So, You Want to be a Carpenter?
Being a carpenter is more than knowing how to build a chair. There are different kinds of carpenters who work different things. Rough Carpenters work on homes and buildings; Finish Carpenters do furniture making, cabinetry and make instruments. Joisters are people who build floors and the framing for floors. Trim Carpenters make the trim and molding that is seen around doors and windows as well as taking care of other kinds of detailed work. Cabinetmakers obviously make cabinets, but they also make a variety of different storage containers. There are even ship carpenters who build boats and know how to fix them. Roofers and framers are also Carpenters.
The best carpenters are people who have fantastic dexterity and are good with math. They are also people who do not mind doing physical work as most of the work they do is physical. The majority of carpentry work is woodwork though other materials can be used as well. There is nothing dainty about being a carpenter. Carpentry is hard work that is mostly manual labor that takes place outdoors.
It isn’t hard to enter the carpentry field as almost all of a carpenter’s working knowledge comes from hands on experience. People who are just starting out in the field should take some classes because there are usually some skills tests that must be passed before a beginner in the carpentry field can be granted status as a journeyman. A journeyman is, basically, an uncertified carpenter or carpenter who hasn’t been in the field for very long and do not have a formal education in woodworking.
Every day carpenters use math, a wide variety of technologies, tools and even some customer service skills. A carpenter must also know how to read blueprints, understand basic physics, geometry and be able to both do and understand mechanical drawing. Anybody can be taught these skills and they are important because, even in the building of a bookshelf, a carpenter has to understand angles, how to use saws, hammers, screwdrivers and glue and understand how to distribute weight evenly. Carpenters also understand how different building materials work, and are often the decision makers when it comes to choosing the materials from which something is constructed.
Carpenters are builders, but their job stops after the making of something and before the extra bells and whistles are added. For example, a carpenter will build the chair but they are not always the person who paints or upholsters it. This does not mean that they aren’t important, though. Carpenters are responsible for building the frame of everything that we use.
Carpenters are skilled in a number of areas. A carpenter will build your house, your boat and construct the furniture and fine woodwork that goes inside of them. Becoming a carpenter takes some time and some training but it is certainly something that anybody with determination and patience can achieve. Carpentry is a very rewarding field—it is one of the few fields in which you can immediately see your hard work being put to use by someone else.
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