gehobelt

Gehobelt is the German term for wood that has been planed, that is, smoothed and flattened by a plane. The word is the past participle of hobeln (to plane) and is used both as a verb form and as an adjective to describe a surface that has been machined to remove roughness and to produce parallel faces.

In woodworking, gehobelt wood is produced with hand planes or with powered planers, such as a Hobelmaschine or a Dickenhobel. The most common classifications are zwei-seitig gehobelt (planed on two sides) and einseitig gehobelt (planed on one side). Planing removes saw marks and yields a smooth, uniform surface suitable for finishing or for subsequent processing such as sanding, gluing, or coating.

Gehobelte boards are widely used in construction, furniture making, and interior finishing. The term distinguishes planed stock from rough-sawn stock (ungehobelt or grob geschliffen). The quality and use of gehobelte wood depend on species, grain direction, and moisture content; improper drying or planing against the grain can cause tear-out or warping.

In addition to its literal meaning, gehobelt can be used figuratively to describe something refined or polished, for example in expressions like gehobelte Umgangssprache or gehobelte Mode.

See also Hobeln, Planer, Holzverarbeitung.