Glossary

Glossary of terms as applied to the woodworking industry.
Appliqué		Ornamental wood, either carved or moulded, placed on another piece of wood without structural significance.
Back band		A secondary moulding added to the outside edge of casing for purpose of creating more mass or detail to the casing.
Baluster		Closely spaced vertical supports for railing.
Balustrade		A railing with supporting balusters.
Bannister		One of the components of a balustrade, either the railing or baluster.
Base moulding		A band of moulding around the bottom of a wall at the floor line.
Beam		The primary horizontal supporting component to a structure.
Box Beam		A purely decorative part of an architectural structure, created to simulate a true beam.
Casing		A type of moulding used to cover the small space between a door jamb or window frame and the adjacent wall.
Chairrail		A moulding applied to a wall which bands a room at three or four feet high. It may also create the top most moulding for a wainscot.
CNC		Abbreviation for computer numerically controlled.
Column		A vertical component of a structure, usually supporting part of the structure. May also be purely decorative.
Corbel		A decorative bracket made of wood or stone.
Crown moulding		A moulding which bands a room where the wall meets the ceiling. It may also band the top of a cabinet or other piece of furniture.
Curved staircase		A staircase which changes direction using a circular pattern with an inside radius less than twice the width of the individual treads.
Finial		A small, decorative feature used to terminate a gable or piece of furniture.
Fitting		General term for short transition pieces in handrails where there is a quick change in the direction of the handrail.
Gooseneck		A specific type of fitting designed to transition a stair handrail to a horizontal guardrail.
Guardrail		The top member of a balustrade system designed to keep people from falling off of an open balcony or staircase.
Handrail		A long narrow band of wood or metal following the slope of a staircase placed at a height where a person can hold it for stability while climbing the staircase. Sometimes a handrail may also act as a guardrail.
Jamb		The exposed frame around a door from the which the door is hinged and stops the door when it is shut.
Lip moulding		A moulding designed to cover the exposed edge of another surface.
Mantel		A shelf over a fireplace, sometimes supported by pedestal legs framing the fireplace opening.
Marquetry		Inlaid work of various colored wood, metals or other materials, in a wood background.
Moulding or Molding		A general term for strip of contoured wood or other material applied to a wall or other surface.
Newel or Newel Post		A post giving additional structural support to a balustrade. Also, the central supporting post of a spiral staircase.
Mouldings		A group of wood panels, usually applied as a wall covering.
Pediment		Large ornamental detail over a door or passage, often triangular in shape similar to the gable end of a building.
Picture moulding		A moulding which bands a room below the ceiling line, typically with a lip on the top edge so pictures may be hung from the moulding.
Plate rail		A decorative shelf banding a room below the ceiling line with a groove in the top to stand ornamental plates on.
Riser		The vertical board spanning the space between treads on a staircase.
Scribe moulding		Light weight moulding used to cover the seam between two perpendicular surfaces.
Shoe rail		The bottom member of a balustrade system acting as the attachment point for the balusters on or near the floor line.
Spiral staircase		A staircase whose treads radiate from one central supporting post or newel.
Staircase		A flight of stairs with its supporting framing and balustrade.
Stair jack		The main structural beam supporting a staircase. Sometimes called a stringer.
Sub rail		If the guardrail is made up of two pieces, the bottom piece to which the balusters are attached is the sub rail.
Slope of staircase		The measure of the angle formed by the relationship of rise to run on a staircase.
Tread		The upper surface of a step in a stair.
Tread rise		The vertical measurement from the top of one tread to the top of the next tread in line.
Tread run		The horizontal distance measured from the front of one tread to the front of the next tread above or below it.
Wainscot		Mouldings which stops part way up a wall, usually capped by a heavy moulding called chairrail.
Winding staircase		Any staircase which changes direction while walking on individual treads which are tapered along their run.

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