Question 1

What's the difference between woodworking and carpentry?

Accepted Answer

Woodworking and carpentry seem similar, both work with wood and utilize power tools and hand tools. For example when a home office is designed, woodworkers design, build, and finish the cabinetry, doors, and desks. Carpenters then install the cabinetry, frame and hang the doors, and attach the moulding. Both are needed to create the client's vision.

Carpentry

Has more relaxed tolerances for fitting

Builds your house

Fine woodworking usually builds a piece of furniture to be inside your home, carpentry builds your home

Fine Woodworking

Uses traditional joinery

Fine woodworking is very precise down to the 1/64th of an inch

Builds the custom furniture in your home

Question 2

Benefits of traditional wood joinery

Accepted Answer

At Reformed Woodworking, traditional wood joinery is considered to be any technique connecting two or more pieces of wood that utilizes wood to wood contact and glue. Some of the more widely known techniques include mortise and tenon, tongue and groove, dovetails, plus a myriad others. In contrast to traditional joinery, the use of nails, screws, and tacks are used to join pieces of wood. While these techniques are effective, there are drawbacks.

The biggest is the longevity of the piece of furniture. Wood expands and contracts with of changes in temperature and humidity. Nails and screws do not expand at the same rate. The differing rates of expansion can be enough to push nails or strip screws from the wood.

Over time, this may cause the furniture to fail. The result of uneven expansion and contraction can easily be seen in the raised nail heads of a wooden deck. However in traditional joinery, the wood and glue expand at relatively the same rates which allows the wood joint to remain together with changes in temperature and humidity. This does not mean that there is no place for screws and nails in furniture making, but a good woodworker will choose the correct time and utilize these connections to minimize the chance of failure.

Question 3

What is the difference between stains and finishes?

Accepted Answer

Stains and dyes are applied to change the color of wood. Stains only change the color of the surface and do not penetrated deep into wood. When a stained surface gets damaged, many times the underlying wood color is exposed. Stains offer no protection or stabilization to wood.

The role of finishes is to provide protection and stabilization. Types of finishes include shellac, lacquer, polyurethane, waxes, and oils. Each of these types of finishes have positives and negatives, but there is no such thing as a finish that protects against everything.

When applying a finish, the wood will have a change in color and depth to differing degrees, but in general a finish will only enhance the color of the wood to which it is applied. Finishes also stabilize wood to a certain degree. They can provide a physical barrier on top of the wood and/or penetrate into the wood and fill pore spaces to minimize the adsorption and desorption of liquids and humidity. This also helps to reduce to amount of expansion and contraction of wood.

Education

What's the difference between woodworking and carpentry?

Benefits of traditional wood joinery

What is the difference between stains and finishes?

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