Carpenters - Types and Occupations

Types and Occupations

A finish carpenter (North America) also called a joiner (traditional name now obsolete in North America) is one who does finish carpentry; that is, cabinetry, furniture making, fine woodworking, model building, instrument making, parquetry, joinery, or other carpentry where exact joints and minimal margins of error are important. Some large-scale construction may be of an exactitude and artistry that it is classed as finish carpentry.

A trim carpenter specializes in molding and trim, such as door and window casings, mantels, baseboard, and other types of ornamental work. Cabinet installers may also be referred to as trim carpenters.

A cabinetmaker is a carpenter who does fine and detailed work specializing in the making of cabinets made from wood, wardrobes, dressers, storage chests, and other furniture designed for storage.

A ship's carpenter specializes in shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair techniques (see also shipwright) and carpentry specific to nautical needs; usually the term refers to a carpenter who has a post on a specific ship. Steel warships as well as wooden ones need ship's carpenters, especially for making emergency repairs in the case of battle or storm damage.

A cooper is someone who makes barrels: wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth.

A scenic carpenter in filmmaking, television, and the theater builds and dismantles temporary scenery and sets.

A framer is a carpenter that builds the skeletal structure or wooden framework of buildings most often in the platform framing method. Historically balloon framing was used until the 1950's when fire-safety concerns made platform framing inherently better. A carpenter who specializes in building with timers rather than studs, is known as a timber framer which may be traditional timber framing with wooden joints including mortise-and-tenon joinery, post and beam work with metal connectors or pole building framing.

A luthier is someone who makes or repairs stringed instruments. The word luthier comes from the French word for lute, "luth".

A formwork carpenter creates the shuttering and falsework used in concrete construction.

In Japanese carpentry, daiku is the simple term for carpenter, miya-daiku (temple carpenter) performs the works of both architect and builder of shrine and temple and the sukiya-daiku work on teahouse construction and houses. (Sashimono-shi build furniture and tateguya do interior finishing work.)

A Restoration carpenter is a carpenter who works in historic building restoration.

A conservation carpenter works in Architectural conservation known as a "preservation carpenter" and Historic Preservation in the U.S.

Green carpentry is the specialization in the use of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and sustainable sources of building materials to use in construction projects. They also practice building methods that require less material to be used yet have the same structeral soundness.