12 Common Woodworking Terms You Should Know

Seasonal Wood Movement

For woodworkers, “Seasonal Wood Movement” is a term that is top-of-mind when making any project, so it’s the perfect place to start. Simply put, all solid wood swells when it’s humid and shrinks when the air is drier. This seasonal swelling and shrinking can crack open corner joints and change the structure of wooden furniture. It can also result in cracks or cupping* across the face of a solid wood board.

Each species of wood is different, but red oak, for example, can swell and shrink 3/16-in. over a 12-in. width. That means that a 36-in.-wide solid-wood tabletop could swell or shrink up to a 1/2-in. over the course of a year!

Wood moves as a percentage of the size of the wood, therefore smaller parts move less than large parts. Plywood, which is far more stable than solid wood, was developed to avoid the problems created by seasonal wood movement.

*See “Cup” in slide six.