Homebuilding Basics Carpentry.pdf

A Comprehensive Introduction to Basic Carpentry Techniques
Larry Haun


TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. HAND TOOLS

2. POWER TOOLS

3. ON THE JOB SITE

4. FRAMING FLOORS

5. WALLS AND CEILINGS

6. ROOFS

7. STAIRS

8. FINISH DETAILS

9. SOURCES OF SUPPLY

INDEX



INTRODUCTION
I've tried my hand at many jobs. I worked for several years as a farmer. I was a spiker once, laying railroad track. I taught Spanish and carpentry at night for years, and I even worked as a counselor for the deaf and for wounded Vietnam veterans. But I always came back to carpentry. It must have been the smell and feel of wood.

Not all of carpentry is easy. Moving and cutting lumber all day long can be hard work. Yet I hardly remember a time when I wasn't doing carpentry work. I was born in a farming-ranching region of western Nebraska, and carpentry -- like sleeping and eating -- was something everyone did.

I helped build my first house before I was out of high school. I worked with a kindly old man, a craftsman who taught me "white-overall" carpentry, the way houses were built from Civil War times until about World War II. Hand tools were used to cut the wood and build the homes because few power tools existed. I was deeply impressed by the beauty of the tools this old carpenter had and the skill with which he used them, and I'm thankful for the knowledge he passed along to me.

When I was still a teenager, the post-WWII housing boom was beginning, and I found myself in Albuquerque trying to earn money to go to college by building houses with my older brother Jim. Because returning veterans were able to move into houses with nothing down and payments of $75 a month, the demand for housing was enormous. To meet that demand, we had to change the way we built. So, unlike Henry Ford, who took the automobile to the production line, we took the production line to the building site. We laid aside the white overalls and packed our pickups with tools built for speed. I set aside my handsaw and picked up a power saw that could cut wood to size in seconds, and I tossed my 16-oz. curved-claw hammer in favor of a 22-oz. straight-claw hammer that could drive a 16d nail with one lick.

In 1950, at age 19, I moved to Los Angeles to study at UCLA. I went to school three days a week and worked three days as a journeyman carpenter in the union. I got intellectual food for my mind and physical food for my body. On Sundays I rested.

By the mid-1950s, the building boom in Los Angeles was at its peak. Instead of building one house at a time, we were building 500 or even 5,000 at a time. Every person working in every trade was adapting. New tools, new procedures, and new materials were in evidence everywhere. It is a tribute to American ingenuity that we were able to build thousands of new homes without sacrificing quality for quantity. During these fast-paced days, I learned a lot about carpentry.

Nowadays I realize how fortunate I was to learn how to use hand tools from a traditional master builder when I was young. Today's carpentry is different in that we have all kinds of power tools, nail guns, and hand-held computers that help us build. But carpentry still requires that some basic knowledge of hand tools and layout skills be acquired so we can move on to become masters of our craft. And this is my purpose in writing Homebuilding Basics: Carpentry. I want to share with others what I have learned from my teachers. Just as in my first book, The Very Efficient Carpenter, this second book continues the process of making information available to people about carpentry tools and the techniques for using them.

Homebuilding Basics: Carpentry is a step-by-step guide book to building. There is something in this book for anyone interested in carpentry or home improvement. In it, you will learn how to work safely and how to choose and use the basic hand and power tools for carpentry. You will learn the vocabulary of carpentry so that you can read plans and order building materials. You'll learn the basic steps of how to put together an entire house. And you'll see when precision counts and when it doesn't.

I no longer make my living as a full-time carpenter. Instead, among other things, I now spend a lot of my time writing and teaching the trade. But that doesn't mean I have stopped building.

I help family and friends who need a willing hand. And my younger brother Joe and I work with Habitat for Humanity, building houses where we live in Oregon. Doing this physical work makes me feel good. It must be the smell and feel of wood.