DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

GEE 215 - WORKSHOP PRACTICE

Topic: Carpentry and Woodworks

BY ENGR. OGBEZODE E. JOSEPH

 CARPENTRY
Carpentry may be defined as the process of
making wooden components. The useful work on
wood is generally carried out in a most common
shop known as carpentry or woodwork shop.
The work performed in carpentry shops comprises
cutting, shaping and fastening wood and other
materials together to produce the products of
woods. Therefore, carpentry shop deals with
timber, various types of tools and the art of
joinery. Woods are obtained from trees.

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 Classification of wood
Wood suitable for construction and other engineering
purposes is called timber. Woods in general are
divided into two broad categories: Soft woods and
hard woods.

• Soft Wood
Soft woods are obtained from conifers, kair, deodar,
chir, walnut and seemal, deodar, chid, fir wood and
haldu. A soft wood is light in weight and light colored.
These woods cannot resist stresses developed across
their fibers; hence, not suitable for wood working.
Softwood are from trees having needle shaped or
conifers. 189
 Hard wood
In this type of wood the annual rings are compact
and thin and the medullar rays (radial lines) are
visible in most cases. Hard woods are nearly
equally strong both along and across the fibers.
Hard wood is the material used for wood working.
Woods obtained from teak, sal, oak, shisham,
beach, mango, neem, babul, ash, mahogany, kiker
and walnut are known as hard wood, but it is
highly durable. Hard wood is generally obtained
from broad leaves or deciduous trees.

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 Differences between soft and hard woods
Table 1. Differences between soft and hard woods
S/N SOFT WOOD
1 Its color is light
2 It is light in weight
3 It is comparatively lighter
4 It is resinous
5 It gets split quickly
6 It is easy to work
7 Its annual rings are well spaced
and quite distinct
HARD WOOD
It is dark in color
It is heavy in weight
It is harder and denser
It has less resin content
It does not split quickly
It is difficult to work
Its annual rings are close and
often indistinct

8 It is fast growing It is slow growing

9 It has good tensile resistance but is It has good tensile and shear
weak across the fibers resistance

10 It catches fire quickly It does not catch fire quickly

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 Classification of trees
Trees are generally classified into exogenous and
endogenous types according to manner of growth.
Exogenous types are also known as outward
growing trees which produce timber for
commercial use (engineering, construction and
building purposes).

Endogenous trees are also known as inward

growing. They grow inwards i.e., every fresh layer
of sapwood is added inside instead of outside.
Cane, bamboo and coconut are examples of such
endogenous trees. 192
 Felling, conversion and seasoning of wood
Cutting of living or standing trees to obtain timber is
called felling of trees. Trees are cut at the
appropriate time. The best time for cutting the tree
is immediately after the tree has achieved its full
growth or maturity age so that the maximum quantity
and best quality of wood can be obtained.

Conversion means sawing of timber logs into different

commercial sizes. There are three methods of
conversion:
 Flat or ordinary sawing
 Tangential sawing
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 Quarter or radial sawing
Seasoning is the art of extracting the moisture
content under controlled conditions, at a uniform
rate, from all the parts of the timber. Only
seasoned wood should be used for all carpentry
works. A newly felled tree contains considerable
moisture content. If this is not removed, the
timber is likely to wrap, shrink, crack or decay.

Seasoning is classified into two categories namely

natural seasoning and artificial seasoning.

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 Methods of seasoning
 Air seasoning
 Water seasoning
 Smoke seasoning
 Electrical seasoning
 Kiln seasoning
The first three are natural methods of seasoning.

Timber is the name given to wood obtained from

exogenous (outward growing) trees. In these trees,
the growth is outward from the centre, by adding
almost concentric layers of fresh wood every year
known as annual rings. 195
 Timber is available in market in various shapes
and sizes. The common shapes and sizes are given
below:
 Log: This is the trunk of die tree which is tree
from branches.
 Balk: This is the log after sawing roughly to square
cross section.
 Deal: This is the log after sawing into rectangular
cross section of width about 225 mm and
thickness up to 100 mm.
 Plank: This is the timber piece having width more
than 275 mm and thickness 50 lo 150 mm.
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 Board: This is the timber piece below 50 mm in
thickness and above 125 mm in width,
 Batten: This is the timber piece below 175 mm in
width and thickness between 30 mm to 50 mm in
thickness.
 Scantlings: These are timber pieces of various
assorted and nonstandard sizes other than the
types given above.

