Title: Woodworking Fundamentals — LearnCoachAssist

Q: What is woodworking?
A: The craft of shaping wood into useful or decorative objects.

Q: What are the main types of woodworking?
A: Carpentry, joinery, cabinet making, furniture making, wood turning, carving.

Q: What is carpentry?
A: Building structures (framing, roofing, finish work).

Q: What is joinery?
A: Cutting and fitting wood joints (cabinet making, furniture).

Q: What is the difference between hardwood and softwood?
A: Hardwood comes from deciduous trees (oak, maple); softwood from conifers (pine, fir).

Q: What does "hardwood" not mean?
A: It's not strictly about hardness; balsa is technically hardwood but soft.

Q: What is the Janka hardness test?
A: A measure of wood hardness in pounds-force.

Q: What are common hardwoods?
A: Oak, maple, walnut, cherry, mahogany, ash, birch, beech.

Q: What are common softwoods?
A: Pine, fir, cedar, spruce, redwood.

Q: What is grain?
A: The pattern of wood fibers; affects appearance and behavior.

Q: What is grain direction?
A: Direction fibers run; affects strength and finishing.

Q: What is "with the grain"?
A: Cutting in the same direction as fibers; cleaner cut.

Q: What is "against the grain"?
A: Cutting opposite to fiber direction; tears more easily.

Q: What is "end grain"?
A: Cross-section of fibers; appears at cut ends.

Q: What is "face grain"?
A: The surface showing the broad sides of fibers.

Q: What is "edge grain"?
A: The narrow side; fibers running parallel.

Q: What is figured wood?
A: Wood with distinctive patterns (bird's eye, curly, quilted).

Q: What is bird's eye?
A: Small swirled figure, especially in maple.

Q: What is curly figure?
A: Wavy bands of light and dark.

Q: What is quilted figure?
A: Three-dimensional bumpy appearance in light.

Q: What is the role of growth rings?
A: Indicate age and growing conditions; affect appearance.

Q: What is heartwood?
A: The denser, often darker inner wood.

Q: What is sapwood?
A: The lighter, outer wood that conducted sap.

Q: What is the difference in stability?
A: Heartwood is more stable and decay-resistant.

Q: What is wood movement?
A: Expansion and contraction with humidity; perpendicular to grain primarily.

Q: What is the rule of accounting for movement?
A: Design must accommodate expansion/contraction.

Q: What is "tangential" movement?
A: Across the rings; greatest movement direction.

Q: What is "radial" movement?
A: Across the radius; about half of tangential.

Q: What is "longitudinal" movement?
A: Along the grain; negligible.

Q: What is the typical wood moisture content?
A: Indoor furniture: 6-9%; outdoors equilibrates higher.

Q: What is the role of a moisture meter?
A: Measures wood moisture before using it.

Q: What is "kiln-dried" wood?
A: Wood dried in a kiln to specific moisture content.

Q: What is "air-dried" wood?
A: Wood dried slowly outdoors; longer process.

Q: What is wood seasoning?
A: Drying process before use.

Q: What is "quartersawn"?
A: Wood cut so growth rings are nearly perpendicular to face; stable, distinctive ray flecks.

Q: What is "rift-sawn"?
A: Cut at an angle for stability and consistent grain.

Q: What is "plain-sawn"?
A: The most common cut; "cathedral" grain pattern; less stable.

Q: What is the role of plywood?
A: Layers (plies) glued with alternating grain; stable, strong.

Q: What is the typical plywood grade?
A: A through D based on face quality.

Q: What is the difference between plywood and MDF?
A: Plywood has layers; MDF is fine compressed fibers.

Q: What is MDF?
A: Medium-Density Fiberboard; uniform, smooth, less stable to moisture.

Q: What is particleboard?
A: Lower-cost board of coarse wood particles.

Q: What is melamine?
A: A coated particleboard; common in budget furniture.

Q: What is veneer?
A: Thin sheet of wood applied to a substrate.

Q: What is the typical veneer thickness?
A: 1/40 to 1/16 inch.

Q: What is the role of veneer?
A: Lets fine wood appear on stable substrate.

Q: What is solid wood?
A: Lumber sawn directly from the log; movement matters.

Q: What is "rough lumber"?
A: Wood as sawn from the mill; needs flattening and dimensioning.

Q: What is "S4S"?
A: Surfaced four sides; ready-to-use lumber.

