Elmwood Kitchens - Cabinet Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P
Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

A

Adult Height Vanity Cabinet: 36” countertop height (standard vanity countertop height is 32”)

Anigre: pronounced “ani-gray”. An exotic specie of wood veneer, blonde in colour with a rippled appearance when varnished.

Appliance Garage: a countertop installed cabinet with a rolling door installed horizontally to conceal appliances.

B

Bat Wing: drawer fixing bracket for a Hettich Innotech drawer system (formerly used at Elmwood Kitchens)

Biscuit Joint: a joint made usually to increase the width of a panel whereby a semi circular cut is machined into the end grain and a football shaped, expanding biscuit is inserted with glue.

Blum: a hardware manufacturer that supplies hinges, drawer tracks etc. (the current supplier to Elmwood Kitchens)

Book Match Grain: 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 of pairs. Individual panels can match 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.

Butt Door: when 2 doors of a cabinet (ex. W3030) meet together without and interior partition or frame between them. Elmwood kitchens manufactures all cabinets from 24 – 36”W with butt doors. Anything wider will have an intermediate frame (on inset frame lines) and an interior partition

C

Cabinet Matched Grain: a system of cutting adjacent drawers or doors and drawers so that the grain runs from top to bottom of all of the drawers on a drawer base. This can only be achieved on some wood species and on flat veneer door styles only.

Chamfer: a cut machined into the corner of a solid wood item at a 45 degree angle.

Concealed Hinge: a hinge that is installed inside a cabinet that is 6 way adjustable and is not visible from outside of the cabinet.

Conversion Varnish: a top coat varnish that is cured by the addition of a catalyzer, and sometimes cured in a finishing oven.

Crown Moulding: decorative moulding applied to the top of wall and tall cabinets.

D

Dado Joint: a joint formed at perpendicular angles when one board is inset into an equal width notch of another board.

Dentil Moulding: a crown moulding insert consisting of a series of small projecting rectangular blocks.

Distressing: a hand applied process of artificially aging wood (this is a hand done one of a kind process, each and every door in a kitchen will look different from one another it is imperative that a full sample door be viewed and approved before an order can be put into production.

Elmwood Kitchens offers: Knife Cracks: a process which looks like the boards have cracked due the age.

Rub Off: a process where the corners of doors & drawers are sanded off before the glaze is added.

Dents: a process where we hit the solid wood with tools to indent the surface.

Worm Holes: holes made to mimic termite holes. Rasping: a technique where the edges of doors & drawers are very roughly worn to mimic rough hewn lumber.

Door as end of cabinet: used on Inset Frame cabinetry. A door is the integral gable end of the cabinet. Does not increase the overall width of the cabinet.

Door Cross Rail: an intermediate rail centered in mortise and tennon doors over 48”H. used to help prevent warping.

Door Inside of frame as end of cabinet: used on Inset frame cabinetry. A door is inset into a false frame on the end of the gable end of the cabinet. This is the most accurate way to mimic the face of the cabinet. Does not increase the overall width of the cabinet.

Door Match Filler: a slab, solid wood filler (or spacer) with door matching edge profile. used when a cabinet side touches a wall or in a blind corner installation.

Door Rail: a horizontal member of a solid wood raised panel door

Door Raised Centre Panel: a solid wood panel inserted between the rails and stiles. Installed in a channel, free floating centered with neoprene space balls to help prevent warping.

Door Stile: a vertical member of a solid wood raised panel door

Dovetail: a flaring mortise & tennon which fits tightly together making an interlocking joint between two pieces of wood.

Dowel: a cylindrical piece of wood typically 8mm in diameter x 25mm in length with a fluted or reeded exterior. Used to assemble cabinets by gluing dowels into holes at perpendicular angles.

Drawer fixing bracket: an orange bracket positioned underneath the drawer on Blum Tandem Dovetail drawer boxes that attaches the drawer to the drawer track.

Drawer glide: drawer track.

Drawer head: decorative drawer front.

E

Edge Banding: a wood veneer or PVC (poly vinyl chloride) strip of material that is glued to the edge of veneer core of particle core sheet goods covering the core of the sheet.

F

Face Frame: a cabinet component that is installed onto the face. Our frames are 1 ½”W x ¾”Th and assembled using mortise and tennon construction.. They are Dadoed and glued to the cabinet face.

Finial Hinge: an Inset Frame Cabinet decorative hinge with a foliated ornament forming an upper and lower extremity.

Flitch: a longitudinal section of a log or a bundle of sheets of veneer laid together in sequence.

Flute: a decorative, semi circular groove that is cut into the face of a filler, pilaster etc. Usually combined in groups of 3 or more.

Frameless Cabinets: also known as European, Full Access, or Full Overlay Cabinets.

The doors extend to the outside edge of the cabinet carcass (less the standard reveal), and when the doors are open provide the maximum width of access.

The cabinet gets its strength by being manufactured using thicker material than the traditional 1/2" material used in face frame cabinets.

Also the frameless cabinets are constructed using fluted dowels (face frame cabinets are traditionally constructed using staples.

Fretwork: an old English country designed carving technique in a valance that can resemble opposing fish.

Full overlay frame: face frame cabinets where the door overlays the face frame leaving a 1/8” reveal

Furniture Baseboard: a decorative moulding applied to base cabinets adjacent to the floor. Used to build out the toe kick inherent in kitchen cabinetry. This make the cabinetry appear more furniture like, but is not recommended for working islands etc., as it is not ergonomically proficient.

G

Gable: cabinet side.

Glaze: a top coat finish that is applied and removed (by various methods) over a base stain or paint that gives the look of antique heirloom furniture.

H

Hettich: manufacturer of hardware such as drawer tracks, hinges, etc. (Pronounced: Hetick).

