Adhesive: A substance that is capable of bonding material together by surface attachment.
Air Dried: Lumber stacked and stored so that it is dried naturally by the exposure to air.
Annual Growth Ring: The layer of growth to the circumference of a tree in a season, easily recognizable in many woods by the difference in cells formed during the early and late parts of the season.
Antiquing: Antiquing is the process of applying an aging effect to a wood surface to produce a time-worn appearance. We use a factory applied effect to simulate the natural aging process by using corner over sanding rub through techniques to express a softly aged furniture appearance.
Base cabinet: A Base cabinet is the cabinet box that sits on the floor. These units usually support the countertops.
Bead Board: Paneling with beaded, routed detail.
Carcass: (Sometimes referred to as "carcase") The "box" or elemental parts that make up the basic structure of a base or wall cabinet piece.
Checks: Longitudinal separation of the fibers in wood that do not go through the whole cross section. Checks result from tension stresses during the drying process.
Concealed Hinge: A hinge that is not visible on the front of a cabinet door. Concealed hinges are attached to the inside surface of the door.
Crown Molding: Decorative molding applied to wall cabinet tops to provide a finished or decorative look.
Custom Cabinets: Custom cabinets are cabinets made to a designer's or customer's specifications, with no limitations on sizing, materials and options. They are made-to-order.
Dado: A groove that is cut into a piece of material so that another piece may slide into it. The inside surface of cabinet drawers may be 'dadoed' with a groove to accept the drawer bottom panel which helps make for a stronger joint between the drawer side and bottom panels.
Distressing: We use a factory applied effect to simulate an accelerated natural aging process by replicating such things as weathering, fly specks, worm holes, compression marks, to express an abundantly matured furniture style and appearance.
Dovetail Joint: A method of wood joinery used to connect two pieces that join each other, typically at right angles. The edge of each piece is cut with a number of V-shaped notches that interlock with the adjoining piece forming a very strong joint.
Drawer Face: The panel that is attached to the front of a drawer box. It is also referred to as the 'drawer front' and is the visible front part of the drawer that the handle is attached to. On some cabinet drawers the drawer face is the front part of the drawer box.
Engineered Wood: A wood product that is manufactured to enhance the overall qualities of the wood material itself or, to salvage byproducts of wood processing into useful material. Plywood and MDF are two examples of engineered wood products.
Exposed Hinge: A hinge type that is visible on the outside edge of the cabinet door when the door is closed. i.e. "knuckle hinge".
Face Frame: The wood frame that is attached to the front edges of the top, bottom and sides of the cabinet box. This frame helps provide rigidity to the box. Cabinet designs that incorporate this feature are called "framed" or "face-frame" cabinets.
Figure : The pattern produced in a wood surface by annual growth rings, rays, knots, deviations from regular grain, such as interlocked and wavy, and irregular coloration.
Finish: The surface coating that is applied to a wood cabinet surface. The finish is typically made up of several layers of different materials such as a stain, sealer and clear coat. The finish is a key element in maintaining and protecting the beauty and durability of the wood surface.
Flake board: Another word used to describe a form of particle board. You may also see the term "furniture board" used which means the same thing.
Flat Panel: Recessed center panel to a door or drawer design.
Framed: A cabinet design that uses a 'face-frame' which is typically a wood frame attached to the front edges of the cabinet box.
Frameless: A cabinet design that does not use a frame on the front outside edges of the cabinet box. The front of the cabinet box is formed by the edges of the top, bottom and side panels of the cabinet box. The cabinet door typically covers the edges when closed.
Full Inset: A cabinet design whereby the doors fit inside of the face frame when closed (rather than overlapping and sitting on top of the face frame).
Full Overlay: A cabinet design whereby the cabinet door and drawer front covers or most all of the face frame so that only the cabinet door is seen with no part of the face frame visible. (Also see "overlay")
Furniture Board: Furniture board is another term for particle board. The term was coined in reference to the particle board that's used in the furniture industry. You may also see the term "flake board" which means the same thing.
Glazed Finishing: Smart Cabinetry's glaze process begins with the perspective of wood Glazing as an art unto itself, and probably the most important and valuable technique in the art of finishing fine furniture. Unlike other companies, we hand apply our glaze finish to each and every component and you can expect your glazed cabinets to vary slightly. The raised panels and detailed edges used in the construction on our product allow the stain to "hang-up" and settle into the seams and give the feeling of depth and dimension.
Grain: The direction, size, arrangement, appearance, or quality of the fibers in sawn wood.
Gum Pocket: An excessive local accumulation of resin or gum in the wood i.e. cherry wood.
Hardwood: Lumber from the group of trees with broad leaves, this has no reference to the actual hardness of the wood.
Heartwood: The inner layers of wood in growing trees that have ceased to contain living cells. Heartwood is generally darker than sapwood, but the two are not always clearly differentiated.
Joint Lines: Wood is hygroscopic - meaning, when exposed to air, wood will lose or gain moisture until it is in equilibrium to the humidly and temperature of its environment. Even protective coatings cannot prevent wood from gaining or losing moisture; they merely slow the process. Visibilities of joint lines are typical and do not diminish the finish or lesson the strength of the joint, which may affect solid wood doors and drawer fronts, adding additional beauty of aging wood.
Knot: The portion of a branch which has been surrounded by subsequent growth of the stem. The shape of the knot as it appears on the cut surface depends on the angle of cut of the wood. Loose Knot is one that is not held firmly in place by growth or position and cannot be relied on to remain in place. It adds no strength to the wood and must be avoided if possible. Sound knot is one that is solid across its face, at least as hard as the surrounding wood, and shows no indication of decay. The portion of a branch or limb that is embedded in the wood.
