Carpentry

After a severe storm, most structural damage to homes and outbuildings comes down to broken framing, split doors, and failed load paths. A hand saw, a chisel, and a hammer can fix all three — no power required. Carpentry with hand tools is one of the few skills where the gap between "useful beginner" and "capable practitioner" closes quickly: a few specific techniques practiced on scrap wood translate directly to building shelving, repairing roof sheathing, hanging doors, and fabricating animal pens or raised beds.

Wood selection and lumber basics

Softwoods vs. hardwoods

Softwoods — pine, fir, spruce, cedar, hemlock — make up the majority of framing and construction lumber. They are fast-growing, widely available, affordable, and easy to cut and nail. Douglas fir and Southern Yellow Pine are the structural workhorses in most U.S. lumber yards. Cedar and redwood resist moisture and decay, making them the right choice for anything in ground contact or exposed to rain.

Hardwoods — oak, maple, ash, walnut, hickory — are denser, stronger, and significantly more expensive. Use them for furniture joints, tool handles, cutting boards, and applications where wear resistance matters. Hardwood is sold by the board foot (a unit 12 in × 12 in × 1 in thick / 30 cm × 30 cm × 25 mm). Expect to pay an affordable-to-moderate amount per board foot for common species like poplar or red oak, rising to a significant investment for figured walnut or hard maple.

Dimensional lumber: nominal vs. actual

Lumber names are nominal — the size the board was when rough-cut from the log, before drying and planing. After those processes, the board is smaller. Every calculation you make must use the actual size:

Nominal	Actual (in)	Actual (mm)
1×4	¾ × 3½	19 × 89
1×6	¾ × 5½	19 × 140
2×4	1½ × 3½	38 × 89
2×6	1½ × 5½	38 × 140
2×8	1½ × 7¼	38 × 184
4×4	3½ × 3½	89 × 89

A 2×4 is actually 1½ in × 3½ in (38 mm × 89 mm). This matters when you're building a frame and need to know how far apart to set studs or whether a joint will align.

Plywood grades

Plywood is sold in 4 ft × 8 ft (1.2 m × 2.4 m) sheets. The grade stamps tell you what you are getting:

CDX: One side is C grade (knots and patches allowed), the other D grade, glued with exterior adhesive (X). The standard structural sheathing for roofs and walls. Affordable and available everywhere.
BCX: One B face (smooth, light patches only) for applications where one visible surface matters — shelving, cladding. Moderate cost.
ACX: One A face (sanded smooth, no patches). Use for cabinet faces and visible surfaces. Higher cost.
OSB (oriented strand board): Not plywood, but used interchangeably for structural sheathing. Less moisture-tolerant than plywood; the edges swell and delaminate if left exposed to rain.

Current lumber prices fluctuate significantly with tariffs and housing demand. As of early 2026, a standard 2×4-8 ft (2.4 m) stud runs approximately $5–9 USD at a big-box lumber yard, and a 4×8 sheet of CDX plywood runs around $35–55 USD. BC and AC grades run higher. Check local prices before budgeting a project.

Essential hand tools

A complete hand-tool carpentry kit requires seven categories of tools. A usable starter set runs approximately $150–350 USD, depending on whether you buy new mid-range tools or find quality used tools at estate sales and auctions.

Tool	What it does	What to buy
Tape measure	Measure length, width, height	25 ft (7.6 m) with a ¾ in (19 mm) blade that locks stiff
Combination square	Check 90° and 45° angles, mark lines at consistent depth	A 12 in (30 cm) model with a cast iron head; budget models deflect under pressure
Hand saw	Cross-cut boards to length	8 or 10 TPI (teeth per inch) panel saw for framing; Japanese pull saw for joinery work
Chisel set	Cut mortises, dadoes, pare joints	Four chisels in ¼ in, ½ in, ¾ in, and 1 in (6, 12, 19, 25 mm) widths — bevel-edge pattern
Mallet	Drive chisels without mushrooming handles	Wooden or rubber mallet, 16–24 oz (450–680 g)
Hand plane	Flatten, smooth, and fit surfaces	A No. 4 bench plane for surface work; a low-angle block plane for end grain
Marking gauge	Scribe parallel lines at fixed distance from an edge	Single-pin or wheel style; wheel gauges cut cleaner lines in hardwood
Clamps	Hold joints while glue sets	Start with four 6 in (15 cm) F-clamps and two 24 in (61 cm) bar clamps

Field note

Used hand planes and chisels from estate sales are often better than new budget tools — older Stanley and Record planes have thicker, more stable castings than modern imports at the same price. The key test: sight down the sole of a plane. If it rocks, pass. Buy chisels with intact handles and undamaged bevel geometry, then sharpen them before use.