Hinge Mounting Plate: a plate that is screwed to the inside of a cabinet gable that is the attachment point of a concealed hinge.

I

Inset frame: face frame cabinets where the door sits inside of the frame.

K

Kiln Dried: a process whereby a lumber mill inserts rough lumber into large ovens. The wood is subject to low heat over a long period of time thus reducing the moisture content to a workable level.

L

Lazy Susan: a corner accessory often installed into a pie cut corner base cabinet consisting of round, ½ moon, or kidney shaped rotating shelves.

Light Valance: a moulding applied below upper cabinets to conceal light fixtures.

Liquid Glaze: a finish that is applied and removed while still wet over a base stain or paint. This glaze “hangs up” only in the grooves and crevices of the door, not on the flat areas (Field) of the door.

M

3 Dimensional Mitered Door: a door that when viewed from a top view is cut down the face and re-assembled at a 45 degree angle to wrap around a cabinet face, sometimes referred to “gull wing doors”.

Magic Corner: a hardware mechanism inserted into a blind corner base cabinet that pulls out and at the same time slides over interior shelving unit.

Marine Grade Plywood: a veneer core plywood that is manufactured using water proof glues.

MDF: medium Density Fiber board. Wood fibers and compressed under pressure with resins to yield various thicknesses of sheet goods.

Minarette Hinge: see “Finial Hinge”.

Mineral Streak: a discolouration in wood caused by chemicals absorbed by the tree from the soil.

Miter: a type of joint formed by two pieces of wood cut at a 45 degree angle.

Mortise & Tennon Joint: a type of joint formed with a projecting part on one piece of wood being inserted into a corresponding hole in another piece of wood.

Mullion: a decorative wood cross member used to give cabinet doors the appearance of having individual panes of glass.

O

Onlay: a decorative machined ornament that is applied to a panel or valance.

Overlay Door: used in Frameless cabinetry. A false door is screwed to the side of a cabinet to mimic the look of the front of the cabinet. This increases the overall cabinet width by the thickness of the door(s).

P

Parent Item: the main item such as a cabinet. It is also what any “sub items” would be attached to.

Pie Cut Corner: a corner cabinet with a 90 degree cut out in the adjacent faces that turns a corner.

Pilaster: a decorative filler with sides (often deeper than adjacent cabinetry). Used between cabinets or when a cabinet side touches a wall to break the flat plane of similar depth cabinetry.

Plain Sawn or Flat Cut Wood: by slicing parallel to the center of the log, a raised "cathedral effect" is formed by the innermost growth rings

Q

Quarter Sawn Wood: the slicing is made perpendicular to the annual growth rings of the tree. This creates a straight grain appearance.

R

Raised Panel: a center panel of a 5 piece door. Usually of solid wood, that is inserted into the grooves of the rails and stiles, with a concave, slant or convex raised edge.

Recessed Panel: a center panel of a 5 piece door. Usually a veneer panel, that is inserted into the grooves of the rails and stiles. Being flat, it has an appearance of being recessed from the face of the rails and stiles.

Reeded Filler or Pilaster: a filler or pilaster with machined adjacent convex cylindrical humps or grooves.

Reveal: the space between the exterior edge of a cabinet and the door seen on the face of the cabinet.

Rosette: a square decorative block with a circular design machined into the face.

Rosewood: an exotic specie of wood veneer with a dark red wood grain colour.

Rift Cut Wood: this straight grain cut is derived by slicing red and white oak at a slight angle to minimize the irregularities in the wood.

Rotary Cut Wood: the log is centered on a lathe and turned against a broad cutting knife set into the log at a slight angle.

S

Scribe Moulding: a thin moulding, cut or trimmed to be installed between an uneven surface and the side of a cabinet.

Sheen: the amount of gloss of the top coat. Measured in degrees a flat finish is 0 degrees and a high gloss is 100 degrees. Our low sheen is 10 degree, our standard sheen is 40 degree, & our high gloss is 90 degree.

Soffit: the underside of a part or member of a building. Usually a cabinet component or board that forms a ceiling over a window valance.

Slip Matched Grain: successive veneer leaves in a flitch are "slipped" one alongside the other and edge-glued in this manner.

The result is a series of grain repeats, but no pairs.

The danger with this method derives from the fact that grain patterns are, rarely, perfectly straight.

Sometimes a grain pattern "runs off" the edge of the leaf, a series of leaves with this condition could usually make a panel "look like it is leaning".

In the book matching the pairs balance each other.

Star Fighter Hinge Plate: a triangular shaped hinge plate used when a cabinet side is not available for a standard hinge plate (rarely used due to excessive wobble).

Sub Item: a chargeable, additional item such as a mullion door, finished interior, dimensional modification etc.

T

Thermo-foil: a PVC sheet good that is formed and applied to an MDF machined door. This forms a durable, low cost cabinet suitable for laundry rooms etc. in a limited number of colours and finishes.

Tincture: a glaze finish that is applied by spraying over a base stain or paint that dries and is removed by buffing with an abrasive fabric pad. This glaze “hangs up” in the grooves and crevices of the door, and also on the flat areas (Field) of the door. This produces striations, or fine lines in the finish.

Toe Kick: a recessed space 2”Deep x 4 ½”H on the bottom of base cabinets placed so that one can stand closer to the countertop.

V

Veneer: a layer of wood of superior value or excellent grain to be glued to an inferior wood. Any of the thin layers bonded together to form plywood.

W

Web note: a note that is displayed from our OPS database that informs the OER and Dealer of important information.

Wenge: pronounced “Wen-gay”. An exotic specie of wood veneer very dark brown with a very tight but open grain.

Z

Zebrano: an exotic specie of wood veneer with alternating grains of a dark brown colour and a blonde colour.