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 Characteristics of A Good Timber
A good timber must possess the following
characteristics:
 It should have minimum moisture content, i.e.,
the timber should be well seasoned.
 The grains of wood should be straight and long.
 It must retain its straightness after seasoning.
 It should produce near metallic sound on
hammering.
 It should be free from knots or cracks.
 It should be of uniform color, throughout the part
of the wood.
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 It should respond well to the finishing and
polishing operations.
 During driving the nails and screw, it should not
split easily.

 Carpenter’s marking and measuring tools

Accurate marking and measurement is very
essential in carpentry work in order to produce
parts to exact size. To transfer dimensions onto
the work, the following are the marking and
measuring tools that are required in a carpentry
shop.

199
 Hand and power tools for wood working
The principle hand tools used in a carpentry
workshop can be classified into:
 Marking and measuring tools
 Cutting tools
 Planning tools
 Boring tools
 Striking tools
 Holding tools

200
 Marking and measuring tools
 Steel rule and steel tape
Steel rule is a simple measuring instrument
consisting of a long, thin metal strip with a
marked scale of unit divisions. It is an important
tool for linear measurement. Steel tape is used
for large measurements, such as marking on
boards and checking the overall dimensions of the
work.

201
Fig. 55. Steel rule and Steel tape
202
 Marking gauge
It is a tool used to mark lines parallel to the edge
of a wooden piece. It consists of a square wooden
stem with a sliding wooden stock (head) on it. On
the stem is fitted a marking pin, made of steel.

Fig. 56. A marking gauge 203

 Mortise gauge
Mortise gauge consists of two pins. In this, it is
possible to adjust the distance between the pins,
to draw two parallel lines on the stock.

Fig. 57. A mortise gauge 204

 Try‐square
It is used for marking and testing the squareness
and straightness of planed surfaces.

Fig. 58. Try square

205
 Compass and divider
Compass and divider, are used for marking arcs
and circles on the planed surfaces of the wood.

Fig. 59. Compass and Divider

206
 Scriber or marking knife
It is used for marking on timber. It is made of
steel having one end pointed and the other end
formed into a sharp cutting edge.

 Bevel
It is used for laying‐out and checking angles. The
blade of the bevel is adjustable and may be held
in place by a thumb screw.

207
Fig. 60. Scriber and Bevel 208
 Holding tools
 Carpenter’s work bench
This is a table having a large size and made of hard
wood. The size ranges from 50- 80 cm in length and
about 90cm in width. Two or four carpenters can
work at a time on the work bench.

Fig. 61. Carpenter‟s work bench 209

 Carpenter's vice
Figure 62 shows the carpenter's bench vice used as a
work holding device in a carpenter‟s shop. It has one
jaw fixed to the side of the table while the other is
movable by means of a screw and a handle.

Fig. 62. Carpenter‟s bench vice 210

 C‐clamp
C‐clamp is used for holding small works.

Fig. 63. C-clamp

211
 Bar cramp
It is made of steel bar of T‐section, with
malleable iron fittings and a steel screw. It is
used for holding wide works such as frames
or tops.

Fig. 64. Bar cramp

212
 Planning tools
Planning is the process of producing flat surfaces
on wood. The cutting blade used in a plane is very
similar to a chisel. The blade of a plane is fitted
in a wooden or metallic block, at an angle.

 Jack plane
It is the most commonly used general purpose
plane. It is about 35 cm long. The cutting iron
(blade) should have a cutting edge of slight
curvature. It is used for quick removal of material
on rough work and is also used in oblique
planning.
213
 Smoothing plane
It is used for finishing work and hence, the blade
should have a straight cutting edge. It is about 20
to 25 cm long. Being short, it can follow even the
slight depressions in the stock, better than the
jack plane. It is used after using the jack plane.

 Rebate plane
It is used for making a rebate. A rebate is a recess
along the edge of a piece of wood, which is
generally used for positioning glass in frames and
doors.
214
 Plough plane
It is used to cut grooves, which are used to fix panels
in a door.

