Janka hardness
A standard test of wood hardness that measures the force required to press a steel ball into wood to half the ball’s diameter.
Read the definitionThe glossary
The trade terms you'll come across.
Plain-English definitions for the words that turn up when you're buying, specifying or working with timber.
Jointing
Creating a perfectly straight, flat reference edge on a board using a jointer or hand plane. The jointed edge serves as the baseline for subsequent ripping and surfacing operations.
Read the definitionJuvenile wood
Juvenile wood is the wood formed in the early years of a tree’s growth, typically found nearer the pith. It often has different properties from mature wood (e.g., higher longitudinal shrinkage, lower stiffness in some species, and greater tendency to distort), which can make boards cut near the centre more troublesome.
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