Carpentry tools and their uses with pictures

We were discussing Plumbing tools and their use in our previous post. Today we will try to understand the term Carpentry with the help of this post. 

We can define the term carpentry as the process of making wooden components. For example,  floors, roots, partitions, windows and doors. 

Carpentry process 

Carpentry could be defined as the process such as cutting, shaping and fastening wood and other materials together to develop a finished product. Preparation of joints could be considered as one of the important operations in the area of woodwork. 

We will find out here the various types of tools and works associated with the joinery process of woodworking. Do not get confused, Joinery basically indicates the procedure of connecting the wooden parts using different joints such as mortise and tenon joints, bridle joints, lap joints, dovetail joints, etc. 

So, let us see here first the Carpentry tools 

Carpentry tools 

Carpentry tools are basically used to manufacture components to an exact size. Let us see here the various types of carpentry tools as mentioned below.  

1. Mortise gauge 

2. Holding tools 

3. Measuring tools 

4. Cutting tools 

5. Boring tool 

6. Planing tool 

7. Striking tool 

8. Miscellaneous Tools

Mortise gauge

The mortise gauge is displayed here in the following figure.

Figure : Mortise gauge

Mortise gauge is a tool which is basically used to mark lines parallel to the edge of a wooden work piece. It consists of a square wooden stem with a sliding wooden stock on it. On the stem,

a marking pin, made up of steel, will be fitted. This stem will be provided with a steel nail in order to scratch the surface of the work. It will have two pins and the distance between these two pins will be adjustable. It is used to draw two parallel lines on the stock. 

Holding tool 

Holding tools are basically used for holding the workpiece. The following types of holding tools are used in carpentry work areas. 

1. Bench Vice 

2. Bar clamp 

3. C-clamp or G-clamp or G-cramp 

The holding tools are displayed here in the following figure.

Figure : Holding tools 

Bench vice

A bench vice is a holding device which is used for holding the workpiece. A bench vice will have one fixed jaw and one movable jaw. Its one jaw will be fixed with the table while the other jaw will be of movable type with the help of a screw and a handle. 

Bar clamp

Bar clamps will have two jaws attached to one bar. One jaw will be fixed jaw and the second jaw will be movable with the help of screw mechanism to widened or narrowed to fit the workpiece and, hence, needs fewer turns of the screw spindle, as compared to a C-clamp, in order to hold the workpiece rigidly.

C-clamp or G-cramp

C-clamp or G-cramp will be made of malleable iron with acme threads of high quality hardened and tempered steel which means it will be quite resistant to wear and tear. It can be used for clamping small work properly when we need to perform drilling operations or we need to do some task with chisel. 

Measuring tools 

The measuring tools are displayed here in the following figure.

Figure : Measuring tools 

Steel tapes and steel rules

Steel tapes and steel rules are basically used to measure the short and long lengths in millimeters (mm), centimeter (cm) and inches. 

A try square

A try square is used basically for inspecting the squareness and also for marking of joints. 

A bevel square

A bevel square is basically used for marking and listing angles between 0 degree  to 180 degree. One end of the blade will be rounded off and the other end of the blade will be cut at a 45° angle. The handle of the bevel will be either made of plastic or wood. There will be one metal blade attached to it with a wing nut or thumbscrew. When the screw nut is loosened, the blade will be free to rotate a complete 360°. It permits the blade to make an angle of any degree in reference to the handle.   

A miter square

A miter square hand tool is basically used in metalworking and woodworking for marking and checking an angle other than 90°. 

Calipers 

Calipers are basically used for very precise measurement of cylindrical surfaces such as measuring the inner diameter and outer diameter of a cylindrical surface in mm. 

There are some conditions where we need to measure the diameter of a cylindrical object where we could not use the vernier caliper. We use the inside caliper to measure the inner diameter and outside caliper to measure the outside diameter of the cylindrical surface. 

Cutting tools 

The cutting tools are displayed here in the following figure. We will study here two important cutting tools i.e. Saws and Chisels. 

Saws

A saw is basically used to cut the wood into pieces. We will see here the different types of saws designed to meet the different purposes. 

Figure : Cutting tools saws 

A saw will be specified by the length of its tooth edge. We will see the following types of saws in a carpentry shop. 