Q: What is "S2S"?
A: Surfaced two sides; flat but not squared edges.

Q: What is the typical lumber sizing?
A: "Nominal" (e.g., 2x4) vs actual (1.5 x 3.5 inches).

Q: What is "board feet"?
A: Lumber measurement: thickness × width × length / 144 (inches).

Q: What is the role of milling?
A: Flattening and dimensioning rough lumber for use.

Q: What is the four-square milling process?
A: Face → edge → other face → other edge → ends.

Q: What is the typical jointing?
A: Flattening one face on a jointer.

Q: What is a jointer?
A: A power tool that flattens one face and edge.

Q: What is the typical planing?
A: Making opposite face parallel on a planer.

Q: What is a planer (thicknesser)?
A: A power tool creating consistent thickness.

Q: What is the table saw?
A: A central woodworking tool with circular blade.

Q: What is the saw blade kerf?
A: The width of material removed; affects measurements.

Q: What is the role of rip cut vs cross cut?
A: Rip is along the grain; cross is across.

Q: What is a rip blade?
A: Designed for cutting along the grain.

Q: What is a crosscut blade?
A: Designed for cutting across the grain.

Q: What is a combination blade?
A: General purpose for both rip and cross.

Q: What is the typical TPI (teeth per inch)?
A: Lower TPI for ripping; higher for crosscuts.

Q: What is the role of the miter saw?
A: Crosscuts and angled cuts.

Q: What is a compound miter saw?
A: Tilts as well as rotates for compound angles.

Q: What is the sliding miter saw?
A: Slides forward for cutting wider stock.

Q: What is a band saw?
A: Continuous blade between wheels; curves and resawing.

Q: What is resawing?
A: Cutting a board into thinner pieces along its width.

Q: What is a router?
A: Spinning bit shaping wood for joinery, edges, profiles.

Q: What is a router table?
A: A fixed router setup for controlled work.

Q: What is the typical router speed?
A: Larger bits at slower speed; small bits faster.

Q: What is a drill press?
A: A stationary drill for precise, perpendicular holes.

Q: What is a lathe?
A: A machine spinning wood for turning into cylindrical shapes.

Q: What is wood turning?
A: Shaping wood on a lathe with chisels.

Q: What is the typical project on a lathe?
A: Bowls, spindles, pens, table legs.

Q: What is the role of hand tools?
A: Quieter, more controlled, traditional approach.

Q: What are essential hand tools?
A: Plane, chisels, saws, marking gauge, mallet, square.

Q: What is a hand plane?
A: A tool with adjustable blade for shaving wood smooth.

Q: What are types of hand planes?
A: Block, smoothing, jointer, jack, scrub.

Q: What is the smoothing plane?
A: A short plane for finishing surfaces.

Q: What is the jointer plane?
A: A long plane for flattening long boards.

Q: What is the typical chisel set?
A: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1 inch are common essentials.

Q: What is the role of mortise chisel?
A: Stout chisel for chopping mortises.

Q: What is the typical hand saw types?
A: Western (push) vs Japanese (pull) saws.

Q: What is a dovetail saw?
A: A thin, fine-toothed saw for joinery cuts.

Q: What is a tenon saw?
A: A medium saw for cutting tenons.

Q: What is a coping saw?
A: A thin-blade saw for curves.

Q: What is the typical Japanese saw types?
A: Ryoba (two-edge), Dozuki (back saw), Kataba (single edge).

Q: What is the rule "sharp tools are safer"?
A: Dull tools require more force, slip more.

Q: What is the role of sharpening?
A: Critical for hand tool work; affects every cut.

Q: What are sharpening systems?
A: Waterstones, oilstones, diamond plates, sandpaper on glass.

Q: What is the typical grits used?
A: Coarse (200-1000) to fine (4000-10000) for polishing.

Q: What is honing?
A: Refining edge with finest stone or strop.

Q: What is the role of a strop?
A: Leather with polishing compound for the finest edge.

Q: What is the typical sharpening angle?
A: 25-30° for chisels and plane blades.

Q: What is the role of a marking knife?
A: Scoring exact lines; more precise than pencil.

Q: What is a marking gauge?
A: A tool to scribe parallel lines from an edge.

Q: What is the role of squares?
A: Try square, combination square, framing square for accuracy.

Q: What is a try square?
A: A fixed-angle square for checking 90°.

Q: What is a combination square?
A: Adjustable; multi-purpose marking and measuring.