Measuring and marking

Accurate layout is half the work in carpentry. A mismarked board produces a miscut joint.

Hook the tape measure on the end of the board. The metal hook slides ⅛ in (3 mm) to compensate for its own thickness — it gives an accurate reading whether you are pulling from outside or pushing from inside.
Read at the near edge of your pencil mark, not the center. The pencil line itself has width — roughly 1/32 in (0.8 mm). For rough framing, the pencil line is fine. For joinery, use a marking knife against a square for a precise, cut-line that a chisel can register against.
Square a line across the face. Place the combination square's stock tight against the board's edge. Hold the pencil or knife at the end of the rule and slide the square along — the line stays perpendicular.
Transfer the measurement to multiple boards. When cutting identical lengths, clamp the boards side-by-side and mark all of them simultaneously from one measurement. This eliminates cumulative error from re-measuring each board separately.
Check corners with the 3-4-5 method. For any right-angle frame, measure 3 ft (0.9 m) along one leg, 4 ft (1.2 m) along the other, and check that the diagonal between those two marks is exactly 5 ft (1.5 m). If it is, the corner is square. This method scales: 6-8-10, 9-12-15, or any multiple of the 3-4-5 ratio works identically.

Measure twice, mark once

Lumber is not free. The habit of checking your measurement before marking, and your mark before cutting, costs 10 seconds and saves a board. When building from a cut list, mark every piece on the waste side of the line — the kerf (the material removed by the saw blade, typically 1/8 in / 3 mm wide) comes off the waste, not the finished piece.

Cutting technique

Cross-cutting with a hand saw

Cross-cutting means cutting across the grain — shortening a board to length. This is the most common cut in carpentry.

Clamp or support the board so the waste side overhangs the bench or sawhorses and will fall free without binding the blade. If the waste is heavy, support it with your free hand near the end of the cut.
Start the cut with the heel of the saw. Place your thumb against the blade to guide it exactly to the waste side of your mark. Draw the saw toward you in two or three light strokes to create a shallow groove (the kerf). This groove guides every stroke that follows.
Align your body. Your forearm, elbow, and shoulder should form a straight line behind the saw, pointing directly down the cut line. Close one eye and sight down the blade if needed.
Push on the forward stroke, ease on the return. For most Western saws, the forward stroke cuts; the return stroke clears chips. Apply light, even pressure — the saw does the cutting, not your arm. Forcing the saw causes binding and wandering cuts.
Slow down at the finish. As you approach the end of the cut, shorten your stroke and reduce pressure. Reaching the last few strokes too fast causes the waste to split off early, taking a chunk from the finished edge.

Ripping with a hand saw

Ripping means cutting along the grain — narrowing a board. The technique is similar to cross-cutting but uses a ripsaw or aggressive tooth pattern (4–6 TPI), and the kerf tends to close and bind on long cuts.

Wedge the kerf open with a small nail or wood shim as you progress. Ripping requires more effort than cross-cutting because you are cutting parallel to grain rather than across it.

Using a chisel

Chisels do two kinds of work: chopping (vertical cuts, driven with a mallet) and paring (horizontal shaving cuts, driven by hand pressure alone).

Chisel direction rules

Always cut away from your body and away from your supporting hand. A chisel that slips follows the path of least resistance — into whatever is in front of the bevel. Keep both hands behind the cutting edge.

Chopping (cutting dadoes, mortises, hinge recesses):

Set the chisel bevel-down on the layout line. Strike firmly with the mallet. The bevel pushes the wood fibers down and out.
Work in increments of ¼ in (6 mm). Never try to take a full mortise depth in one series of blows — the chisel deflects and the walls go out of square.
Clear chips between series of cuts. Packed chips prevent the chisel from going to depth and cause the blade to ride over the cut rather than registering on the wall.

