The Carpenters, Joiners, Cabinet Makers and Gilders' Companion

Containing Rules and Instructions in the Art of Carpentry, Joinery, Cabinet Making, and Gilding - Veneering, Inlaying, Varnishing and Polishing, Dying and Staining Wood, & Ivory

F. Reinnel

• Publisher: Old Hand Books
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781528768016
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Commercio tecnico e manifatturiero

"The Carpenter's and Joiner's Hand-Book" is a classic guide to carpentry and cabinet making, covering a wide range of aspects and elements. Written in clear, simple language and profusely illustrated throughout, this handy volume will be of considerable utility to carpenters and others with a practical interest in wood work. Contents include: "General Direction for Seasoning and Preserving Timber", "Charring Timber", "Another Method", "A Composition for Weather Boarding, Paling, etc.", "A Superior Composition", "Polish for Wainscot Work", "Oil for Wainscot Work", "Polishing Oil for Mahogany", etc. This volume will appeal to those with an interest in cabinetmaking, wood finishing, and carpentry in general. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this classic volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on wood finishing.

THE
CARPENTERS, JOINERS,
CABINET MAKERS,
AND GILBERS’ COMPANION.

PART I.—CARPENTRY.

THE department of the carpenter is distinguished from that of the joiner, in that it regards the substantial parts of the edifice, such as the framing of roofs and partitions, and, in fact, all that contributes to the solidity and strength of a building; while that of the joiner is more particularly directed to the convenience and ornamental parts: it is hence evident that the carpenter should be well acquainted with the strength and stress of the materials he uses, which are for the most part in great masses; hence he should be careful not to overload his work with timber of greater magnitude than is absolutely necessary, though at the same time he should study economy in their use; he should also be able to ascertain the dimensions necessary, without weakening the building, and endeavour, by steering a mean course, to produce the maximum of strength, without overloading the several parts of his frames with too much timber; or, by putting too little, endanger the safety of the whole fabric. Thus the art of carpentry depends greatly on these two considerations, viz. the strength of the materials, and the stress or strains they are subject to; these strains may be thus—first, laterally, as when a tenon breaks off, or a rafter gives way close to the wall; secondly, the strain may be in its length, when it is drawn down or pushed in its length as a king post, where the strain tends to separate the fibre of the wood by pulling; hence, knowing the strength of the timber to resist such efforts, we are enabled to calculate the dimension necessary to be given it, to resist the probable stress it may have to overcome; all tie-beams are subject to this strain: thirdly, the strain may act by pressure, or the timbers may be compressed in length; this is the case with all pillars, posts, or struts; and in this case, according to the length of the post, &c., it must be of a sufficient diameter to resist the weight which it has to support. Strains are often compound, as a joist or lintel when placed horizontal, or obliquely as in a rafter; or many of those strains may be combined, as in circular or crooked work. All these things are to be particularly attended to.

The various kinds of timber used amongst carpenters are as follow:—Oak, fir, elm, ash, chesnut, and beech. A few observations on each will, perhaps, guide him in his selection to appropriate those to the several parts of a building to which they are best adapted; and, first, of OAK:—It is not necessary here to describe this timber, as every carpenter must be acquainted with it; we shall, therefore, only observe, that it is the most ponderous, as well as the hardest grain and firmest texture of any timber used in building; but from its great weight, and difficulty of working, it is but rarely used, except where very great strength is required. In selecting it, however, we should be careful that it is well-seasoned, as it is very apt to warp or cast; and the workman should be careful not to let any of the sappy parts be used, as they soon decay, and consequently are unfit for the purposes where this timber is required. The next in order is FIR, and this is the most generally useful of any timber for buildings, as we can procure scantlings of much greater dimensions than any other, and it has many advantages, as with a considerable degree of strength it combines a lightness of texture that is highly advantageous; and, also, that it is not subject to cast so much as most other timbers; it possesses a considerable degree of elasticity, and will bend a great deal before its strength becomes perceptibly impaired, consequently very proper for framing of roofs, floorings, &c. and the grain in general runs straight, and where it is sheltered from the vicissitudes of wet and dry, or protected from the weather, it will last a very considerable time; but for those parts of a building that are exposed to the weather, as window frames or cills, door posts, or any other part where the rain has access, oak is by far the best material, and will endure much longer than any other timber; and for piles, and such like, that are constantly under water, it in time gets as hard as ebony, and becomes in appearance like ebony itself; a striking instance of which, we have in those piles called Conway stakes, driven into the bed of the Thames, near Chertsey, in Surrey, supposed in the time of Julius Cæsar, which are of sufficient hardness to be used for purposes to which ebony and other hard woods are applied, such as the stocks and blades of squares, and the heads of gauges.

ELM is a wood but little used in building, being so very liable to twist and warp; it is chiefly used as weather boarding for barns, &c., and in that situation it is found to resist, (perhaps as well, or better, than any other wood,) the alternate heats of the summer sun, and the rains of a wet winter, particularly when coated with common paint or other composition.

ASH is a very tough wood, but little used in building, more, perhaps, from the demand among wheelrights and millwrights, than from any inferiority to many other woods, as it is not very subject to warp, and is very elastic and tough, as well as of, in general, a straight and even grain.

