1. Hunter Kight
AP Literature
11/18/11
3rd
Carpentry
Carpentry can prove to be one of the most useful skills to know, not only for the
average person but also for many different careers. From the beginning of human
existence people have been skilled in the art and occupation of carpentry, from the crude
working of cave men, to the skilled finishers of today. As history has evolved, the art of
carpentry has also, new tools have been made which have really helped to fine tune wood
working and its intricacy. One of the oldest skills known to man, carpentry has been
around for many centuries, creating unions more recently, and evolving tools to help in
the skill.
Although wood doesn’t last forever there is evidence that carpentry has been
around as long as humans have had tools to shape it. Several studies and researchers
showed that early Europeans were building rectangular timber houses more than 100 feet
long (Carpentry Career). Carpentry long ago wasn’t confined just to Europe. There is also
evidence of wood and stone structures from ancient Greece (Burgess, Steve). In Japan
there are structures that are still standing that were built of wood and stone back in the 7th
century, while not perfectly preserved these structures show how far carpentry dates
back. When Europeans traveled to the new world they brought their skills and tools with
them, all of the buildings created in the colonies were the work of carpenters. As towns
became organized in the American colonies guilds were established (Alter Eagle). The

2. carpenters of the new world mainly built houses rather than small luxury items. With
survival one of the main goals in the new world it was important for new tough homes to
be built as soon as possible. The main business of the colonial carpenter was to cut and
join timber and board into sturdy wooden homes and shops (Colonial Williamsburg). At
the time this was one of the most important jobs in the colony, without the use of a
skilled wood worker colonies wouldn’t have been built so rapidly and Europeans would
have had an even more difficult time settling in the new world.
Carpentry definitely isn’t a relaxing easy job. It demands lots of labor, especially
when building homes, and the ability to be very diligent when working on a small
intraquet structure. Prolonged standing, climbing, bending, and kneeling often are
necessary (Infoplease). A lot of carpenters will wear knee or elbow pads, depending on
the job, to crawl under spaces to fix or make something. Depending on the location of the
job they can be required to wear hard hats as well, especially at big construction sites.
The carpenter is a craftsman who plies his trade indoors and out – rain or shine, summer
or winter – and reaps the benefits of operating under adverse and perfect conditions
(Burgess, Steve). Working in the hot or cold outside for many hours are all part of the
job, yet carpenters may also have the luxury of working in an air conditioned shop the
entire day. This is how carpentry can be hard or easy, fun or miserable, yet always
adverse and the carpenter must always be able to adapt to their conditions.
A rough carpenter is an example of a type of carpenter who would be working out
in the elements most of the time. They are skilled in quickly erecting skeletal structures
of building, including beams, rafters, and other large scale work (Really Good
Carpenters). While this carpenter would work outside in building the frame of a new

3. house a finishing carpenter would come in after and do the fine details of the inside of the
structure, in other words they are complete opposites. He or she might be skilled at
making items like fine furniture, inlays, architectural models, or finely crafted wood
instruments (Really Good Carpenters). These two types of carpenters show how similar,
yet radically different the job can be. This is why carpenters normally are broad in their
experience with wood, being able to do fine detail and rough framing. Depending on the
type of work and the employer, carpenters may specialize in one or two activities or may
be required to know how to perform many different tasks (College Grad). A carpenter,
while may be specialized in a particular type of work, will always have a general
understanding of almost every form of the skill. This broad set of skills is learned over
many years during and apprenticeship, where someone wishing to learn wood is taught
everything they need to know.
An apprentice ship is one of the most important ways to learn the art of carpentry.
Almost every person who is interested in a career will go through a type of schooling or
an apprenticeship from a master carpenter. Back in the twelfth century carpentry guilds
were beginning to become popular. There were three kinds of members in guilds, the
masters, a journeyman, and the apprentice. The master was a carpenter with much
experience and knowledge that takes an apprentice and trains them (Carpenter Career).
The apprentice would normally live with the master and be fed and clothed but would not
earn payment for their work. After about five to nine years of learning the apprentice
would graduate to a journeyman who could then earn payment on their own and work
toward becoming a master. Highly- trained carpenters are able to switch from one type of
building to another and work on a variety of jobs (Job Description). It would often take

4. many years for that journeyman to be trusted enough to be considered a master. All the
while they were learning more and more skills to help them become more adverse in their
trade. While an apprenticeship may not be the same in this day and age, most people still
learn from a master or at least a school of carpentry.
As history progressed and carpenters learned different techniques and styles, their
tools progressed as well. Until man discovered metalworking, the tools we had to work
with were primarily wood and stone (Smathers, Michael). This of coarse was during the
Stone Age, when instead of nails wooden pegs and stones were used to hold structures
together. The holes which the pegs were inserted were dug out by a primitive form of an
auger made of stone, paintings show this is the technique used on Noah’s ark. After the
advance of metal working carpenters were able to make higher quality tools, which in
turn produced higher quality work. It was soon said that with a few simple tools a
carpenter could do most work. Using the three primary tools of carpentry – the hatchet,
saw, and plane – the carpenter can frame, floor, roof – and build a structure of wood
(Burgess, Steve). It is commonly thought that the nail is a relatively recent invention
which hadn’t evolved with the art of carpentry, this however is wrong. Nails have also
been around since the early days of metal working, helping to hold newly built wooden
structures. The Romans were especially thorough with making nails, although they may
not look anything like the ones that are used today. At one fort, nearly 7 tons of nails
were left behind to be found in archeological expeditions (Smathers, Michael). While
these nails may be radically different from the ones used today, it still shows that the
people had come up with the general concept and were working to perfect their trade.

5. Later in history carpentry became more high tech, with the invention of electric and air
powered tools the art really leapt forward with the invention of handy tools like the
pneumatic nail guns, electric drills and power saws, carpenters were able to work even
more efficiently (Carpentry). These tools are some of the most common tools used by
carpenters in the 20th century. While all carpenters will use the common nail and saw,
most, depending on the type of job will now use these pneumatic nail guns and power
saws. These advancements really show how the art of carpentry has innovated over the
years.
Carpentry is a job of many skills, from a simple frame all the way to a miniature
model master piece; a true master will have the knowledge to do all of these tasks. Being
one of the oldest forms of work carpentry has had many centuries to transform and
become even better. Along with the skills becoming more fine tuned over the years the
tools used in the art of carpentry have improved greatly as well, all the way from a simple
wooden hammer to an electric powered band saw. The time and effort a person takes
when learning this skill, from apprenticeship, to journeyman, to master, really shows the
heart and effort people put into learning this ancient tradition. With many years to come
and many inventions in the horizon carpentry is sure to evolve and become even more
amazing and beautiful occupation.