JOINERY, the art of uniting wood of small dimensions, for the purpose of forming those fixed details of house- or ship-building which are not connected with the solid framework of the structure : and it is usually understood that the term joinery is applied to this particular branch of the constructive arts, in contradistinction to the other branches, carpentry and upholstery, the former of which deals exclu sively with the wooden framework of buildings, and the latter with the moveable furniture. The articles ordinarily comprised within the province of the joiner's art are doors, windows, shutters, floors, stair cases, cupboards, counters, shop-fronts, &c.; and the respective descrip tions of work are either plain, framed, or panelled. In order to ensure their proper execution, it is necessary that the joiner should be acquainted—I, with the nature and properties of wood ; 2, with the modes of putting the wood together, alike with reference to the economical conversion of the wood, the strength of the assemblage, and the resistance to atmospheric changes ; and 3, the general prin ciples of taste, in so far as they may influence the character of the work.
1. The woods most commonly used for joiners' work in England are the various kinds of fir and pine imported from the north of Europe and from America ; oak, either native or foreign ; mahogany, rose wood, cedar, maple, satin-wood, though perhaps the three last-named materials may be, more strictly speaking, regarded as furniture woods. Locally, poplar, chestnut, walnut, ash, beech, and some kinds of birch are used ; but the practice of London joiners is almost exclusively confined to fir, oak, and mahogany.
The fir-woods used for joinery are technically known under the names of baulk, or of manufactured goods, including under the latter term planks, usually 11 inches wide by 3 inches thick; deals, f) inches wide by 3 inches thick ; and battens, 7 inches wide by 24 inches thick; but it is to be observed that it is only in country districts, or where very coarse work is admissible, that baulk timber is converted to these uses. The planks, deals, and battens are, again, either of white or yellow deal, from the Baltic or Norwegian ports; or they are of white, yellow, or pitch pine, or more recently of the Vancouver's Island wood, all of which are obtained from America. The best European yellow
deals come from St. Petersburg, or Gefle ; the best white deals, from Archangel or Christiania; but the Stockholm, or the Riga and Memel deals, of either description, are of very nearly equal quality. Yellow deal is more fitted for doors or other panelled work than white deals, because it is less subject to warp or shrink ; but the white deals aro harder than the yellow ones, and therefore are more used for flooring purposes. Both white and yellow deals require, however, to be seasoned, or exposed to the air in sheltered positions, for at least from fewr to six years, before being employed for superior descriptions of joiner's work. The ordinary American pine deals are of a very inferior quality, whether as to grain or durability, and their use has been almost entirely abandoned by English joiners since the differential duties upon foreign timber have been reduced ; but the yellow pine is still largely used, on account of its uniformly soft character, the straightness and beauty of its grain, and its immunity from knots ; and for these reasons it is employed for moulded work, and for pianoforte making. The pitch pine is a very beautiful variety of the fir wooda, of a rather deeper and wanner colour than the yellow pine, and of much greater strength and durability ; unfortunately, however, it is very costly, and is, therefore, only used in cases where particularly sound and durable work is required, as for ships' decks, floors, staircases in good houses, &c. But the Vancouver's Island timber seams to possess qualities of dura bility, resistance to atmospheric changes, and colour, which plaeo it in a very superior category to any other description of fir wood, for those joiner's purposes at least wherein it may not be absolutely necessary to work the wood against the grain. The use of this Vancouver's Island timber has not, however, been sufficiently proved by experience to warrant its application on a very large scale.