Paring (fitting joints, cleaning up saw cuts):

Hold the chisel flat-side (flat back) down against the surface you want to leave. Apply pressure with your chest or shoulder, not your wrists — this gives control over angle.
Take fine shavings. You are fitting a joint, not excavating it. A thousandth of an inch matters here.
Grain direction matters: pare with the grain, not against it. Cutting against the grain tears fibers; cutting with the grain lifts clean shavings.

Wood joinery — simple to structural

Butt joint

The butt joint is two pieces of wood meeting at a face or end with no interlocking geometry. It is the simplest joint and has the least structural strength — end-grain-to-face-grain glue bonds are weak because end grain is highly porous and absorbs glue before the surfaces bond. Reinforce every butt joint with mechanical fasteners.

When to use it: Rough framing, temporary structures, construction where appearances don't matter and fasteners provide all the strength.

How to cut it: Square one end of each board with a saw. No further shaping required.

How to fasten it: 3 in (76 mm) framing nails driven at opposing angles through the end grain into the face of the mating piece (called "toenailing") — or 2½ to 3 in (63–76 mm) screws driven straight through the face piece into the end of the mating board. Two fasteners minimum at each joint.

Dado joint

A dado is a channel cut across the grain of one board to accept the end or edge of another board. It registers the mating piece automatically, gives glue significant face-grain surface area, and carries loads in shear rather than tension. Bookshelves and cabinet dividers use dadoes.

When to use it: Anywhere you need a shelf or panel to be held in a fixed position perpendicular to a vertical panel.

How to cut it (by hand):

Mark both walls of the dado with a marking gauge set to the exact thickness of the mating piece — test your gauge against a scrap piece first.
Saw the two shoulder lines to your depth mark. Dado depth is typically ⅓ to ½ the thickness of the board: for a ¾ in (19 mm) board, no deeper than ⅜ in (10 mm).
Remove waste with a chisel working from the center toward each shoulder line in ¼ in (6 mm) increments.
Finish the floor of the dado flat using a wide chisel flat-side down, paring across until the mating piece slides in snugly with hand pressure.

Rabbet joint

A rabbet is a step cut into the end or edge of a board, leaving a lip that overlaps the mating piece. Cabinet backs, drawer bottoms, and box corners all use rabbets. It is stronger than a butt joint because the rabbet shoulder carries shear load and the long-grain glue surface is significant.

How to cut it: Mark the width and depth of the rabbet with a marking gauge. Saw the shoulder cut (perpendicular to the face) to depth. Then pare or chisel out the waste from the end.

Mortise-and-tenon joint

The mortise-and-tenon is the foundation of structural furniture and timber framing. A projecting tenon on one piece fits into a rectangular cavity (the mortise) in the other. When glued, the joint is stronger than either piece of wood. Chair legs, door frames, workbench legs, and timber-frame structures all rely on mortise-and-tenon.

Proportions. The tenon width equals approximately one-third the thickness of the stock. For a 1½ in (38 mm) thick rail, the tenon should be about ½ in (13 mm) wide. The mortise is cut first — tenon size adjusts to match the mortise.

Cutting the mortise:

Mark the mortise with a marking gauge: two parallel lines across the face, set to tenon width. Mark the depth on the edge.
Drill overlapping holes inside the layout lines to clear most of the waste. Use a bit slightly narrower than the mortise width and drill just short of full depth.
Chop the walls square with a chisel matched to the mortise width, working from the center out. Chop to depth in stages, clearing chips between passes.
Clean the floor with a narrow chisel. The mortise walls must be straight — a tapered mortise causes the tenon to contact only the near end, creating a lever point that splits the joint under load.
Cut the mortise ⅛ in (3 mm) deeper than the tenon length. This space collects excess glue and lets the tenon seat fully without hydraulic lock.

