Glossary
Our product pages use words like Baltic birch, matte sealer, and raised letters as though everyone already knows them. Here is what each one means, and why it matters for the piece you are looking at.
- Baltic birch
- A plywood made from thin birch veneers laminated with no interior voids, sourced from the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The void-free core is what lets it hold fine laser-cut detail at small letter sizes without the edge crumbling, which is why it is used for the nursery signs, closet dividers, and game boards.
- Eastern black walnut
- A North American hardwood with a dark chocolate-brown heartwood, cut here from Appalachian Highlands stock. It is a solid hardwood rather than a plywood, so a walnut piece is cut from a single board and its grain pattern is unique to that piece.
- White oak
- A pale, dense North American hardwood with a straight, open grain, cut here from Appalachian Highlands stock. It takes an oil finish evenly, and it is offered alongside walnut on the wedding seating charts and welcome signs for buyers who want a lighter board.
- Olive wood
- A dense hardwood with irregular, high-contrast grain that varies sharply from piece to piece. Because the figure cannot be predicted before cutting, two olive wood pieces of the same design will not match each other.
- FSC certified
- Certification by the Forest Stewardship Council that the wood was harvested from forests managed to its environmental and social standards. The Baltic birch, walnut, and white oak used here come from FSC-certified mills. The certification applies to the source material, not to the finished piece.
- Laser cutting
- Cutting fully through a sheet of wood with a focused laser beam, producing the separated shapes — letters, animal figures, disc tokens — that are then assembled onto a backer. Distinct from engraving, which removes material without cutting through.
- Laser engraving
- Burning a design into the surface of the wood without cutting through it, leaving a darkened recess. The mark is part of the wood rather than a layer applied on top, so it cannot peel, chip, or wash off.
- Raised letters
- Letters cut as separate pieces and mounted onto a backer board rather than engraved into it, so they stand above the surface and cast a shadow. This is the layered construction used on the name signs, as opposed to a flat engraved sign.
- Backer
- The solid panel that cut letters and figures are mounted to. Its shape and size scale with the length of the personalized name, which is why a longer name produces a physically larger sign.
- Satin lacquer
- A clear protective topcoat that dries to a low sheen between matte and gloss. It is water-resistant and wipes clean with a damp cloth, which is why it is used on the event game boards that get handled.
- Matte sealer
- A clear topcoat that protects the surface without adding shine, leaving the wood looking close to raw. Water-resistant, not waterproof: it withstands wiping but not standing water or outdoor exposure.
- Natural matte oil
- A penetrating finish that soaks into the wood fibers instead of forming a film on the surface. It leaves the grain visible and the surface close to bare to the touch, and is refreshed by rubbing in food-safe mineral oil rather than by stripping and recoating. Used on the solid walnut and white oak pieces.
- Food-safe linseed oil
- A plant-derived penetrating oil, pressed from flax seed, that is safe for surfaces which contact food once fully cured. Used with natural beeswax on the walnut and white oak wedding pieces.
- Food-safe mineral oil
- A clear, odorless penetrating oil that is safe for surfaces which contact food. It is the finish on the olive wood rolling pin, and it is also what refreshes a matte oil finish that has started to look flat — rubbed in with a cloth and left to absorb, rather than stripped and recoated.
- Natural beeswax
- A wax applied over a penetrating oil to seal the surface and add a low sheen. Used with mineral oil on the rolling pin and with linseed oil on the walnut and white oak wedding pieces.
- Water-based wood stain
- A pigment carried in water rather than solvent, used to darken wood while leaving the grain visible. It contains no petroleum solvent, which is why it is the stain used on the nursery pieces, and it is sealed under a topcoat once dry.
- Made to order
- Nothing in the catalog is cut before it is bought. Each piece begins production after the order is placed, which is why every product page states a production window rather than shipping the same day.
- Digital proof
- An image of your personalized layout, showing the exact text and arrangement before anything is cut. Custom and branded pieces get a proof within 24 hours of ordering and are not cut until you approve it. Name signs are proofed when a layout needs a decision, such as a name that runs long for the backer.
- Lead time
- The number of business days between your order and the piece shipping, covering cutting, assembly, and hand-finishing. It excludes carrier transit, which adds a further 3 to 5 business days within the continental United States.
- Personalization
- The buyer-supplied text or details cut into a piece — a name, a date, a set of initials. Because personalized pieces cannot be resold, they are non-returnable for a change of mind. A piece that arrives damaged, defective, or not what you ordered is replaced or refunded within 30 days of delivery.