CARPENTRY

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Personal Safety

• Wear tight clothes; beware of hanging hair, ties, clothing, scarves or belts
getting caught.
• Never enter the workshop without safety shoes.
• Do not use rings, watches etc. while working.
• Keep the workshop clean and tidy. The floor should be free from oil and
grease; the slippery floor is always dangerous.
• Wear goggles whenever there is danger of flying matter.
• Never attempt to measure the job in running.
• Always stand in respectful distance from moving and hanging parts.
• Practice cleanliness and orderliness in the shop.
• Do not run or play on the shop floor.
• Keep your body behind the sharp edges of cutting tools.
• Do not attempt to lift heavy articles without assistance.
• Never handle chips or shavings with bare hands; use special hooks,
brushes etc.
• Never place sharp tools on the floor or at the edges of the workbench; keep
them in proper place assigned for them.
• Be aware the cause of electrical hazards such as bare wires, poor earthing,
return connections, wet floors etc.
 Machine Safety

• Never operate the machine unless you have been properly instructed.
• Never work on the machine having unguarded moving parts.
• Stop the machine immediately, if it produces any unusual sounds.
• Before starting an operation, always check whether the work and cutting
tools are secured fast.
• Never leave a machine when it is running.
• Never mount or remove the work, replace tools, clean or lubricate the
machine, or remove the cover while the machine is running.
• Do not run the machine in an incorrect speed.
• Do not talk or disturb others while they are operating a machine.

Job Safety

• Use right tools for right job.

• Use metal strips to hold work pieces like Brass or Aluminum, to avoid
gripping marks on the finished surface.
• Put oil lightly on finished jobs to avoid rust.
• Tools with loose fitting or broken handles shall not be used.
• To save the time and material, frequent checking has to be made.
• Do not mix the precision measuring instruments with other tools and
equipments.
• Store inflammable materials like kerosene, turpentine etc. away from the
shop.
• Be aware of the details and location of fire fighting devices like fire buckets,
fire extinguishers etc. and first aid box in the workshop.
CARPENTRY
 INTRODUCTION

Carpentry involves cutting, shaping and fastening wood and other materials together to
produce desired product. A carpenter may be involved in making furniture, a new building or
repairing or re modelling an old one.

TIMBER

Timber is the basic materials used for any class of carpentry work. The term timber is
applied to the trees which provide us with wood. Timber for commercial purpose is divided in
to two classes.

• Soft wood
• Hard wood

Soft wood

Soft wood is obtained from trees having needle leaves. It is light in weight and colour, and
has straight fibers. The annual rings are visible. It has good tensile strength.

Hard wood

Hard wood is obtained from trees having broad leaves. The annual rings are not visible and
its fibers are close and compact. It is heavier than soft wood and is difficult to work on. Teak
and mango trees are examples.
STRUCTURE OF A TREE

Pith or medulla

The centre of the trunk is called the pith or medulla and is often soft. It is the remains of the
original sapling.

Heart Wood

The wood around and near the pith is known as heart wood. The heart wood contains
resins, more durable, stronger and darker than softer sapwood. It resists decay, attack by
insects and fungi, and is the most useful part of the tree from which to make furniture.

Sap Wood

The outer annular rings form the sap wood. This part of the wood is not very useful for
engineering works. It is largely used as fuel. It is lighter in colour and softer.

Annual Rings

Each time the growth cycle is completed, the tree gains one or more growth ring, called
annual ring. It is by counting these rings that the age of a tree can be determined, as each ring
represents one year of growth.

Medullary Rays

The food is distributed to all parts of the trees by means of small cells which are called rays.
These are more noticeable in the hard woods than in soft woods. This rays which run radial
from the pith towards cambium layer, crossing the annual rings almost normally.

Cambium Layer

This layer is in between the sapwood and bark. As time passes the inner portion is
gradually converted into sapwood.
 CARPENTRY TOOLS

In order to successfully work different forms to accurate shapes and dimensions, the wood
worker must know the use of a large number of tools. The principal types which are
manipulated by hand are described and illustrated below:

MEASURING TOOLS

Marking and measuring tools have been developed in order to work truly and accurately.
The most common are as follows:

Rules

Rules of various sizes and designs are used by wood workers for measuring and setting out
dimensions.

Straight Edges

The straight edge is a machined flat piece made of wood or metal having truly straight and
parallel edges. One of the longitudinal edges is generally made levelled. This is used to test
the trueness of large surfaces and edges.

Mitre Square

Mitre squares are used to measure an angle of 45°. Different sizes of mitre squares are
available.

