It is difficult to imagine a raw material as useful and attractive as wood. In addition to making ships, buildings, and other structures, you can use it to carve cabinets, chairs, and all kinds of furniture, as well as create sculptures, frames, marquetry, and other artistic items. Woodworking itself can be a fun and useful activity.
Cutting, shaping, and assembly techniques have evolved over the years, particularly with the advent of power tools. But the old ways never die, they only get better. People still chisel and saw wood with hand saws. Today they have better tools than their predecessors, especially electric ones that work faster, are cleaner and require less effort.
However, working with wood is not without risk. One of the most important things a beginner needs to know is how to use it safely.
What is carpentry?
Carpentry is the art or trade of turning wood into decorative and useful elements. Many artisans work in the woodworking industry but do not see themselves as carpenters. The carpenter distinguishes three things:
- special attention to the wood material;
- Variety of cutting, forming and assembly tools;
- The store where they work.
Just as important as the tool is the workshop, which provides space to organize the woodwork and a flat, stable surface for assembly.
Woodworking requires attention to detail, patience, and even dedication. It takes years of training to acquire the skills of a carpenter, but don't let that stop you. Even a beginner can do good quality woodworking and enjoy it.
carpentry benefits
Whether you consider it a hobby or a profession, carpentry has psychological, social and economic benefits. Permitted:
- Improve your creative skills: Working with wood allows you to express your imagination in the real world and increases your confidence and self-esteem.
- Exercise your brain: Not only will you use more math than you probably learned in school, but you'll use it all the time. This helps keep your mind flexible.
- Stress relief: Woodworking is relaxing. Helps with anxiety and depression.
- Foster new friendships. Carpenters often share workshops and form work groups.
- SAVE MONEY: You don't have to buy expensive wooden furniture and accessories when you can make your own.
Carpentry vs Carpentry
The difference is negligible: a carpenter works a lot in the workshop, and a carpenter often works on construction sites. The controlled environment in the workshop allows the carpenter to make more complex items, while the carpenter makes mostly utilitarian items.
types of carpentry
Carpentry is an umbrella term for a wide variety of skills and activities, some related to construction and others to pure art. You understand:
- Carpentry – Carpenters also make home furnishings, such as tables and chairs, and specialty items, such as trunks. They often use intricate woodwork and exotic woods.
- Woodcarving: Woodcarving is primarily an artistic activity and one of the most primitive forms of carpentry. Using chisels, hammers, and sometimes power tools, woodcarvers make figurines, figurines, decorative forms, and sometimes utilitarian objects such as bowls and other vessels.
- Woodturning: Give a woodturning machine a lathe, a tool that turns wood when it is reached horizontally, and the result is a more refined and complex shape. Lathes make bowls, vases, mugs, curved legs for chairs and tables, ornate balustrades, and even baseball bats.
- Finishing – Also known as wood inlay, it is the art of creating intricate designs from thin pieces of wood and laying them on other surfaces. Decorators often use a spiral saw to cut geometric and floral designs.
- Wood burning – Also known as pyrography, this is the art of burning designs into wood using a hot object such as a torch or soldering iron.
woodworking terms
Like any specialized activity, the carpenter's trade also has its own terminology. Some of the most important terms a carpenter should know include:
- Warping : Fresh (green) wood can warp in various ways as it dries. This is called warping and it affects the usability of the wood. Some common anomalies are buckling (the edges of the board rise from the center), sag (the same phenomenon occurs on the other side of the board), and buckling (the end of the board rises).
- Wood Grain – This is the pattern that the wood fibers form. It depends on the type of wood and how the board was carved out of the wood. Wood hair is preferably straight, but can be bent or twisted around the knots. When an irregular circular grain pattern occurs throughout the board, it is known as a knot.
- Face, Edge and Back: The face is the fibers at the widest point of the board. The edge bead runs along the narrowest point and the end bead is exposed at the end of the panel when cut.
- Hardwoods and softwoods: Hardwoods are derived from deciduous trees (those that lose their leaves in the fall), while conifers are derived from conifers (needles). Softwoods are lighter and easier to work with than hardwoods, but they are not as strong or attractive.
carpentry tools
© Studio Yaghi/Getty ImagesComplete woodworking has a variety of tools for cutting, shaping, and joining. But if you're just starting out, all you need are a few basics, including:
- Square: This is necessary to create accurate cross sections and connect the parts at right angles.
- Tape Measure: Indicates the length and width of the tree to be cut.
- Hand saw : Japanese saws are the best. They have finely milled teeth that cut when pulled and a long handle for better control.
- Clamps: Clamps hold product in place for precision cutting and gluing.
- Table saw: A professional probably has a powerful shop saw, but all you need is a portable table saw.
- Secret. If you need to cut curves, use a hacksaw. Later you can switch to a band saw or band saw.
- Drill: You'll find many uses for a cordless drill, including drilling holes and driving bolts. Finally, you may need a drill press for more precision.
- Treadmill: There are different types of treadmills. For beginners, choose a random orbital sander.
- Palm Router: This is not an absolute requirement. However, if you want to shape the edges, this tool makes it faster and cleaner.
Where to buy wood for carpentry
You can buy softwoods like pine, fir, redwood, and cedar, as well as local hardwoods like oak, maple, and hickory at hardware stores.
For the best selection, visit your local lumber store, which may also carry exotic hardwoods like padauk, mahogany, and tigerwood. Exotics are generally rare, but if you search online, you'll likely find a seller that ships them for a higher price.
