Glossary
Hardwood terms without the yard shorthand.
Definitions for slab buyers comparing species, shape, measurement, provenance, and finish planning from a distance.
Buying slabs
Bookmatch
A bookmatch is a pair of neighbouring boards opened like a book to create a mirrored grain pattern.
Boule
A boule is a log sawn into sequential boards and kept together, often so buyers can choose matching slabs from the same tree.
Live edge
A live edge preserves the natural outer contour of the tree rather than cutting the board to a straight edge.
Quarter-sawn
Quarter-sawn wood is cut so growth rings sit near vertical to the board face, improving width stability and showing ray fleck in species such as oak.
River table
A river table uses one or two live-edge boards with a resin channel between them.
Waney edge
A waney edge is the natural outer edge of a board, often called live edge and listed as Baumkante in German.
Measurement
Species and wood science
Burl
Burl is a rounded growth with swirling, irregular grain, often containing voids, eyes and bark inclusions.
Crotch figure
Crotch figure is a feather or flame pattern formed where a trunk divides into large branches.
Figure
Figure is visible grain pattern, such as curl, quilt or fiddleback, caused by fibres growing in changing directions.
Janka hardness
Janka is a hardness rating that helps compare dent resistance between wood species.
Kiln dried
Kiln dried wood has been dried in a controlled chamber to reach a target moisture range faster and more predictably than air drying alone.
Moisture content
Moisture content is the percentage of water in wood compared with its oven-dry weight.
Sapwood and heartwood
Sapwood is the outer, often lighter wood, while heartwood is the older inner wood with different colour, durability and finishing behaviour.
Spalting
Spalting is dark line and colour patterning formed by fungal activity in wood that has started to decay.
Compliance
Due Diligence Statement (DDS)
A DDS is the EUDR record an operator submits through the EU Information System before placing covered wood on the EU market, when the obligation applies.
EUDR
EUDR is the EU Deforestation Regulation, which raises due-diligence expectations for certain commodities and products entering or traded in the EU.
Geolocation (EUDR)
Geolocation under EUDR records the harvest plot coordinates, using points or polygons depending on plot size.
Wood passport
A wood passport is the bundle of identity, measurement, origin, and processing data attached to a specific slab.
Finishing
Food-safe finish
A food-safe finish is a cured coating or oil system suitable for contact with food under its stated use conditions.
Hardwax oil
Hardwax oil is a low-sheen finish class combining penetrating oils with waxes, common in Rubio Monocoat and Osmo-type products.
Slab flattening
Slab flattening brings a dried slab to an even plane and final thickness using a router sled, CNC, or wide-belt sander.
Defects and features