Q: What is the role of measuring twice?
A: Mistakes are costly; verify before cutting.

Q: What is the rule "measure once, cut twice"?
A: Sarcastic version of the famous rule.

Q: What is wood joinery?
A: Methods of joining wood pieces.

Q: What is butt joint?
A: Two pieces meeting at right angle; weakest but simplest.

Q: What is miter joint?
A: A 45° cut joining pieces at an angle.

Q: What is rabbet?
A: A step cut at the edge or end.

Q: What is dado?
A: A groove across the grain.

Q: What is groove?
A: A channel along the grain.

Q: What is mortise and tenon?
A: A peg (tenon) fitting into a socket (mortise); classic strong joint.

Q: What is through-tenon?
A: A tenon visible on the other side.

Q: What is wedged tenon?
A: Tenon split and wedged for permanent locking.

Q: What is the typical mortise width?
A: 1/3 the thickness of the rail.

Q: What is dovetail joint?
A: Interlocking trapezoidal pins and tails; very strong.

Q: What is through dovetail?
A: Visible from both sides.

Q: What is half-blind dovetail?
A: Visible from only one side; common in drawers.

Q: What is dovetail angle?
A: Typically 1:6 for softwood, 1:8 for hardwood.

Q: What is the typical dovetail layout?
A: Pin width slightly narrower than tails.

Q: What is the role of router jig?
A: Routers can cut dovetails with templates.

Q: What is hand-cut vs machine dovetails?
A: Hand-cut has variety and beauty; machine is uniform and fast.

Q: What is biscuit joint?
A: A flat oval wafer in slots; alignment aid for edge joints.

Q: What is dowel joint?
A: Round wooden pegs in matching holes.

Q: What is pocket screw joint?
A: An angled screw drilled into a pocket; fast, hidden.

Q: What is Domino (Festool)?
A: A loose-tenon system using oval tenons.

Q: What is half-lap?
A: Two pieces overlapping with half of each removed.

Q: What is bridle joint?
A: A slot and tongue at the end of pieces.

Q: What is finger joint (box joint)?
A: Square interlocking fingers; very strong.

Q: What is the role of glue?
A: Modern wood glues are very strong; properly clamped joints rarely fail.

Q: What is PVA glue?
A: Common yellow wood glue.

Q: What is the typical PVA cure time?
A: Clamped 30 minutes; full strength 24 hours.

Q: What is hide glue?
A: Traditional protein-based glue; reversible with heat.

Q: What is the role of reversibility?
A: Important for antique restoration.

Q: What is polyurethane glue?
A: Expands; waterproof; gap-filling.

Q: What is epoxy?
A: Two-part adhesive; gap-filling, waterproof, very strong.

Q: What is the typical clamp use?
A: Hold joints during glue cure.

Q: What is the rule "you can never have too many clamps"?
A: Woodworker's truism.

Q: What is sanding?
A: Smoothing surface with progressively finer abrasives.

Q: What is the typical sanding grit progression?
A: 80 → 120 → 150 → 180 → 220 for most furniture.

Q: What is the role of skipping no more than one grit?
A: Each grit removes the previous's scratches.

Q: What is the role of sanding sealer?
A: Reduces splotchy stain absorption.

Q: What is the role of pre-stain conditioner?
A: Same as above for some woods like pine.

Q: What is a wood finish?
A: A protective surface coating.

Q: What are types of finishes?
A: Oil, varnish, lacquer, shellac, water-based, wax.

Q: What is tung oil?
A: A drying oil that penetrates and hardens.

Q: What is linseed oil?
A: A drying oil; less protective than tung.

Q: What is BLO?
A: Boiled Linseed Oil; faster drying than raw.

Q: What is the danger of oily rags?
A: Spontaneous combustion; spread to dry or submerge in water.

Q: What is shellac?
A: A traditional finish from lac bug secretions; reversible with alcohol.

Q: What is the typical shellac use?
A: Sealing, French polishing, food-safe protection.

Q: What is lacquer?
A: A solvent-based finish; durable and clear.

Q: What is polyurethane?
A: A tough, plastic-like finish.

Q: What is the difference between oil-based and water-based poly?
A: Oil ambers over time; water-based stays clearer.

Q: What is wipe-on finish?
A: Thinned varnish applied with a rag; user-friendly.

Q: What is the role of multiple thin coats?
A: Better adhesion and finish than one thick coat.