Try Square

Try squares are used for marking and testing angles of 90°. It consists of hardened and
tempered steel blade which is riveted in to a stock.

Bevel Square

It is similar to the try square but has a blade that may be swivelled to any angle from 0° to
180°. This tool is adjusted by releasing with a turn screw of suitable size in a machine screw
running in a slot in the blade.

Spirit Level

It is used for checking the horizontality of flat surfaces.

Measuring tape

A steel tape used for measuring larger dimensions. It is usually available in 3 meter length.
MARKING TOOLS

Marking Knife

Marking knifes are used for converting the pencil lines to cut lines.

Gauges

Gauges are used to mark lines parallel to the edge of a piece of wood. It consists of a small
stem sliding in stock. The stem carries on one or more steel marking pointers or a cutting
knife. The stock is set to the desired distance from the steel pointer and fixed by the thumb
screw.

1. Marking Gauge

The marking gauge has one marking point. It gives an accurate line parallel to a true edge.

2. Mortise Gauge

The mortise gauge has two marking points, one fixed near to the end of the stem and the
other attached to a brass sling bar. These two teeth cut two parallel lines called mortise lines.
CUTTING TOOLS

Cutting tools includes saws, chisels, planes etc.

Saws

The saw is probably the most abused of woodworking tools, chiefly because inexperienced
users force it too much. When cutting across the grain, a different action is required from the
saw teeth than when ripping with the grain. Saws are generally specified by the length of its
blades and pitch of the teeth.

1. Rip saw

Rip saw is the largest and coarsest of all saws. It is used for cutting along the grain in thick
wood.

2. Tenon saw or back saw

This saw is mostly used for cross-cutting when a finer and more accurate finish is required.
The blade being very thin is reinforced with a rigid steel back.
Chisels

Wood chisels most commonly in use include firmer chisels, either square or bevel edged,
paring chisels and mortise chisels. They are usually specified by length and width of the blade.

1. Firmer Chisel

It is the most useful chisel for general purpose and may be used by hand pressure or
mallet.

2. Bevelled edge firmer chisel

It is used for more delicate or fine work. They are useful for getting into corners where the
ordinary chisel would be clumsy.

3. Paring chisel

Both firmer and bevelled edge chisels when they are made with long thin blades, are known
as paring chisels. This is used for shaping and preparing the surfaces of wood and is
manipulated by the hands.

4. Mortise chisel

The mortise chisel is its name indicates is used for chopping out mortises. These chisels
are designated to withstand heavy work.
PLANING TOOLS

The plane can be likened to the chisel fastened in to a block of metal or wood and its blade
cuts exactly like a wide chisel. The planes in general use, are the jack, trying, and smoothing
planes, and are known as bench planes. Besides the bench planes are other planes which are
used for special work.

Jack plane

This is the commonly used plane for the first truing up of a piece of wood. It consists of a
block of wood in to which the blade is fixed by a wooden wedge. The blade is set at an angle
of 45° to the sole. On the cutting blade, another blade is fixed; called cap iron or back iron.

Metal jack plane

Metal planes serve the same purposes as the wooden planes but facilitate a smoother
operation and the better finish.
BORING TOOLS

Boring tools are frequently necessary to make round holes in wood and they are selected
according to the type and purpose of the hole. They include bradawl, gimlet, brace, bit and
drill.

Bradawl and gimlet

These are hand operated tools and are used to bore small holes.

Brace

The brace is a tool used for holding and turning a bit for boring holes. It has two jaws which
grip the specially shaped end of the bit. There are two types of braces in common use.

1. Ratchet brace

It is used to drill holes in restricted places. They are also used when the cut is particularly
heavy and it is desirable to pull the handle through a quarter-turn only.

2. Wheel brace

It is used to hold round and parallel shanked drills. The tool is invaluable for cutting small
hole, accurately and quickly.
STRIKING TOOLS

Striking tools include hammers and mallets.

Claw hammer

This is a hammer having steel head and wooden handle. The flat face of the head is used
to drive nails and the claw portion for extracting nails out of the wood.

Mallet

This is a wood headed hammer of round or rectangular cross section. The striking face is
made flat to the work. Mallet is used to give light blows to the cutting tools and has wooden
handle.
HOLDING DEVICES

To enable the wood worker to cut his wood accurately, it must be held steady. There are
many types of holding devices according to the nature of work to be done. They are as
follows:

Carpenter’s bench vice

It consists of a jaw fixed on the table side and a movable jaw kept in position by means of a
screw and a handle. The body of vice is made of cast iron or steel. The jaws are lined with
hard wood which can be renewed when it is damaged. The screw works inside a fixed half nut
which can be engaged or disengaged by operating the lever. By pulling the lever the nut is
disengaged from the screw allowing the jaw to move fast. When the lever is released, the nut
engages and screwing action is obtained.