Cutting the tenon:

Mark the tenon shoulders with a marking knife and square on all four faces.
Saw the shoulder cuts first — these are the critical reference surfaces. A wandering shoulder cut cannot be corrected.
Saw the cheek cuts (along the grain) to meet the shoulders.
Test the fit: A properly sized tenon slides into the mortise with firm hand pressure. If you need a mallet to drive it, the tenon is too tight — pare the cheeks slightly with a sharp chisel. If the joint is sloppy, the glue line will fail under cyclic load.

Field note

When dry-fitting a mortise-and-tenon, check for rocking before checking for depth. Set the joint and grip it at both ends — there should be no movement side to side. A rocking joint means the walls of the mortise are not parallel; go back and pare the high spots until the joint seats flat.

Dovetail joint

The dovetail uses trapezoidal pins and tails that interlock mechanically in tension. Even without glue, a dovetail cannot be pulled apart in the direction of the tail's taper. Drawers, tool chests, and high-quality box corners use dovetails.

Hand-cutting dovetails takes practice, but the setup is simple: a dovetail saw, a marking gauge, a bevel gauge set to a 1:6 ratio (about 9 degrees) for softwood or 1:8 (about 7 degrees) for hardwood, and sharp chisels. Cut the tails first, use them as templates to scribe the pin board, then saw and chop the pins. The joint should need only light mallet pressure to close — if you force it, you risk splitting a tail or pin.

Fasteners and adhesives

Nails

Nails are fast and good for framing where the joint carries mostly shear load. They perform poorly in withdrawal (being pulled straight out). Common nails are thick-shanked for structural work; box nails are thinner-shanked and less likely to split dry lumber. Nail length rule of thumb: the nail should penetrate the receiving member at least ⅔ of its total length.

Screws

Screws outperform nails in withdrawal resistance. For structural connections, use coated wood screws rated for outdoor use. Common lengths:

1¼ in (32 mm): Face frames, light joinery
1⅝ in (41 mm): Shelf pin attachment, light assembly
2 in (51 mm): Cabinet assembly, face-frame-to-box
2½ in (63 mm): Framing, decking
3 in (76 mm): Structural framing, ledger attachment

Pre-drill near board ends and in hardwood to prevent splitting. Pilot hole diameter should be slightly smaller than the screw shank.

Wood glue (PVA)

Standard yellow PVA glue (such as Titebond) creates a bond stronger than the wood fibers themselves — properly glued long-grain joints fail in the wood, not the glue line. Apply glue to both mating surfaces. Assemble the joint, apply clamps until glue squeezes out uniformly at all edges, and leave undisturbed:

Clamp minimum: 30–45 minutes at 65–75°F (18–24°C)
Full cure: 24 hours — do not stress the joint before then
Cold temperature warning: PVA glue does not cure below 50°F (10°C). In cold workshops, warm the workpiece before gluing.

Glue performs poorly on end grain because end grain is porous and absorbs glue before the surfaces bond. For end-grain joints, either apply two coats of glue with a short pause between them (letting the first coat soak in before applying the bond coat) or supplement with mechanical fasteners.

Wood movement

Wood is hygroscopic — it absorbs and releases moisture as humidity changes. Solid wood moves primarily across the grain, not along it. A 12 in (30 cm) wide oak panel will expand and contract roughly ¼ to ⅜ in (6–10 mm) seasonally.

This movement must be designed into any structure with solid wood:

Tabletops: Attach to the base with wood buttons or figure-8 fasteners that allow the top to slide — never screw a solid top directly to a frame.
Panel doors: Float the solid panel in the frame; it must not be glued. The frame joints hold; the panel moves freely.
Plank floors and decking: Leave a 1/16 to ⅛ in (1.5–3 mm) gap between planks at installation — they will expand in humid seasons. Tight installation produces buckling.

Check moisture content before gluing

Fresh or "green" lumber contains far more moisture than kiln-dried lumber and will shrink significantly as it dries. Gluing green lumber to dried lumber creates joints that will crack open as the green wood dries and contracts. If you are using lumber from a sawmill or freshly felled wood, air-dry it for at least one season, or use moisture-tolerant joinery (drawbored mortise-and-tenon, wooden pegs) rather than PVA glue.

Practical projects for preparedness

Project 1: Sawhorse pair

Sawhorses are the first thing you build because they make every other project easier. A matched pair that folds flat for storage takes about one hour and requires two 8 ft (2.4 m) 2×4s and a handful of 3 in (76 mm) screws.

