Sometimes referred to as silver grain. Created when the veneer knife or saw passes through the medullar rays, wood rays, or pith rays in such a manner as to produce wavy, pencil-like stripes in the manufacturing process.
   
FLAKE or FLECK, RAY Portion of a ray as it appears on the quartered or rift-cut surface. Flake or Fleck is often a dominant appearance feature in oak.
   
FLAT-CUT (Plain-Sliced) Veneer sliced parallel to the pith of the log and approximately tangent to the growth rings to achieve flat-cut veneer. Flat-Cut veneer can be cut using either a horizontal or vertical slicing machine or by the half-round method using a rotary lathe.
   
FLITCH (A) A hewn or sawed log or a section of a log made ready for cutting into veneer. (B) A complete bundle of veneer sheets laid together in sequence as they are cut from a given log or section of a log.
   
GRAIN The direction, size, arrangement, and appearance of the fibers in wood or veneer.
   
GRAIN SLOPE Expression of the angle of the grain to the long edges of the veneer component.
   
GRAIN SWEEP Expression of the angle of the grain to the long edges of the veneer component over the area extending one-eighth of the length of the piece from the ends.
   
GUM POCKETS Well-defined openings between rings of annual growth, containing gum or evidence of prior gum accumulation.
   
GUM SPOTS and STREAKS Gum or resinous material or color spots and streaks caused by prior resin accumulations sometimes found on panel surfaces.
   
HALF-ROUND A method of veneer cutting similar to rotary cutting, except that the piece being cut is secured to a "stay log", a device that permits the cutting of the log on a wider sweep than when mounted with its center secured in the lathe to produce rotary sliced veneer. A type of half-round cutting may be used to achieve plain-sliced or flat-cut veneer.
   
HARDWOOD General term used to designate lumber or veneer produced from temperate zone deciduous or tropical broad-leaved trees in contrast to softwood, which is produced from trees which are usually needle bearing or coniferous. The term does not infer hardness in its usual sense.
   
HEARTWOOD The non-active or dormant center of a tree generally distinguishable from the outer portion (sapwood) by its darker color.
   
INCONSPICUOUS Barely detectable with the naked eye at a distance of 6ft. to 8 ft.
   
JOINT The common edge between two adjacent materials in the same plane.
   
JOINT, EDGE  A Joint running parallel to the grain of the wood.
   
JOINT, OPEN Joint in which two adjacent pieces of veneer in the same plane do not fit tightly together.
   
KNOT Cross section of tree branch or limb with grain usually running at right angles to that of the pieces of wood in which it occurs.
   
KNOT, OPEN Opening produced when a portion of the wood substance of a knot has dropped out, or where crosschecks have occurred to produce an opening.
   
KNOTHOLES Openings produced when knots drop from the wood in which they were embedded.
   
KNOTS, CONSPICUOUS PIN Sound knots 1/4 inch or less in diameter containing dark centers.
   
KNOTS, SOUND, TIGHT Knots that are solid across their face and fixed by growth to retain their place.
   
KNOT, SPIKE One cut lengthwise of the branch. Also referred to as horn, mule-ear, or slash knot.
   
LAP A condition where one piece of veneer in the same ply overlaps another piece.
   
LONGWOOD Wood produced from the bole or stem, from stump to first branch or fork, where the majority of wood is taken from the tree.
   
LOOSE SIDE In knife-cut veneer, that sided of the sheet that was in contact with the knife as the veneer was being cut, and containing cutting checks (lathe checks) because of the bending of the wood at the knife edge.
   
MATCH, BALANCE Two or more veneer components or leaves of equal size to make up a single face.
   
MATCH, BOOK Adjacent pieces of veneer from a flitch or log are opened like a book and spliced to make up the face with matching occurring at the spliced joints. The fibers of the wood, slanting in opposite directions in the adjacent sheets, create a characteristic light and dark effect when the surface is seen from an angle.
   
MATCH, CENTER An even number of veneer components or leaves of equal size matched with a joint in the center of the panel and the pattern projecting both left and right to achieve horizontal symmetry.
   
MATCH, END or BUTT The veneer are matched as described for book matched, but the ends of the sheets are also matched.
   
MATCH, SLIP A sheet from a flitch is slid across the sheet beneath and, without turning, spliced at the joints.
   
MATCH, RUNNING The panel face is made from components running through the flitch consecutively. Any portion of a component left over from a face is used as the beginning component or leaf in starting the next panel.
   
