Fit-checking words like plumb, level and square, plus the shop talk crews actually use on site.
Back to the full A-Z index. Other hubs: Doors, Moldings, Stairs, Closets and Built-ins, Hardware, Joints and Cuts, Tools, Fasteners, Glue and Materials, Jobsite and Business, Specialty / Built-ins.
Jump to a term: A Hair / A Whisker · Dial In · Dress It / Ease the Edge / Break the Edge · Dry Fit · Eyeball / Eyeballing · Factory Edge · Field (Layout) · Flush · Measure Twice, Cut Once · Out of Plumb / Out of Level · Plumb / Level / Square (Condition) · Proud / Shy · Scribe / Story Pole · Sneak Up on It / Kiss It / Hog It Off · Tolerance (Construction Tolerance)
A Hair / A Whisker
An extremely small amount, on the order of 1/16in or less, a feel rather than a fixed measurement.
Dial In
Fine-tuning a saw angle or setting through test cuts until it is exact, rather than trusting the printed scale.
Dress It / Ease the Edge / Break the Edge
Dress means cleaning up and truing a surface. Easing or breaking an edge means softening a sharp corner slightly. On Sun's Up jobs, that is a light 120-grit knockdown only, never pre-sanding or finish-sanding, which is painter scope.
Dry Fit
Test-fitting a piece in position, without glue or fasteners, to check the cut before committing.
Eyeball / Eyeballing
Estimating a measurement by sight instead of actually measuring it. It comes up as a warning against cutting corners, not a technique Sun's Up recommends.
Factory Edge
The milled, true edge of stock as it comes from the supplier, referenced against a saw fence.
Field (Layout)
The open expanse of floor or wall away from a border or edge, as in 'lay the field first, borders last.'
Do not confuse this with the field of a raised-panel door or wainscot panel, covered on the Moldings hub, the flat center area inside the frame. Here it means the open expanse of floor or wall away from a border.
Flush
Sitting exactly even with an adjacent surface, no gap and no proud/shy offset.
Measure Twice, Cut Once
The standard carpentry proverb: verify a measurement before committing a cut that cannot be undone.
Out of Plumb / Out of Level
Widely used shop phrases for 'not vertical' / 'not horizontal,' distinct from the bare single words plumb and level.
Plumb / Level / Square (Condition)
Plumb is perfectly vertical, level is perfectly horizontal, square is a true 90-degree angle to a reference, all checked with the corresponding tool.
'Square' also names a layout tool, like a combination, speed, or framing square, covered on the Tools hub. Checking whether something 'is square' describes a condition, not a request for the tool.
Proud / Shy
Proud describes a surface or fastener sticking up or out past the surrounding surface; shy is the opposite, sitting slightly recessed. Flush sits exactly even, the goal most of the time.
'Shy' is the common trade antonym of proud, even though Sun's Up guides rarely use the word.
Scribe / Story Pole
Also called: story stick, story rod. Shop talk: preacher board, jury stick.
Scribe means tracing an irregular surface, like a wavy wall, onto a piece so it can be cut to match. A story pole is a marked reference board used to transfer the same set of measurements over and over.
Sneak Up on It / Kiss It / Hog It Off
Sneak up on it means approaching a tight cut through small test adjustments; kiss it means an extremely light pass; hog it off means removing material fast and roughly.
Tolerance (Construction Tolerance)
The acceptable margin of error for a measurement or fit, stated directly by Sun's Up's own standards.
What does your crew call it? If you use a different word for something on this page, or we are missing a term you use every day, tell us and we will add it.