Bench stop

The bench stop is simply a block of wood projecting over the top surface of the bench. This
is used to prevent the wood from moving forward when being planned.

Sash (bar) cramp

This is made up of a bar of steel, two jaws and a screw. The work is clamped between jaws
by rotating the screw using handle. It is used for clamping glued pieces tightly or holding the
work pieces of large size together for various operations.

C or G cramp

It consists of a malleable iron frame that can be swivelled and a steel screw to which is
fitted a thumbscrew, used to hold small work pieces.
MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS

There are number of tools other than the types explained above, which are used in
carpentry shops to meet the requirements. The frequently used tools of this group are given
below.

Rasp cut file

Rasp is a rough file used to remove wood from the surface, corners etc., resting very rough
surface. Ordinary files are used to smooth such surfaces.

Pincer

This is a tool similar to pliers and is used for pulling out nails, tacks etc.

Oil stone

It is a block of fine grained stone, usually oiled, and used for sharpening the cutting edges
of tools.

Saw set

A saw set is a tool or part of toolkit for turning saw blades. It adjusts the set, or distance the
saw tooth is bent away from the saw blade.
 Sketch of job

302
32

58

All dimensions are in mm

Exercise No. 01 Date :

PLANNING PRACTICE

Aim
To practice planning operation in the given work piece as per drawing.

Materials required
A wooden reaper of size 302 x 60 x 35 mm.

Tools required
Steel rule, Try square, Marking knife, Marking gauge, Mallet, Metal jack plane,
Firmer chisel, Carpenter’s vice etc.

Operations to be carried out

Measuring, marking, planing, chiselling, checking and finishing.

Procedure

1. Fix the given reaper horizontally on the vice and plane one of its broad surfaces
with the help of metal jack plane.
2. Plane the long adjacent side perpendicular to the previously planed surface.
3. Taking the planed surface as base, mark the required width and thickness using
marking gauge as shown in figure.
4. Plane the marked faces to required size.
5. Finally, cut the end faces with the help of firmer chisel and mallet.
6. Check and finish the work.

Evaluation Instructor
 Sketch of job

16

46

58
46

94
32

104
58

All dimensions are in mm

Exercise No. 02 Date :

CHISELING PRACTICE

Aim
To practice sawing and chiselling operations in the given work piece as per drawing.

Materials required
Wooden reaper of size 302 x 60 x 35 mm.

Tools required
Steel rule, Try square, Marking knife, Marking gauge, Mallet, Metal jack plane,
Firmer chisel (40,25), Tenon saw, Carpenter’s vice etc.

Operations to be carried out

Measuring, marking, planing, sawing, chiselling, checking and finishing.

Procedure

1. Cut a wooden reaper of size 302 x 58 x 32 mm from the given long reaper,
using tenon saw.
2. Fix it on a carpenter’s vice and plane its four sides so as to get a rectangular
cross section of size 58 x 32 mm using a metal jack plane.
3. Mark the dimensions on it by using a marking knife, marking gauge and try
square.
4. Cut the slots and remove excess material from the bar using tenon saw, firmer
chisel and mallet.
5. Check and finish the work.

Evaluation Instructor
 Sketch of job

58

150

16 32

58

46 46

16

46

32

150

58

All dimensions are in mm

Exercise No. 03 Date :

CROSS-HALVED JOINT

Aim
To make a Cross-halved joint as per drawing.

Materials required
A wooden reaper of size 302 x 60 x 35 mm.

Tools required
Steel rule, Try square, Marking knife, Marking gauge, Mallet, Metal jack plane,
Firmer chisel (40,25), Tenon saw, Carpenter’s vice etc.

Operations to be carried out

Measuring, marking, planing, cutting, sawing, chiselling, checking and finishing.

Procedure

1. Cut a wooden reaper of required size from the given long reaper, using tenon
saw.
2. Fix it on a carpenter’s vice and plane its four sides so as to get a rectangular
cross section of size 58 x 32 mm using a metal jack plane.
3. Mark the dimensions on it by using a marking knife, marking gauge, try square
and cut it into two equal pieces.
4. Cut recesses on both pieces as per drawing using firmer chisel and mallet to
make a Cross-halved joint.
5. Check and finish the work.

Evaluation Instructor