Q: What is the typical sanding between coats?
A: Light sanding with high grit between most finish coats.

Q: What is wax finish?
A: Top coat or standalone; soft, low protection.

Q: What is the rule of test boards?
A: Always test finish on scrap before committing.

Q: What is wood filler?
A: Material filling holes, dents, gaps.

Q: What is the typical filler type?
A: Solvent-based for stained; water-based easier to work.

Q: What is the rule "epoxy for permanent fills"?
A: More stable than wood filler over time.

Q: What is staining wood?
A: Adding color to enhance grain or change tone.

Q: What is the difference between dye and pigment stain?
A: Dye penetrates; pigment sits on the surface.

Q: What is the typical stain prep?
A: Sand to 180-220, dust off, apply conditioner if needed.

Q: What is the rule "wipe off excess stain"?
A: Even coloring; longer time = darker.

Q: What is the role of pre-finishing?
A: Finishing parts before assembly to reach all surfaces.

Q: What is "rub-out"?
A: Polishing finish to consistent sheen.

Q: What is the typical fixing finish defect?
A: Sand back and re-coat.

Q: What is the role of a workbench?
A: Stable, flat, heavy work surface.

Q: What is the typical workbench feature?
A: Vises, dog holes, flat top.

Q: What is a tail vise?
A: A vise at the end of the workbench.

Q: What is a face vise?
A: A vise on the front.

Q: What is a holdfast?
A: A J-shaped clamp into dog holes; holds work down.

Q: What is bench dog?
A: A peg in the bench top working with vise to clamp.

Q: What is the typical first project?
A: A small box or simple shelf; teaches many skills.

Q: What is the role of starter tool kit?
A: Quality basics over many cheap tools.

Q: What is the rule "buy your last tool first"?
A: Quality is cheaper long-term.

Q: What is the role of safety glasses?
A: Always wear; tiny wood fragments are common.

Q: What is the role of hearing protection?
A: Power tools damage hearing; use plugs or muffs.

Q: What is the role of dust collection?
A: Reduces respiratory issues; static buildup.

Q: What is the role of a dust mask/respirator?
A: Required for fine dust; especially hardwoods.

Q: What is the danger of fine wood dust?
A: Some species are carcinogenic (e.g., walnut, oak); fine dust harms lungs.

Q: What is the role of push sticks?
A: Keeps hands away from blades.

Q: What is "kickback"?
A: Material thrown back violently from a saw; serious injury risk.

Q: What is the rule "don't reach over the blade"?
A: Hands can be pulled in if material binds.

Q: What is the role of a riving knife / splitter?
A: Prevents kickback by keeping kerf open behind blade.

Q: What is the typical workshop layout?
A: Logical flow from material storage → milling → joinery → assembly → finishing.

Q: What is the rule "respect the tool"?
A: Each can injure; train and focus.

Q: What is the role of teachers/mentors?
A: Greatly accelerate skill acquisition.

Q: What is the role of YouTube?
A: Many excellent free woodworking channels.

Q: What is Shaker style?
A: Simple, functional, finely crafted; American religious community origin.

Q: What is Mission/Craftsman style?
A: Simple oak with visible joinery.

Q: What is Mid-Century Modern?
A: Mid-1900s style; clean lines, walnut, tapered legs.

Q: What is Japanese woodworking?
A: Hand-tool tradition with refined joinery.

Q: What is the typical Japanese joinery?
A: Complex without nails; based on hand tools.

Q: What is the role of seasoning a workbench?
A: Time and use settle a bench's flatness.

Q: What is the typical workshop priority?
A: Light, ventilation, electricity, dust collection.

Q: What is the role of jigs?
A: Custom tools for repetitive cuts and accuracy.

Q: What is "shop-made jigs"?
A: Common woodworker tradition for efficiency.

Q: What is the role of templates?
A: Patterns guiding repeat cuts.

Q: What is the role of patience?
A: Quality woodworking takes time; rushing produces mistakes.

Q: What is the role of practice projects?
A: Build skills on scraps before tackling fine wood.

Q: What is the role of mistakes?
A: Inevitable; learn to recover gracefully.

Q: What is the typical lifelong learning?
A: Even experts find new techniques to study.

Q: What is the role of community?
A: Local clubs, classes, online forums.

Q: What is the takeaway of woodworking?
A: A craft of patience, precision, and pleasure — transforming trees into lasting objects.