We had mentioned on Facebook and Twitter that the English still refer to sandpaper as glasspaper, since the first commercially viable sandpaper made used ground glass as the abrasive.

Sanding to Remove Rust

This quickly led to a spirited, if slightly tongue in cheek, conversation of the many differences between American woodworking terms and English terms for the same things:

"Kari Hultman I wondered about that. Glass paper is referred to in the book I'm reading: The Essential Woodworker.

2Sand Kari, I had seen the reference too, and so I looked it up. It is funny how many terms are different between English and American woodworkers. They refer to "cramps" which we call clamps!"

And then Kari added the terms "Rabbet and Rebate".

Rick Waters piped in with:

"Rick Waters American=Planer, English= Thicknesser and, American:=Jointer, English=Planer"

So, what terms have you come across to add to our dictionary? Please feel free to add your comment here, or jump in on Facebook or Twitter. Don't forget to browse our website for sanding discs, sanding belts, and other sandpaper products.