# Sadness and confusion



## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So looking through the posts today it occurred to me (again) that I really need a dictionary to understand some of the milling terminology. I know the difference between heart and sapwood. I thought I knew what a slab was, but flitch and slab and several other terms have popped up that I'm not sure about. Anyone have a link to a dictionary, or care to pop off a few definitions that we can add to in the thread?

In other news, the sad part, we've had a lot of storms here lately, though no drastic flooding like the midwest. This Craigslist post, though, made me a little disheartened.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/zip/722443068.html


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

Here is a couple of definitions:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/sawmills/definitions.html
and
http://www.woodproductsonlineexpo.com/glossary.php/


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

jeffreythree, that's an excellent start. thank you.


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## pianoman (Jan 16, 2008)

I think Flitch is something the eyelid does...or maybe..that`s Flintch...I guess I`ll have to look it up!!


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Sawmillers and woodworkers sometimes call the same thing by different names. They sell "slabs" on ebay that are really flitches, and sometimes call thicker boards slabs. To a sawmiller, a flitch is a board that hasn't been edged by having the bark taken off of it. In other words the edge is natural and hasn't been sawn into a straight line. A miller would call the part taken off the outside of the log (rounded on one side/flat on the other) after making the opening cut, a slab. Slabs are often disposed of in the burn pile/over the side of a hill/firewood/chipped/etc., but sometimes used for faux log home siding. 

Yeah it's sad they lost a walnut tree in a storm. It's even sadder they cut it all into 1' lenghts, then announced "free walnut for firewood/woodworkers." :wallbash:


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Slab is a term that most millers frequently use improperly. Hand raised.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

dirtclod, yeah the sad part to me was the 1' sections. I would have loved to pick up a good 6 or 8 foot section of that tree for some reasonable furniture wood (possibly) but now I'm stuck with just a few bits I'll pick up today to hopefully use on small projects.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I've been calling any piece of wood thicker than an inch and wider than about 20 inches a "slab" and figured a flitch was essentially the same thing, but I wasn't sure. The glossaries jeffreythree linked were helpful if anyone comes across something they're not familiar with.


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