What did carpenters do in medieval times?

Answer 1

It was very tiring being a carpenter and they were very hardworking. They did many different things like building flooring, roofing, siege engines, furniture, panelling for rooms and scaffolding for building. Carpenters played a very important role in medieval times as they were very highly skilled and considered to be elite tradesmen. To become a carpenter it was usually necessary to join a society as a beginner and learn the craft. Knowledge of maths, woodworking and the use of tools were required for all carpenters.

Answer 2

A carpenter would be expected to make a wide range of wooden objects, tools, furniture and construction materials.

Since most buildings were of wood, including many of the largest single buildings to be seen (including aisled halls, barns and manor houses), carpenters were expected to find, fell and shape huge oak trees for the construction of timber framework, drill and chisel the holes for pegs and joints, shape tenons and mortices, dovetails and other joints in timber as well as making the "trenails", wooden pegs used to strengthen joints.

Carpenters used large and small axes, various saws including large, two-man frame saws and draw saws, planes, chisels, files, augers and mallets. For sawing very large timbers they used a saw-pit, with one man working below the timber (the "under-dog") and one man standing high on top of it. "Dogs" were iron staples used to prevent the log rolling while it was being sawed. Sometimes, tree-trunks would be split several times along the entire length with axes, wedges and mallets to produce planks for floorboards, walls and ship construction.

Carpenters also worked on furniture, for those who could afford it. Tables, beds, chairs, benches, coffer-chests, church chests, doors, window-frames, farm gates, fences, and screens were some of the tasks required.

Handles for agricultural tools, knives, weapons were also made; a very skilled carpenter might be called on to make a very small jewel box for a wealthy lady, complete with lock and key.

Answer 3

Carpenters worked with wood, just as they do today. They did a large part of their work in the construction of buildings, including making and fitting posts and beams, building doors and windows, and building wooden floors. They made furniture. Some of them carved wooden objects, ranging from spoons to statues, because there was no absolute distinction between a carpenter and a wood carver. The word carpenter is related to the words car, cart, and chariot; it derives from an ancient Celtic word for chariot maker.