CHESNUT is a wood scarcely inferior to oak for many purposes, being extremely durable, and not subject to decay, of generally an even grain and free from knots or curls, very tough, and of dimensions sufficient for most purposes of carpentry. Beams that have been taken from old buildings of more than a century standing, have been found as sound, and perhaps harder than when first placed in their original situation, and some posts that have formed a part of the same building, which have been always exposed to the different degrees of wet and dry, seemed little or nothing the worse, and, to appearance, as sound as when first the building was erected.

BEECH is the last wood I shall here notice: it possesses qualities that recommend it for strength, evenness of grain, and toughness; it is not surpassed by any other English timber; but if exposed to the action of the atmosphere, it is not found to stand so well as many other woods; it is, however, particularly applicable to sweep work, and is on that account much used by millwrights, and might be used to many purposes of building with considerable advantage; it is also particularly adapted for pins in framing and doweling boards together, as it is not brittle or liable to snap, and drives well.

General Directions for Seasoning and Preserving Timber.

On the care we take in seasoning timber previous to applying it to the purposes of building, depends in a great measure the strength and durability of the structure we erect, for green or unseasoned timber must inevitably not only shrink and warp after your framing is put together, making the several joints loose, and straining the several parts of the framing, but also from due care not being taken in this particular, the dry rot is almost an inevitable consequence, bringing on premature decay in the structure; I would therefore recommend the following observations to the notice of the builder: first, that the timber should be felled at the proper season; secondly, that a sufficient time is given it before it is cut into the necessary scantling; and thirdly, that when thus cut it should be stacked so as the wind and air should have sufficient power over it, to dry up as far as possible the remaining moisture and sap that it contains; and on the first head, that timber which is felled in autumn is always the best, as at that time the sap is low, and consequently less of the juicy qualities are present, and the timber is consequently of a firmer texture, and not so subject to the dry rot; and though the objection to this season of the year (particularly with regard to oak) may have some weight, as the bark is not so easily separated, yet with regard to the art of building, though the timber may be somewhat enhanced in price, still we ought not to let the quality of it be deteriorated from this consideration, which, in my opinion, is but a secondary one, particularly as many suggestions have been brought forward, which, though not generally adopted, would be found not only advantageous to the timber itself, but the bark would be found superior in quality if means were adopted to bark the trees in the spring as they stand, and let them remain till the autumn to be felled; and I am confident some mechanical contrivance might be found to perform this operation with as great facility as the present mode in use, after the tree is felled.

With regard to the second head, the tree should remain at least till the following spring; but if longer the better, before it is sawn into scantling as timber, as time should be given for the action of the wind and sun to dry any moisture that remains from the sap contained in the pores of the wood. If possible, it should remain on the spot where it is felled; but, at any rate, no builder should cut his timber immediately it is drawn into his yard, unless previously laid some time in the field.

Lastly, in the third place, after the timber is cut into such planks and scantlings as it is wanted for, it will be necessary to let it dry further, and for which purpose we should expose it to such action of the air as will completely season it for use: this process should be, at the very least, six months; and as every builder has a different method of stacking, so it is necessary to select that which seems best adapted to the purpose intended. And first, with regard to planks, the general method is, as soon as cut, to nail a piece of wood at each end, to prevent them splitting, and then place them upon each other with a piece of pantile lath or other similar piece of wood between each, across the plank; or else place them side by side at a distance apart, so that the second tier or row, when laid on the first, shall rest only on the edges of the row beneath, and thus piled one above another, so that the air may have a free passage throughout the whole height of the stack, which is, perhaps, the best way, as the planks will not be so liable to warp in their length, though this method certainly takes up more room than the first. Boards are best seasoned by being placed on end resting between racks at the upper ends; and the same may be said with scantling of different dimensions, as all we have to do is to place them in such a situation that the air shall have free access to them, to dry up, as far as possible, the remaining sap or moisture they may have contracted; for if timber after being cut is suffered to lay close together, without admitting the free circulation of air, the effect will be, that the juices will cause a degree of heat to be evolved, which produces fermentation, and consequently a kind of premature decay, and which among workmen is called doaty timber, and which causes it to lose that firmness of texture which is natural to it, and become short or brittle; as, also, to be liable to decay much faster than timber properly seasoned. And here I shall take occasion to observe, that from the natural growth of timber, which consists of alternate layers of a spungy matter, and a harder substance which appears as rings arranged round the centre of the tree, that we must, where possible, consult the natural structure of timber to arrange it in the best possible manner to ensure strength and solidity: now these hard layers, or rings, are technically called the beat of the wood, and according as this is placed in our framing, so much the greater or less strength is obtained; a circumstance but little attended to, but which is at least worthy of consideration, both from mechanical and mathematical principles, as we might show, that in a beam where the beat is perpendicular to the horizon, the strength would be far greater than in one where it was in a parallel direction, or that it would be much less liable to bend in the former position than in the latter; for any rafter or beam whose sides are in the proportion—for instance, as three to one, will bear a greater weight when it is placed with its widest side perpendicular to the horizon, than when in a contrary position, so, in like manner, if we suppose it to be square, and on the supposition that the beat is the firmest part of the wood, if the beat is placed perpendicular, the beam or rafter will be much stronger than if it is placed parallel to the horizon, nearly in the sa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Wood Finishing
• Contents
• Preface
• Part I.—Carpentry
• Part II—Joinery
• Part III.—Cabinet Making
• Part IV.—Gilding