CARPENTRY is the process of cutting, framing, and joining the timbers of buildings by means of hand-tools. In building work, it includes the framing of the main structural skeleton or framework, covering it with rough boarding,. clapboards, shingles, etc., the construction of windows and door-frames and of cornices, gutters, etc. Interior \von(' work is here classed as joinery; but the distinction between the two processes is not sharply defined in practice, and in Amerka ri)enters erect the interior woodwork as well as other parts. In modern building practice wooden buildings are framed in three ways. Previous to 1830 the braced or full frame was alone used. In this method of framing the sills. girts, posts, and plates are made of heavy timbers, and are all mortised and pinned together. Braces are mor tised and pinned to post, sill, and girt, and stud ding is mortised and pinned to sills, gifts, and plates. To frame a building in this way. it is necessary to cut all the pieces and make all the mortise-holes, etc.. on the ground; then fit the pieces together, and finally raise the whole side of the framework at once. For the smaller and cheaper wooden buildings, balloon framing (Figs. 15 and 16) is now nearly always used.
In this method of framing the timbers used arc comparatively small and light, and all connec tions are made by nailing and spiking. The usual mode of procedure is to lay the sills, which are halved and spiked together at the corners, and then connect them with the first tloor-joists com plete. The posts are next erected and held in place by spiking them to the sill and by tem porary bracing. The common studding is next erected and secured in a similar manner to the posts. Generally the posts and studding ex tend from the sill to the plate without splicing. At the second-floor level a timber called a false girt or ribbon is notched and nailed to the in side edges of posts and studs, to carry the ends of the second-floor joists. On the top of the posts and studs is placed the plate Which carries the attic-floor joists and the lower ends of the rafters. It will be noted that in this method the framing of joists is confined practically to the simple process of halving and notching.
For the better classes of residences and frame buildings. a combination of braced am] balloon framing is often employed. The braced frame is adopted as far as the sills, joists, girts, and braces are concerned ; but the common studding is mortised at the lower end only. and spiked
at the upper end, and generally the plate is made of two thicknesses of plank spiked together and to the studs exactly as in simple balloon framing.
For buildings of a moderate size, simple tim bers are adequate in most cases for even the largest members of the framework; but in large buildings, where long beams and 'girders are re quired for roof-trusses and other purposes, it is necessary to use combination members made up of two or more timbers ingeniously spliced and clamped together, so as to act as a single timber. These special constructions are considered further on, in connection with the discussion of joints, splices, etc. When the framework has been erected, the next process is to cover it with its integument of sheathing and rooting.
The first covering of the sides consists of rough boarding or sheathing nailed to the out side edges of the studs. On this sheathing are nailed the clapboards, siding or shingles which form the outside surface of wooden buildings generally. Roof-boarding varies from a cover ing of closely matched and dressed boards for tin roofs to slats laid at intervals of two or three inches for shingle roofs. The process of rough boarding is one of the most simple processes in the art of carpentry. The laying of clapboards and shingles, however, calls for more skill—first, to preserve uniform widths exposed to the and. second, to insure that the verti cal joints do not coincide and leave a crevice for moisture to pass through. Clapboards are nar row, thin boards, thicker at one edge than at the other. The usual dimensions are: length. 4 feet : width, 6 inches; thickness at butt, 1 inch; at opposite edge, IA inch. They are laid hori zontally \ it h the butt edge downward, the butt of each overlapping the thin edge of the next, and are nailed to the sheathing. has a similar section to clapboards. but is thicker, and is sawed in lengths of I() to 16 feet. It is applied similarly to clapboards. Shingles are used to cover both sides and roofs. They are put on by commencing at the eaves or lowest corner, and lay ing horizontal courses either to line or straight edge. Each course is partially overlapped by the course next higher. and is nailed to the roof boarding.