Glossary

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product formed by breaking down softwood into wood fiber, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. MDF is used as a building material similar in application to plywood. It is much more dense than normal particle board.

A usually rectangular cavity in a piece of wood, stone, or other material, prepared to receive a tenon and thus form a joint.

A mortise lock is one that requires a pocket (the mortise) to be cut into the door or piece of furniture into which the lock is to be fitted. In most parts of the world, mortise locks are generally found on older buildings constructed before the advent of bored cylindrical locks, but they have recently become more common in commercial and upmarket residential construction in the United States.

A slender vertical bar between the casements or panes of a window.

A vertical framing member set between two rails in a door or in paneling.