WTF is “Fretwood”?

I was reading through Paul Hasluck’s book Cabinet and Joinery from 1907 and came across a term I am unfamiliar with.

It is from the section on making serving trays. Page 352: “The base, which is a piece of 1/4-in. thick figured oak fretwood, already planed, should be neatly rounded on the edges.”

What exactly is “fretwood”? The internet had the answer thanks to John Johnston on the Unplugged Woodworkers Facebook Group. They linked me to a PDF regarding fretwork from VictorianVoices.Net (Link).

It states, “Many sorts of wood are now in the market, ready cut to the proper thicknesses for fretcutting, and in addition to ordinary fretwood, what is known as three-ply wood is sold ; this consists of three thin layers of wood glued together, the grain of the middle piece running in a direction at right angles to that of the grain of the two outside pieces.”

What is fretwood? Wood used in fretcutting. Once of which is a plywood. For this specific piece I am going to guess that the 3-ply fretwood should be used. That makes sense based on the piece this is suppose to go in as there is no allowance for expansion and contraction of the part. Using plywood lets us ignore wood movement.

It looks like I’ll be making some 3-ply fretwood in the future.