1. Rip saw

2. Cross cut saw

3. Tenon or back saw 

Rip saw

The blade of the rip saw will be either straight or skew-backed. Teeth will be designed in such a way that the cutting edge of this type of saw will make a steeper angle about 60 degree.  

Cross cut saw

Cross cut saw is similar in shape to rip saw. It is basically used to cut across the grain of the stock. The correct angle for cross cutting is 45 degrees. The teeth are designed in such a way that the saw kerf is wider than the blade thickness and allows the blade to move freely in the cut without sticking.

Tenon or back saw

A tenon saw is basically used for precise and accurate work. This cutting tool will have a very fine blade, which will be reinforced with a rigid steel back. Tenon saw teeth are designed in similar fashion as a cross cut saw cutting tool. 

Chisels

Chisels are also cutting tools used for cutting and shaping wood precisely. Chisels are designed in various blade widths, in the range of 3 to 50 mm. Most of the wood chisels are made into tang type, having a steel shank which fits inside the handle. 

Figure : Cutting tools chisels

Mortise chisels

Mortise chisels are special types of chisels for chopping out a mortise. It is designed to withstand heavy blows with a mallet and could be easily used for cutting directly across the grain and for levering out the waste materials. 

These chisels are basically used to cut mortises beyond 9 mm wide. The blades of these chisels will be different from the firmer chisels in which they will have a thicker section & a stronger neck. With the help of this chisel we can apply more leverage in order to remove the waste wood from the mortise. 

Firmer chisels

Firmer chisels are basically a general purpose chisel and used either by hand pressure or by a mallet. The blade of a firmer chisel will be flat and their sloping face will be at an angle of 15 degree to 52 degree.

Bevel chisels

The construction of a bevel chisel is similar to the construction of firmer chisel. Bevel chisel edges are bevelled to permit access for difficult corners. It has a blade with a bevelled back due to which it can enter sharp corners for finishing in dovetail joints.

Boring tool 

Figure : Boring Tools 

Boring tools, as displayed here in the above figure, are basically used to make the holes in the wood workpiece. Let us see here a few common types of boring tools. 

Planing Tools 

Figure : Planing Tools

In general, planes are basically used to develop the flat surfaces on wood. The cutting blade here will be used in a plane very similar to that of chisel. The blade of a plane will be fitted in a wood or metallic block at an angle. 

The Jack plane which will be about 35 cm long used for general planing. A smooth plane that will be approx.  20 to 25 cm long used for smoothening the work piece or stock. Being short, it can follow even the slight depressions in the stock better than the jack plane. Smooth plane will be used after using the jack plane.

Striking Tools 

Figure : Striking Tool

Hammers

The cross peen hammer is basically used for positioning the small nails. The head will be tightly held in the handle with the help of the iron wedges. The claw hammer is quite effective in removing very large nails and also for driving the nails using the other end of the hammer.

Mallet

A mallet tool will be used in order to drive the chisel, when significant force needs to be applied, which might be the case like making the deep rough cuts. A steel hammer will not be preferred to use for such a task, as it will damage the chisel.

Rasp file

A rasp tool is basically a file which is used to finish the surface of wood. A rasp tool is displayed in the figure. A rasp tool will have sharp cutting teeth over its surface for this task. 

Oil stone

Oil stone is a very important flat which is used to provide the sharp edges on the cutting tools. The oil stones might be artificial or natural stones. The carborundum is one of the best artificial stones whereas the Arkansas are the natural stones. 

Miscellaneous Tools 

Figure : Miscellaneous Tools 

Spirit level

The spirit level is basically used to check the level of the wooden surface and also at every engineering task where we need to measure the level of the surface. If you see, there will be a narrow glass tube fitted into the small rectangular wooden box or aluminum box. The glass tube will have spirit and a bubble too. Once we place the spirit level,  if the bubble stays in the middle, then the surface will be flat otherwise we will conclude that it is having a slope which needs alignment to make it flat. Spirit level tools are being used in various engineering tasks. 

Pincers

Pincers are basically made up of steel with a hinged joint. These are used for pulling out small nails from wood in the carpentry field. 

Screwdrivers

Screwdriver is a very common tool and it is used to drive the wood screws into the wood or unscrew them. We must note here that the screwdriver used in the carpentry will be different from the other common types. 

Reference 

Engineering Practices by Mr. S. SUYAMBAZHAHAN