glossary of terms
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. The range is mostly located in the United States but extends into southeastern Canada, forming a zone from 100 to 300 miles (160 to 480 km) wide, running from the island of Newfoundland 1,500 miles (2,400 km) south-westward to central Alabama in the United States. The Appalachians are characterized by a wealth of large, beautiful deciduous broadleaf (hardwood) trees.
BESPOKE
An item custom-made to the buyer's specifications. At Norfolk Oak 'bespoke' means almost unlimited scope to your designs.
BLACK CHERRY
Prunus serotina, commonly called Black Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, Rum Cherry, or Mountain Black Cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. North American Black Cherry timber is a dense wood with a close grain and a fine, even texture. The colour deepens from both oiling and exposure to light, and has distinctive and beautiful gold and salmonish-pink highlights throughout.
BLACK MAPLE (HARD MAPLE)
Maple is a wood of phenomenal hardness (more so than Oak) and exotic beauty, with a pale, creamy colour and delicate grain pattern. Maples have a long history of use for furniture production in the United States.
BLACK WALNUT
The Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is a species of flowering tree in the hickory family, Juglandaceae, that is native to eastern North America. Black Walnut is highly prized for its dark-coloured heartwood.
BUTT JOIN
When two wooden worktops meet they require a method to join them. For this we recommend using a 90 degree butt join. Specially shaped bolt holes are routed out in the underside of your wooden worktops. This allows the fitting of worktop connector bolts designed to pull your worktops together to aid in the joining of the two separate worktops.
CAD DIAGRAM
Computer-aided design (CAD) describes the process of drafting with a computer. We use CAD software to produce diagrams for both customer confirmation of final designs and for production in our workshops.
CLASSIC WIDE BLOCK WORKTOPS
A Norfolk Oak Classic Wide Block Worktop is unique. Consisting of beautiful, wide jointed staves of random widths between 55mm and 90mm. You can expect to find around 8 to 10 staves across the width of an average Oak worktop of around 630mm.
DRAINAGE GROOVES
Specially shaped and tapered grooves cut into a wooden worktop. Drainage grooves make a great addition to any under-mounted sink allowing the free flow of excess water into your sink when washing up.
END CAP
Designed to protect the 'open' end grain of wooden worktops when next to a constant heat source. An end cap consists of a stave of wood fixed to the end of the worktop with its grain running at 90 degrees to the main worktop run. This creates a barrier between the end grain of the main worktop and any constant heat source such as an AGA.
FINGER JOINT
A finger joint is a woodworking joint made by cutting a set of complementary rectangular cuts in two pieces of wood, which are then glued. To visualize a finger joint simply interlock the fingers of your hands, hence the name "finger joint." The strength of a finger joint comes from the long-grain to long-grain contact between the fingers, which provides a solid gluing surface
FINISHING OIL
A blend of high quality oils to nourish, protect and enhance the colour of wood.
FURNITURE GRADE
We only use ‘FAS’ grade lumber. This is the top grade – FAS stands for first and seconds and is colloquially known as furniture grade.
GRIT SIZE (SANDPAPER)
Grit size refers to the size of the particles of abrading materials embedded in sandpaper. The higher the number, the smoother the paper. Suitable sizes for wooden worktops range from around 150 for initial sanding to 600 for final oiling and finishing.
HARDWOOD
The wood of any of numerous broad-leaved trees, such as Oak, Walnut, Cherry and Maple. The wood from hardwood trees is generally harder than softwoods such as pine
HOT RODS
Solid, brushed steel rods that sit in specially shaped grooves in a wooden worktop to act as a trivet for hot pans. Hot rods can be easily lifted out of their grooves to allow for cleaning.
MOISTURE BARRIER
Thick, extruded Aluminium sheet that is fixed to the underside of your wooden worktop to protect against any moisture given off from dishwashers and washing machines situated under your wooden worktops.
PENCIL EDGE
A small rounded edging for a wooden worktops.
SUPER STAVE WORKTOPS
Long, continuous, wide planks up to 300 mm in width that run the entire length of the worktop. Typically you can expect to find 4 to 5 continuous staves in an average worktop width of around 630 mm.
TRADITIONAL PLANK WORKTOPS
A style unique to Norfolk Oak. Traditional Plank worktops consist of long, wide, jointed staves with individual plank lengths of approximately 500 mm to 2000 mm. A great alternative to Super Stave worktops when extremely long length wooden worktops are required.
UPSTAND (SPLASH BACK)
Thin lengths of wood fixed along the back edge of wooden worktops to act as a splash-back and also hide gaps due to wonky walls - they provide a wonderful aesthetic and are often the 'finishing touch' to your wooden worktops.
WET & DRY SANDPAPER
Wet and dry sandpaper has a liquid resistant backing. Ideal for using with a little worktop oil when sanding to create a super smooth finish to your wooden worktops.
WHITE OAK WORKTOPS
Quercus alba, the White Oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. American White Oak is the finest Oak on the planet. Harder, denser and with a more delicate, beautiful grain structure than any other Oak.
Some extracts on this page are taken from Wikipedia articles incorporating text in the public domain.
