Leon Papadopoulos 1/9/06

Mrs. Elbogen English 12

Research Paper: Carpentry

Carpenters are skilled craftsmen who construct, repair wooden structures and finish them. Carpentry is one of the world’s earliest crafts and is used to make items as simple as a chair to items such as bars and kitchens. There are many steps and processes needed to take before becoming a carpenter, which require a great deal of skill and education. Today, there are many tools used in carpentry, from hand tools to power tools. There are many steps that people need to take to become a successful carpenter.

Becoming a carpenter is a very arduous task to overcome, but is still in reach of almost every one. There are many steps and skills that people need to take in order to become professional carpenter. You need extreme precision, accuracy, and great hand-eye coordination. Many skills are also acquired while on the job or learning how to become a carpenter. People have to go through a great deal of education and hard work. Education can start during high school for most people in shop, drawing and math classes. Most carpenters actually learn how to work with wood through the actual job itself. A skilled carpenter usually takes 3-4 years of school, or formal training programs, and interns at a wood workshop to learn the trade. Carpenters who work for big companies often take a program called “Apprenticeship”, which requires you to be over the age of eighteen. This program combines the class room experience and training into one, which is every young carpenters dream because it makes things so much easier for them. Carpenters need to be able to calculate math problems very quickly through out a day of work. On average they make between twelve and twenty-three dollars per hour. Most carpenters work for contractors, government agencies, and manufacturing firms. There was a recorded job availability of over 1.3 million in carpentry and woodworking in the year 2004. This job is becoming more available to people every year because so many companies are expanding. Carpentry is one of the oldest crafts and has been passed on from generation to generation.

Although there is no telling when carpentry first began, it is believed that it began in the early 12^th and 13th century. The styles of carpentry have greatly changed since then. Carpentry originated from all over the globe at different times. Each country or culture had their own types of carpentry in the 12^th and 13^th centuries; for example, during this time England’s carpentry was primarily considered to be “gothic”. French Carpentry was called “sous-faitage” at this time as well. Most European countries built churches and chapels and designed roofs to show their style of carpentry. Carpenter, the word itself, derives from the Greek word “tekton”. Tekton is a “remnant of a similar term that can also be found in Vedic, where it refers again to carpentry. In Greek it appears in Homer, where it alludes to the art of construction in general. The poetic connotation of the term first appears in Sappho where the tekton, the carpenter, assumes the role of the poet. This meaning undergoes further evolution as the term passes from being something specific and physical, such as carpentry, to a more generic notion of making, in the poetic sense.” - Kenneth Frampton. Many people performed carpentry with what ever they could find back then, but currently there are many tools and objects used to help people do their work to perfection which is very important in today’s carpentry.

As Tim “The Tool man” Taylor once said, “Sure it's easy to be happy when you're made out of wood.” Tim is a modern day carpenter on the show “Home Improvement,” and he teaches people how to build structures and use certain types of tools every episode. There are many different types of tools used in today’s modern carpentry. They range from hammers to 20 inch power saws. A hammer would be considered a hand tool and a saw would be considered a power tool. A hand tool is simply a tool used by the hand and requires no source of electricity to use the tool. A list of hand tools in a carpentry workshop would consist of knives, hand saws, back saws, planes, scrapers, chisels and gouges, rasp, basic drills, hammers and mallets, screwdrivers, clamps, and tape measurers. Tape measurers are a huge part of carpentry because everything needs to be cut or drilled at a precise point, and if the measurements are off the whole project could be ruined. A power tool is a tool powered by gasoline or electricity. Drills, jigsaws, circular saws, sanders, power planes, and biscuit jointers are considered to be power tools. Power tools usually require more skill and experience to use. You need to be very cautious using tools, and safety could be a huge issue if tools are not used properly. Carpenters should always wear goggles at all times in the workshop to protect their eyes from wood chips and other flying objects. They should also roll up their sleeves and wear appropriate clothing for work. A carpenter should always take care and maintain of all his tools so that he can get full use from them time after time. Sharpening of chisels and plane irons is very important so they could be used at full quality. You can sharpen tools either by hand or with other machines. When people sharpen by hand they use sharpening pads, which is a piece of abrasive paper cloth, glued firmly to a piece of board. Magnetizing drills and screw drivers frequently is also very important and makes life a lot easier for carpenters because screws often fall in cracks and wholes if there not magnetized. Safety and the maintenance of tools are very important for every one in this field because body parts, such as fingers, are lost so frequently.

There are many different types of wood that people could use for their woodwork. Some wood is more durable and thick then others, while other types of wood are meant to be bent and rounded. Many people use Formica for counter-tops and such, which is a lot cheaper then using real wood. Formica is a plastic laminate that contains melamine. Plywood is used very frequently in woodworking. Plywood is usually a very thin type of wood; and many times two or three pieces are put together into one. Plywood is a dream come true for many people who make custom wood projects. Plywood is available in 1/16 of an inch, and can be curved for round edges. There are also many different types of finishes done to custom wood jobs such as staining the wood, glazing it, and regular the use of paint. Staining is a discoloration of an object when a foreign object combines chemically with it. Glazing is where carpenters put a smooth glossy surface on the woodwork; glazing usually has a very distinct look and can easily be told apart from a stain. Staining and glazing is usually a very expensive process and can cost up to thousands of dollars depending on the size of the work needed to be done. Sanding is also a very important part of finishing wood. Sanding makes the surface much smoother, and takes out all the rough edges. French polish is often used to finish wood as well. Polish is usually the best thing to use for denoting everyday maintenance. Putting the finishing touches on wood is always a must because it makes the wood look beautiful, and the quality of your work really catches people’s eye.