Carpentry & Woodworking

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

A fellow on another forum started his thread like this:
"Not quite on topic but I think of carpentry as pretty close to woodworking."

Part of my answer was " Carpentry is Woodworking.... if you do it right." I find that I need to do more carpentry than furniture projects. There are many posts involving shop construction and cabinetry for the house. I built my shop for the sole purpose of finishing decades of dream projects around the house. I already have furniture. I need storage, shelves, a screened porch and on and on. I need help on all of these.

<center>Are carpentry projects appropriate on this forum?
Should a carpentry question be labeled O. T. ? (Off Topic)
I think carpentry is woodworking. Very appropriate, me thinks.
What do you thinks?</center>

[Jim Baker]

I think carpentry is entirely appropriate for this forum and does not need to be labeled OT. Carpentry and woodworking share many similar skills.

In fact, it cauld be argued that one needs to be more skilled to do good carpentry work than woodworking. Carpentry often requires the craftsman to adapt to less than ideal conditions, including out of square situations, uncomfortable or inconvenient working positions (high work, low work, corners, etc), and adapting to whatever was left behind by previous builders, whereas woodworking can typically be done in more of a controlled environment.

Just my $.02.

[Tom Sweeney]

I do a lot more carpentry stuff than fine WW'ing. Actually, technically speaking I haven't really done any "Woodworking" to speak of since high school shop class. I have done a few little things in the shop, over the last 4 months. Mostly just practicing.

IMHO carpentry should be considered woodworking - perhaps not fine woodworking, but woodworking none the less. I don't think it needs to be labeled off topic - especially if we use good subject descriptions.

You use the same tools, a lot of the same knowledge & skills, & you use wood - sounds like woodworking to me.

Just my 3¢ worth (inflation)

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Last week I had an opportunity to walk through two million dollar houses under construction. One was trimmed with plain poplar 1x2 and looked pretty raggedy, in my opinion. It certainly wouldn't have been good enough for MY house., let alone one costing $1M or more. The other was trimmed with complex poplar crown and fancy door casings, and done quite well. I suspect one crew might have had a bit of woodworking experience...

KC

[Thomas Skaggs]

I must say that whoever posted such a question must not be a carpenter. Certainly not a finish carpenter. The skills, tools and techniques are much the same. The projects are mostly different by virtue of scale.

I myself would not have gotten the WW bug had it not been for carpentry. I dare say many others got there the same way.

Tommy

[Joe_Ott]

I think there is a big difference. When I think of woodworking I think of people like Mike Dunbar, Garrett Hack, Fine Woodworking mag and so on. When I think of carpentry, I think of people like Norm Abram.

When somebody says 'woodworking' what comes to mind is building things like furniture and other objects that are viewed and used. I suppose carpentry can include some of these things. Hmm. The more I think of it, when building kitchen cabinets, which invloves both carpentry and woodworking skills, and I have a question on how I should cut crown molding, should I preface the topic with O.T.?

I guess to that if we start a thread that is carpentry related and not state that somehow, the forum could become a 'Home Repair' forum(?).

Geez. I don't know. I go back and forth on it. I think maybe it would be difficult to define the difference between carpentry and woodworking.

BTW, what I say above about Norm is not to slight Norm at all. I am a fan of Norm. I like watching his shows and TOH.

Joe

[Scott in Douglassville, PA]

Carpentry <b>is</b> woodworking. Carpentry <b>isn't <i>necessarily</b></i> furniture making.

[Ron Taylor]

Hmmm... I always thought cabintry WAS woodworking, but perhaps not FINE woodworking.

My 1.5 cents worth (after taxes)

[Thomas Skaggs]

Check out this guy's site:

http://www.plamann.com/sys-tmpl/door/

That is carpentry. However, he call's himself a woodworker...and very rightly so.

Carpentry is cutting, planing, jointing, joinery, turning, carving,assembly, sanding and finishing. I fail to see the difference from woodworking.

Tommy

[Jim Izat]

I think that historically speaking carpentry was for centuries fine working. As the decades and centuries have passed carpentry (framing and even caulk the gap in and out in a day trim work) has suffered from the perception of a production over quality approach. When I think of carpentry I think about the craftsman bungalows in California (the Gamble House) built at the beginning of the last century or Japanese home and temple building in any of the last ten or fifteen centuries. Any work done in wood which seeks quality above all is fine woodworking to me.

Jim Izat

[Ken Frantz]

Doesn't rough carpentry, finish carpentry, furniture etc all start from wood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is a fella that cuts down trees a "woodworker"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Raising the anti----my nickels worth!!!!!

[Joe_Ott]

to me as I'm sitting here at work and my head hit the desk.

Carpentry, furniture making, rough carpentry, finish carpentry, whatever. They are all sub categories of the broad category of woodworking.

No? What do I know. I'm just a woodhack. :)

Joe

BTW - Webster says:

Function: noun
Date: 1875
: the act, process, or occupation of working wood into a useful or desired form

[Von Bickley]

Dr. Zack,

I always think of them going together,especially when you have good trim carpenters. I have known cabinet men that only built cabinets and mantle pieces, and they were excellent woodworkers.
One member of our woodworking club builds kitchen cabinets that could be considered fine woodworking, with beautiful dovetail joints on all his kitchen drawers.

[Phil Phelps]

...And those that meet and exceed those standards, excel to an art in their facet of woodworking. From a lumberjack to a wood carver.

[Aaron Koehl]

Originally posted by Thomas Skaggs
Check out this guy's site:

http://www.plamann.com/sys-tmpl/door/

That is carpentry. However, he call's himself a woodworker...and very rightly so.

Tommy

Wow! That almost looks like one of Escher's works!

_Aaron_

[Dave Crabbs]

I am a carpenter that builds forms for concrete. I would have to say that finish carpentry is closer to woodworking then building forms.
I enclosed a picture of a job that I am working on. It is a foundation for a Bar Screen Building at a Waste Water Treatment Plant. The fat guy in the brown hard hat is me:p . Is this woodworking???
Dave

[steve banks]

To throw in my 2 cents, this is where my true love lies- architectual woodworking. When one is restoring a 100 year old Victorian,one has to be VERY resourcful in achieving that perfect look in pure authentic restoration. This means finding antique old growth or even virgin timber lumber to replicate anything that is missing or need of replacement. Granted I don't have the machinery to make knives for moulding replication, but alot of simple pieces I can make myself. What I can't do, I have a local specialist do it for me. This is very satisfying to take rough lumber i.e., floor joist out of a to be demolished house, and resaw it, plane it, and create an exact matching piece of historical trim that can't be destinguished from the original. This may not be fine furniture making to some, but an antique home is fine furniture to me.

[Tom Sweeney]

a post on the Neander side of BP. Some one from the North West US is /was building his workshop. He posted pics of the almost finished shop. This guy was building the entire thing using hand tools. It was a traditional Japanese building style with traditional Japanese joinery. This thing was amazing.

That is woodworking IMHO!

Does anyone remember more details about this?