Laminate: The product of bonding layers together as in beams or plywood.

Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF): A wood-based product that's produced by the combination of very small wood fibers and a glue, resin or similar bonding agent. MDF can be more easily shaped than products like particle board due to the consistency of the material formed by the small fibers. MDF can be used for shelves, doors (typically painted or covered with melamine) and other cabinet parts.
Melamine: A plastic-based, sheet material similar to laminate that is applied to the exterior of cabinets. The substrate or material underneath the melamine is usually medium density fiberboard, particle board or plywood.
Miter Joint: Pieces are cut on an angle to make a joint.
Moisture Content (M.C.): The weight of water contained in wood expressed as a percentage of the weight of the oven dry wood.
Molding: A strip of material with a profile cut on the facing edges, used for trimming.
Mortise and Tenon Joint: A means of wood joinery that involves part of once piece being inserted into a notch or hole in the mating piece. A typical mortise and tenon joint has a square protrusion coming off the end of one piece that fits tightly into a square 'hole' or notch in the piece it's joined to. The pieces that make up the outer frame of a cabinet door might be joined using this technique.
Ogee: An S shape that is made by making one cut to produce two identical pieces.
Overlay: Overlay refers to the amount of face frame that is covered by the cabinet door or drawer front.
Partial Overlay: A cabinet design whereby the cabinet door or drawer front partially overlaps the face frame. When the drawers/doors are closed part of the face frame remains visible. (Also see "overlay").
Particle Board: A wood product made up of very small wood pieces and fragments that are fused together with a glue or resin under mechanical pressure. Particle board is used for cabinet boxes, shelves and drawers.
Plain Sawn Lumber: Plain-sawn hardwood boards are produced by cutting tangentially to a tree's growth rings, creating the familiar flame-shaped or cathedral pattern. This method also produces the most lumber from each log, making plain-sawn lumber a cost effective design choice.
Plywood: A glued wood panel usually 4' X 8' made up of thin layers of wood laid at right angles to each other. This orientation gives plywood greater strength and stability in comparison to solid wood.
Quarter Sawn: Boards which have been cut so that the wide surfaces are approximately 90 degrees to the annual growth rings, this type of cut reduces cupping of the boards. Quarter-sawn boards are popular for decorative applications such as cabinet faces or wainscoting. Quarter-sawing means cutting a log radially (90-degree angle) to the growth rings to produce a vertical and uniform pattern grain.
Rail: The horizontal pieces or members of a face frame or door frame (in contrast to a "stile" which is the vertical member of the frame).
Rift Sawn: Rift-sawing at a 30-degree or greater angle to the growth rings produces narrow boards with accentuated vertical or straight grain patterns. Rift-sawn boards are often favored for fine furniture and other applications where matching grain is important. This type of lumber is available in limited quantities and species.
Rough Lumber: Boards which are sawn, edged and trimmed but not run through a planer.
Sapwood: The outer zone of wood in a tree, next to the bark. Sapwood is generally lighter than heartwood.
Semi-Custom: Cabinets manufactured within a range of specific sizes and styles but with a greater number of options and customization available as compared to straight stock cabinets.
Semi-Transparent or Natural Finishes: The stains used in Cardell’s manufacturing process have been custom formulated to take advantage of the unique characteristics of each wood species. When applying a semi-transparent or natural finish, it is desirable to have wood grain opacity show through the applied stain. Also, wood joint lines will be more apparent depending on the species and stain combination selected.
Soffit: A soffit or bulkhead is the area between the top of the wall cabinets and the ceiling that typically houses mechanical systems for the kitchen. It usually is one foot high and extends over the wall cabinets.
Soft Close: Slide adds a concealed piston to slowly draw the drawer smoothly and silently closed when it reaches the last couple of inches of travel.
Stain: Coloring applied to wood surfaces as part of the finishing process.
Stile: The vertical pieces of a face frame or door frame (in contrast to the "rails" which are the horizontal members of the frame).
Stock Cabinets: Cabinets that are manufactured in standard sizes with a fixed range of options such as available wood types, etc. Stock cabinets are pre-manufactured and "off the shelf" products.
Telegraphing: All wood species show some wood grain. The amount of grain will vary by the applied finish and the wood species working in concert. Oak is an open or coarse grain wood therefore, grain will "telegraph" or noticeably show through the stain. Cherry and Maple are closed or finer grain wood. Some "telegraphing" of the grain characteristics will occur, though the result will be restrained.
Thermo foil: Thermo foil, also known as Rigid Thermo Foil (RTF), is created in a process that uses heat and pressure to bond a thin vinyl material to a substrate, usually Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). Since the film is so thin, it can bond to very intricate shapes. This allows the process to be used on raised panels, routed edges and other designs that cannot be coated with other types of laminates.
Toe Kick: Molding used to cover the open space under the cabinet for a finished look. Usually, the bottom piece of a base cabinet that is recessed several inches from the front surface of the cabinet to allow room for a person's feet when standing in front of the cabinet.
Varnish: A typically clear paint-like material applied as a coating to provide a protective finish.
Veneer: A thin layer of material (typical reference is to wood) that's applied and bonded to another material. Wood veneers are thin layers of real wood that are literally peeled off the log using special cutting techniques. In cabinetry, wood veneers are used to cover plywood or particle board on external surfaces to provide the outward aesthetics of solid wood without the cost or other drawbacks associated with using solid wood.
Vinyl Laminate: A composite material made up of paper and resin that have been fused together to form a relatively hard durable surfacing material. Vinyl laminate is used on cabinet surfaces by bonding the laminate to the substrate.
Wall Cabinet: Cabinet boxes that are mounted to the wall.