Q 01/05

Which joint, prized for resisting being pulled apart, classically attaches a drawer front to its sides?

A) Dovetail

B) Mortise and tenon

C) Finger joint

D) Lap joint

Answer · why

A) Dovetail

Its interlocking pins and tails are trapezoidal, and once glued it needs no nails or screws; examples survive in First Dynasty Egyptian tombs.

Q 02/05

In the classic joint where a projecting tongue fits into a matching hole, what is the hole called?

A) The tenon

B) The shoulder

C) The mortise

D) The haunch

Answer · why

C) The mortise

One of the earliest known examples is 7,000 years old, from the Hemudu culture in China's Zhejiang Province.

Q 03/05

Wood from flowering, broad-leaved trees is called what?

A) Softwood

B) Heartwood

C) Sapwood

D) Hardwood

Answer · why

D) Hardwood

The label is botanical, not about hardness: balsa is a hardwood softer than most softwoods, while yew and Douglas fir are softwoods harder than many h...

Q 04/05

Balsa is famous for being the softest commercially used wood in which category?

A) Softwood

B) Hardwood

C) Engineered wood

D) Ironwood

Answer · why

B) Hardwood

Its name is the Spanish word for 'raft'; the tree can shoot up 30 metres.

Q 05/05

Which Caribbean wood, so dense it sinks, is used for 'heavy' cricket bails and bearings?

A) Ebony from Gabon

B) Lignum vitae

C) Burmese teak

D) Cuban mahogany

Answer · why

B) Lignum vitae

It's the national tree of the Bahamas and the national flower of Jamaica, and the whole Guaiacum genus has been CITES-listed since 2003.