Material: Two 2×4-8ft boards; 3 in (76 mm) coated screws; one 2×6-8ft for the optional crossbeam

Dimensions: Working height 30–32 in (76–81 cm); leg spread 24 in (61 cm) at the floor; top beam 36 in (91 cm) long

Basic build:

Cut the top beam to 36 in (91 cm).
Cut four legs to 32 in (81 cm). Angle-cut the top of each leg at 15 degrees — this creates the splay that gives the sawhorse its stability. If you don't have a bevel gauge, a combination square set at 15 degrees works as a marking guide.
Attach two legs to each end of the top beam. Place the leg top against the beam, splay outward at roughly 15 degrees, and drive two 3 in (76 mm) screws through the beam into the leg. Check that the leg bottoms fall at 24 in (61 cm) of spread before the second screw.
Build the second sawhorse identically. Check the working heights match — place a straight board across both and verify it lies flat.

Project 2: Simple utility shelving

Three 8 ft (2.4 m) 2×4s and two sheets of ¾ in (19 mm) CDX plywood build a freestanding shelving unit 4 ft (1.2 m) wide, 6 ft (1.8 m) tall, with three adjustable shelves — adequate for a 200 lb (90 kg) load per shelf when properly anchored.

Frame construction: Dado the uprights at each shelf position — ¾ in (19 mm) wide, ⅜ in (10 mm) deep — so the shelf decking sits in the upright rather than resting on a ledger. This transfers shelf loads directly into the upright rather than through fasteners alone.

Anchoring: Bolt or screw the top of the unit to a wall stud. Freestanding shelving loaded with food, tools, or water containers becomes a hazard in an earthquake or if someone leans against it.

Project 3: Hanging a door

A door that doesn't hang correctly won't latch, won't seal, and can't provide security. Most door problems are caused by hinges in the wrong position or out-of-plumb door frames.

Measure the opening. Rough opening is typically 2 in (50 mm) wider and 2½ in (63 mm) taller than the door slab. This allows for shimming and the door frame itself.
Install the jamb plumb. Use a level on the hinge jamb. Shim behind the jamb at each hinge location until the jamb reads plumb in both directions. A door hung to a twisted jamb will bind or gap unpredictably.
Mark hinge locations: Top hinge 7 in (18 cm) down from the top of the door; bottom hinge 11 in (28 cm) up from the floor; middle hinge (if three-hinge door) centered between the other two.
Mortise the hinges. Set the leaf of the hinge flat on the door edge at the layout marks. Scribe around it with a marking knife. Chisel out the hinge mortise — depth equal to hinge leaf thickness so the hinge face sits flush with the edge.
Hang the door and check swing. Use wedges or a spare board under the door to hold it at the correct height while you drive the hinge screws. Check that the gap at the latch side is even top to bottom — ⅛ in (3 mm) is standard. If it isn't even, adjust the shims behind the hinges.
Plane for fit if the door binds. Mark the high spots by running a pencil along the frame where it contacts. Plane those areas — take light shavings and check frequently.

Safety

Carpentry hand tools don't have the catastrophic failure modes of power tools, but they produce injuries through carelessness rather than malfunction.

Chisels cut skin as easily as wood. Clamp the work so both hands control the tool, not one hand stabilizing the workpiece.
Hand saws bind on bowing lumber. If a saw binds mid-cut, back out and wedge the kerf open with a nail or scrap strip — forcing through a bind causes the saw to buckle and jump.
Wear eye protection when driving nails and chiseling. Wood chips and nail fragments travel at injury speed.
Sawdust is a chronic hazard. Fine dust from sanding or powered cutting accumulates in the lungs. Wear an N95 respirator during dusty operations and work with ventilation. This is a habit issue, not an acute emergency — the damage is invisible until it isn't.

Carpentry field checklist

Carpentry connects directly to the shelter foundation — the same framing, sheathing, and door-hanging techniques in this page apply directly to storm repairs, temporary barriers, and structural reinforcement. The blacksmithing page covers the complementary skill of making and repairing the metal hardware — hinges, brackets, hooks, and fasteners — that every wooden structure eventually needs.