Cabinetmaking The Key To All Woodwork
by John Henry
Cabinet making is the key to all woodwork. Its basic skills and knowledge are needed by all those who work in wood, whether or not they carry the title of cabinetmaker.
Look at the description of what cabinetmakers must be able to do: they perform hand and machine operations necessary to lay out, cut, shape, and assemble prepare the hearts of high – quality products for furniture, cabinets, store fixtures, Office Equipment, and home furniture. They study drawings of products to be made and laid out and outline or dimension of the parts and one of the stock of certain specifications.
They also operate such woodworking machines as though a radial – are soft, circular sorrow, then sought, Jointer, mortise, and others, two car and shape carts. They bore holes for installing screws or doubts by hand or machine and many at the low two hearts and clamp them together they insert nails dowels, and screws through joints to reinforce them. They glue and fit Sub – assemblies and other parts together to form completed units. They smooth surfaces with scrapers an sandpaper and also install hardware such as hinges, catches, and drawer pulls.
There are some who still think of the cabinetmaker as a specialized woodworker who laboriously builds a piece of furniture using hand tools and hand control machine tools. This occupation has been adversely affected by mass production. Yet the
know-how of cabinet making is becoming increasingly important to the finish carpenter, millman, patternmaker and even the boat builder. Today a little fewer than 100,000 persons are employed are strictly as cabinet makers.
The closely associated field of carpentry, however, is the largest skilled trade in the United States, employing over one million people and in carpentry there are two types of work: Rough carpentry and finish carpentry let’s look at the work of the Finnish carpenters. They cut, fit, and install moldings, baseboards, door frames, doors, hardwood floors, windows,kitchen and bathroom cabinets and built ends, and perform a wide variety of other work requiring the skillful use of many different tolls and machines their work is classified as finish or trim work, as distinguished from rough work. And many are the woodworkers who install the visible items in a building –such as listed above.
Their work must be done accurately and carefully note the similarity between the two occupational groups of finish carpenter and cabinetmaker. Many of the same skills and knowledge are required by both. The need for cabinet making skills is increasing. With more production type homes being built there is a great need for woodworkers who can do the details of finish carpentry. Skilled workers are also needed to specialize in molding and installing office, store, and bank fixtures. Today more than ever the finish carpenter must know excellent cabinetmaking.