"A WoodWorker's Glossary"
By
Howard Lewin
The purpose of this book started out as a way to inform beginning woodworking students of the vocabulary generally used in the trade. I was surprised and somewhat saddened to find that many of the new students did not have a knowledge of some of the most common wood working terms and tools. It turned out that there are several such works, and that a purely academic approach would be boring for me as well as the reader.
We were all rescued from such an approach because one of my students came
to me with a question. She had a board that was just a little to wide to fit
into the dados of her project. Without a moments hesitation, I suggested to
her that she shave a gnats ass off the width and it would fit perfectly. She
waited for about half an hour before she came up to me, and asked, “ok
I give up. How much is a gnats ass?” The inspiration for a definition
was instantaneous. This is how ”Gnats Ass” was conceived. I created
it that very night and presented it to her and the rest of the class the following
week. Other ideas followed in rapid succession, and thus the “Glossary”
was born.
All of my students have contributed in one way or another, knowingly or unknowingly
to the “Glossary.” All of the definitions were created because of
student questions, or by the blank look some of them had when asked to get
a tool out of the tool room. It is not complete and continues to grow.
I would like to especially thank Flo Bishop, Kathleen Chylinski, Mitch Haimov
and Michael Miller for their ideas and encouragement. Finally, gratitude to
My wife Geraldine, whose continuing support has been unwavering and constant.
Howard Lewin
July, 1998
You may purchase "A WoodWorker's Glossary"
Send me an email at customwood@earthlink.net
$6.00 plus shipping