xiv
Contents
Section 1
Preparing to Build
Chapter 1
The Carpenter’s Workplace. .............3
1.1 Economic Outlook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Employment Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Working Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Job Opportunities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ⤀ 6
1.5 Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 Skill Development and Job Competency. . 9
1.7 Conduct on the Job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.8 Personal Qualifications. . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.9 Entrepreneurship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.10 Teaching as a Construction Career. . . 13
1.11 Career Advancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.12 Carpentry-Related Occupations . . . . . 14
1.13 Organizations Promoting
Construction Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2
Safety. .............................19
2.1 Occupational Safety and Health
Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 General Safety Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.3 Clothing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4 Personal Protective Equipment. . . . . . 23
2.5 Fall Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.6 Scaffolds and Ladders. . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.7 Hand Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.8 Power Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.9 Electrical Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ⤀ 27
2.10 Compressed Air. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ⤀ 28
2.11 Decks and Floors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.12 Excavations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.13 Falling Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.14 Handling Hazardous Materials . . . . . . 29
2.15 Lifting and Carrying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.16 Fire Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.17 First Aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 3
Building Materials. ...................35
3.1 Lumber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.2 Wood Structure and Growth. . . . . . . . 36
3.3 Kinds of Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.4 Cutting Methods .................38
3.5 Moisture Content and Shrinkage. . . . . 38
3.6 Lumber Defects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ⤀ 41
3.7 Softwood Grades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.8 Hardwood Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.9 Lumber Sizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.10 Calculating Board Footage . . . . . . . . . 45
3.11 Metric Lumber Measure. . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.12 Panel Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ⤀ 45
3.13 Wood Treatments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.14 Handling and Storing Lumber. . . . . . . 53
3.15 Engineered Lumber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.16 Nonwood Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.17 Light Gage Steel Framing. . . . . . . . . . 56
3.18 Metal Framing Connectors. . . . . . . . . 57
3.19 Metal Lath. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.20 Nails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.21 Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.22 Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.23 Adhesive Bonding Agents. . . . . . . . . . 62
3.24 Staples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.25 Specialty Fasteners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Wood Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 4
Hand Tools. .........................69
4.1 Measuring and Layout Tools. . . . . . . . 69
4.2 Saws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.3 Planing, Smoothing, and Shaping
Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76