The Carpenter

I was working away on the weekend as mentioned, and something that came to mind was to do with the tools I was using. They were common tools, nails, hammer, rip saw, and they felt really unfamiliar in my hands.

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In a later conversation with my Uncle, it dawned on me that despite regularly working with wood, I rarely do use a carpenter’s tools despite it all being about the basic manipulation of wood. Struck home that there really is a difference between a woodworker, and a carpenter.

My shed projects rarely (if ever) involve screws or nails, and perhaps a bit sad to say, when I cut timber it is with a tablesaw or bandsaw, not any form of handsaw. There are plenty of woodworkers who will use handsaws especially the Japanese saws and perhaps one day that’ll be me, but I do enjoy electron murdering techniques too, and it is faster and for me, more accurate.

There is a common saying that the difference between a woodworker and a carpenter is 1/4″

You’d not worry about building a house with 1/2mm accuracy. Nor would you make a jewellery box with 3mm gaps in the seams (other than intentional!!)

Still, where it comes to my preference, I enjoy working irrespective, whether doing carpentry, or fine woodworking, but I do get the most satisfaction from realising the best from the timber itself, rather than only from the resulting construction.

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