THE CARPENTER.

Th art of the Carpenter is employed in framing and joining pieces of timber, and fitting then up in houses and other buildings, as well as in numerous other employments of a similar kind.

It was in the use of wood in the building of his dwelling, that man first began to exercise his ingenuity : and it is evident that he would
soon endeavour to find out tools for working it; but the first were, of course, of a very rude construction. In the cabinets of the curious, are still to be found, some formed of hard stones. The most part of the savage nations of America, and of the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, were not acquainted with any other, when Europeans first arrived amongst them.

Joinery is, also, the art of workingini wood. Or of fitting various pieces of timber together, for the convenience or ornament of certain parts of edifices, and is called, by the French mentrixerie, " small-work."

Both these arts are subservient to architecture, being employed in raising, roofing, flooring, and ornamenting buildings of all kinds. The rules in Carpentry, are much the same as those of Joinery ; the only difference is, that Carpentry includes the larger and
rougher kinds of work, and that part which is most material to the construction and stability of an edifice; while Joinery omprehends
the interior finishing, and ornamental wood work ; but most of those who are brought up to the trade, are both Carpenters and Joiners.

Thtire are two kinds of Carpenters, the House-Carpenter and Ship-Carpenter. The wood which they principally make use of, is
deal, oak, elm, and mahogany.

Deal is the wood of the fir-tree, which is chiefly brought from Sweden, Norway, and other northern European countries. The most common species of fir-trees are the silver leafed and the pitch, Norway, or spnce- fir. The first of these grows in many parts of Germany, from whence turpentine is sent to England. The Norway fir produces the white deal, commonly used by Carpenters; from this, pitch is also drawn; whence it takes its second name of the pitch fir. There is also the red deal, which is very much used where great durability is wanting, not having been deprived of its turpentine as the white deal has.

Oak and elm are too well known in this country to need any description, as they both grow in abundance in various parts of England. English oak is proverbial for its strength and durability ; it is chiefly used for shipbuilding, of which we shall speak hereafter.

Mahogany has been mentioned before, under the article Cabinet-maker, to which we refer.

There has latterly been planted, in many parts of Great Britain, a species of pine, called Larch-fir, a deciduous tree, which grows '
very fast, and which promises, in time, to supersede, in part, at least, the very great importations of fir timber from abroad.

The Carpenter stands in need of a great variety of tools, such as saws, planes, chisels, hammers, hatchets, axes, awls, gimblets, &c
Common workmen are obliged to find their own tools, a set of which is worth from ten to twenty-pounds, or even more. But for
different kinds of mouldings, for beads, and fancy work, the master Carpenter supplies his men with the necessary implements.

The practices in the art of Carpentry and Joinery, are called planing, sawing, mortising, scribing, moulding, gluing, &c.

The a rt of sawing, and the different kinds of saws made use of, will be described when we come to speak of the sawyer.

A mortise, is a kind of joint in which a square hole of a certain depth is made, in the thickness of a piece of wood, in order to
receive another piece, called a tenon.

Scribing is a term made use of when one side of a piece of stuff is to be fitted to the side of some other piece, which is not regular,
or not having straight-lined edges or surface. To make the two join close together, all the way, the Carpenter scribes it : that is, he lays the piece of stuff to be scribed, close to the other piece he intends to scribe to and opens his compasses to the greatest distance the two pieces any where stand from each other ; then, bearing one of the legs against the side to be scribed to, with the other leg he draws a line on the stuff to be scribed. Thus he gets a line of the irregular piece, parallel to the edge of the regular one ; and if, by the saw or other instrument, the wood be cut exactly to the line, when the two pieces are put together, they will make a neat joint.

Planing consists in taking off, as occasion may require, all the rough parts from the surface and edges of wood, boards, &c. A
plane consists of a piece of box-wood, or beech-wood, very smooth at the bottom, ending as a stock or shaft ; in the middle of
which, is an aperture for a plate of iron, with a steel edge, or a very sharp chisel to pass. This edge is easily adjusted by a stroke or two of the hammer at one of the ends of the stock, on the iron itself, or the wedge, which is contrived to keep the plane-iron in its place. Planes have different names, according to their forms, sizes, and uses; as the Jack-plane, which is about eighteen inches long, and is iutended for the roughest kind of work.

The Long-plane is two feet in length ; it smooths the work after the rough stuff is taken off. and is well adjusted to smoothing and making straight the edges of boards that are to be joined.

The smoothing-plane, or hand plane, is only six or eight inches long, and is used on almost all occasions.

The rabbit~plane cuts the upper edge of a board straight or square down into the stuff, so that the edge of another board cut in the
same manner, may join with it on the square.

Besides these, there are plowing-planes, moulding-planes, hollow-planes, snipe's-bill planes, and a variety of others, used more
particularly by the Joiner in finishing his work.

Glue is a very important article in the Carpenter's and Joiner's, as well as the Cabinet maker's trade. It is made of the skins of
animals, as oxen, sheep, &c. and the older the animal, the better is the glue. Whole skins are never used for this purpose, but only the shavings and parings made by tanners, curriers, fell-mongers, &c. These are boiled to the consistence of jetty, and poured into flat moulds to cool ; it is then cut into square pieces, and hung up to dry.

A Ship-Carpenter is an officer at sea, whose business consists in having things in readiness for keeping the vessel, in which he is stationed, in repair; and attending to the stopping of leaks, to caulking, careening, and the like ; which terms we shall explain under the article Shipwright. He is to watch the timber of the vessel, to see that it does not rot ; and in time of battle he is to have every thing prepared for tepairing, and stopping the breaches, made by the enemy's cannon.

A journeyman Carpenter, when he works by time, receives from three shillings and sixpence, to four shillings and sixpence a day.