OCCASIONAL A small number of characteristics that are arranged somewhat diversely within the panel face.
   
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 pecky in cypress.
   
PLAIN-SLICED (Flat-Cut) Veneer sliced parallel to the pith of the log and approximately tangent to the growth rings to achieve flat-cut veneer. Plain-sliced veneer can be cut using either a horizontal or vertical slicing machine or by the half-round method using a rotary lathe.
   
QUARTER-SLICED (Quarter-Cut) A specific grain appearance achieved through the process of quarter-slicing, or through the use of veneer cut in any fashion that produces an edge grain or vertical grain effect with portions of the ray appearing as a ribbon or flake.
   
RAYS Ribbons of tissue, chiefly parenchyma cells, that run radically through the wood at right angles to the axis of the tree. They are also called medullar rays (wood rays or pith rays) and vascular rays.
   
REPAIRS A patch, shim, or filler material inserted and/or glued into veneer or a panel to achieve a sound surface.
   
REPAIRS, BLENDING Wood or filler insertions similar in color to adjacent wood so as to blend well.
   
RIFT-CUT A straight grain appearance achieved through the process of cutting at a slight angle to the radial on the half-round stay log, or through the use of veneer cut in any fashion that produces a straight grain with minimal or no ray flake.
   
ROTARY-CUT Veneer produced by centering the entire log in a lathe and turning it against a broad cutting knife which is set into the log at a slight angle.
   
ROUGH CUT Irregular shaped areas of generally uneven corrugation on the surface of veneer, differing from the surrounding smooth veneer and occurring as the lathe or slicer cuts the veneer.
   
RUBBER MARKS A raised or hollowed cross grain cut caused by a sliver between the knife and pressure bar.
   
RUNNING MATCH The panel face is made from components running through the flitch consecutively. Any portion of a component left over from a face is used as the beginning component or leaf in starting the next panel.
   
RUPTURED GRAIN A break or breaks in the grain or between springwood and summerwood caused or aggravated by excessive pressure on the wood by seasoning, manufacturing or natural processes. Ruptured grain appears as a single or series of distinct separations in the wood such as when springwood is crushed leaving the summerwood to separate in one or more growth increments.
   
SAPWOOD The usually lighter colored outer portion of the tree trunk that contains the living cells in the growing tree. The amount of sapwood varies considerably with different species. In some species it is difficult to distinguish, but usually there is a contrast in color between heartwood and sapwood. SHIM SHEETS -- One or more sheets of veneer in a flitch where one side varies significantly in thickness with the other.
   
SLICED Veneer produced by thrusting a log or sawed flitch onto a slicing machine which shears off the veneer in sheets.
   
SLIGHT Visible on observation, but does not interfere with the overall aesthetic appearance with consideration of the applicable grade of the panel.
   
SLIP MATCH A sheet from a flitch is slid across the sheet beneath and, without turning, spliced at the joints.
   
SMOOTH, TIGHT CUT Veneer carefully cut to minimize lathe checks.
   
SOFTWOOD General term used to describe trees, lumber, veneer, or other wood products produced from needle and/or cone bearing trees.
   
SPECIES (Trees) An internationally established Latin botanical classification of trees.
   
SPLIT HEART A method of achieving an inverted "V" or cathedral type of springwood (earlywood)/summerwood(latewood), plain-sliced (flat-cut) figure by jointing two face components of similar color and grain.
   
SURFACE CHECK A check of little depth, and chiefly confined to the surface.
   
TAPE Strips of gummed paper or cloth sometimes placed across the grain of large veneer sheets to facilitate handling and sometimes used to hold the edges of veneer together at the joint prior to gluing.
   
TEXTURE A term used to describe relative size and distribution of the wood elements. Coarse texture in veneer is associated with fast growth and harder, more difficult wood to cut. Soft or fine texture in veneer is associated with slower growth, with less summerwood, resulting in wood fibers that are easier to cut.
   
THICK and THIN Individual sheets, spliced sheets, or sheets of veneer from the same log that vary significantly in thickness.
   
TIGHT SIDE A term applied to that side of the veneer sheet that was farthest from the knife as the sheet was being cut and containing no cutting or lathe checks. Also referred to as the concave or compressed side of knife-cut veneer.
   
VENEER A thin sheet of wood, rotary cut, sliced, or sawed from a log, bolt, or flitch. Veneer is thin sheets of wood from 1/1000 to 1/4 inch thick. A veneer may be referred to as a ply when assembled into a panel.
   

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