Materials

Unglazed ceramic tile, machine-made by the extrusion process from natural clay or shales.

Lumber that has been sawed so that the wide surfaces extend approximately at right angles to the annual growth rings. Lumber is considered edge grained when the rings form an angle of 45 degrees to 90 degrees with the wide surface of the piece.

The most common variety of silica; commonly occurs as crystals.

A transparent variety of the silica mineral quartz that is valued for its clarity and total lack of color or flaws. Vessels and spheres have been carved from large crystals since ancient times, and the application of the word "crystal" to fine glassware derives from this practice. Quartz crystal formerly was used extensively as a gemstone, usually brilliant-cut, although it has now been largely replaced by glass; rhinestones originally were quartz pebbles found in the Rhine River. The optical properties of quartz crystal led to its use in lenses and prisms; its piezoelectric properties are used to control the oscillation of electrical circuits. Its physical properties are those of quartz.

A porphyritic rhyolite containing phenocrysts of quartz and alkali feldspar in a microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline groundmass.

A metamorphic rock composed largely of granular quartz which is cemented by silica forming a homogeneous mass of very high tensile and crushing strengths; especially used as a building stone, as gravel in road construction, and as aggregate in concrete.

A britannia metal with a small amount of zinc.

Genus containing around 450 species of ornamental and timber trees and shrubs, found chiefly in north temperate regions and at high altitudes in the tropics. The durable wood has a distinctive coarse grain. The thick bark from some species is used for its buoyancy. Tannins and dyes can be extracted from the bark. Oak emits organic acids as it ages. Many plants commonly called "oak" are not Quercus, including African oak, Australian oak, bull oak, etc.

Species of oak native to the Pacific coastal regions of North America from California to the Baja peninsula; most often shrubby, but may reach heights of 20 m. Distinguished by holly-like leaves; may live to 250 years in age. The hard wood has been used for shipbuilding in the past, but now the tree is primarily used as an ornamental and for shade.

Species of oak native to the eastern United States, reaching 45 m (50 feet) in height, having pale-gray, shallowly fissured, scaly bark, and glossy, bright green leaves that narrow toward the base and turn wine red in autumn. Specimens are known to have lived for up to 600 years. It is an important timber tree, having light brown, coarse-grained, strong wood, used for millwork and flooring.

Species of small, slow-growing deciduous shrubby tree native to the dry, sandy areas of the southeastern United States, on the coastal plain from Delaware to Florida and Louisiana. It reaches 10 meters in height, has deeply incised leaves with 3-7 slender lobes, and acorns that take 18 months to mature. It hybridizes easily with southern red oak (Q. falcata), bluejack oak (Q. incana), laurel oak (Q. laurifolia), and water oak (Q. nigra). Its name "turkey oak" is derived either from the turkey-footprint shape of its leaves or from the fact that wild turkeys eat the acorns.

Species of evergreen tree native to the southeastern and gulf area of the United States into Mexico, and Cuba, having a coarse, reddish brown bark and reaching 50 feet in height. Valued for its hard, durable wood, formerly used in shipbuilding; today most often used for shade trees. It is readily hybridized, and thus confusion regarding varieties and certain common names has arisen.

Stones used to form the corner of a wall of masonry, especially when accentuated by a difference in the surface treatment from that of the rest of the wall mass.