215
Fig. 65. Types of Planes
 Cutting tools
 Saws
A saw is used to cut wood into pieces. There are
different types of saws, designed to suit different
purposes. A saw is specified by the length of its
toothed edge.
 Cross‐cut or hand saw
It is used to cut across the grains of the stock.

216
 Rip saw
It is used for cutting the stock along the grains.
The cutting edge of this saw makes a steeper
angle, i.e., about 60° whereas that of cross-cut
saw makes an angle of 45° with the surface of the
stock.

 Tenon saw
It is used for cutting the stock either along or
across the grains. It is used for cutting tenons and
in fine cabinet work. However, it is used for small
and thin cuts.
217
 Compass saw
It has a narrow, longer and stronger tapering
blade, which is used for heavy works. It is mostly
used in radius cutting. The blade of this saw is
fitted with an open type wooden handle.
 Coping saw
A coping saw is used to make irregular or curved
cuts in wood. This saw‟s blade is extremely thin
and narrow and can make very fine cuts.

218
219
Fig. 65. Types of Saws 220
 Chisel
Chisels are used for cutting and shaping wood
accurately. Wood chisels are made in various
blade widths, ranging from 3 to 50 mm.

Fig. 66. Parts of chisel 221

 Firmer chisel
The word 'firmer' means 'stronger' and hence
firmer chisel is stronger than other chisels. It is a
general purpose chisel and is used either by hand
pressure or by a mallet. The blade of a firmer
chisel is flat.

 Dovetail chisel
It has a blade with a beveled back which enables
it to enter sharp comers for finishing, as in
dovetail joints.

222
 Mortise chisel
It is used for cutting mortises and chipping inside
holes, etc. The cross‐section of the mortise chisel is
proportioned to withstand heavy blows during
mortising. Further, the cross‐section is made stronger
near the shank.

Fig. 67. Firmer, Dovetail, and Mortise Chisels 223

 Drilling and Boring tools
Both drilling and boring tools are used to cut holes in
wood. However, the term “drilling” is typically used
for cutting holes 1/4 in. or smaller and the term
“boring” is used for cutting holes larger than 1/4 in.
 Carpenter’s brace
It is used for rotating auger bits, twist drills, etc., to
produce holes in wood. In some designs, braces are
made with ratchet device. With this, holes may be
made in a corner where complete revolution of the
handle cannot be made. The size of a brace is
determined by its sweep.

224
 Auger bit
It is the most common tool used for making holes in
wood. During drilling, the lead screw of the bit
guides into the wood, necessitating only moderate
pressure on the brace. The helical flutes on the
surface carry the chips to the outer surface.
 Hand drill
Carpenter's brace is used to make relatively large
size holes; whereas hand drill is used for drilling
small holes. A straight shank drill is used with this
tool. It is small, light in weight and may be
conveniently used than the brace.

225
 Gimlet
It has cutting edges like a twist drill. It is used for
drilling large diameter holes with the hand pressure.

Fig. 68. Drilling and boring tools 226

227
 Miscellaneous tools
 Mallet
It is used to drive the chisel, when considerable
force is to be applied, which may be the case in
making deep rough cuts. Steel hammer should not
be used for the purpose, as it may damage the
chisel handle.
 Pincer
It is made of two forged steel arms with a hinged
joint and is used for pulling‐out small nails from
wood.

228
 Claw hammer
It has a striking flat face at one end and the claw
at the other, as shown in figure. The face is used
to drive nails into wood and for other striking
purposes and the claw for extracting relatively
large nails out of wood.
 Screw driver
It is used for driving screws into wood or
unscrewing them. The screw driver of a carpenter
is different from the other common types, as
shown in figure.

229
 Wood rasp file
It is a finishing tool used to make the wood
surface smooth, remove sharp edges, and other
interior surfaces. Sharp cutting teeth are
provided on its surface for the purpose. This file
is exclusively used in wood work.
 Bradawl
It is a hand operated tool, used to bore small
holes for starting a screw or large nail.

230
 Fig. 69. Mallet

Fig. 71. Wood rasp and screw Fig. 70. Pincer and claw
driver hammer 231