A joiner is a carpenter who specializes in woodworking. The precise meaning of the term has evolved over time, and its application is not always consistent. It’s not always easy to tell the difference between a joiner and a carpenter. In some cases, the term “joiner” refers to a woodworker who creates finely detailed work with or without nails, while in others, it refers to someone who creates objects that fit together with joins rather than nails.
Wooden items such as furniture, chests, cabinets, and window frames are crafted with pegs and slots that fit together to form a firm, tight join in traditional joinery. This method dates back to the Middle Ages, when wooden objects were constructed without the use of costly iron nails. Traditional joinery techniques in home furnishings are still widely regarded as a sign of quality.
Joinery is one of a number of wood crafts with centuries of tradition. Joinery techniques have been used to make furniture and other wooden objects by cultures all over the world. Joinery is a technique used by traditional Chinese woodworkers to create strong but elegant chairs, tables, and chests. The modern trade of joinery, on the other hand, has its roots in Medieval Europe.
The term “joiner” was first used in English in the 14th century, and it was derived from French. The word comes from the French for “to join,” and it originally referred to a carpenter who specialized in ornamental work. The term is rarely used in American English, though some names retain the older meaning. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC), which was founded in 1881, is the main union for woodworkers in the early twenty-first century in the United States, but joinery is no longer considered one of its crafts. The University of British Columbia uses the older definition of a joiner, which is a craftsman who works without using nails.
The craft is usually divided into two specializations in the United Kingdom, where the term is more widely used. Site joinery and site carpentry deal with the assembly and installation of wooden components at the construction site, whereas bench joinery and site carpentry deal with the creation of wooden components in a workshop environment. Site carpentry, on the other hand, is the construction of wooden structures, whereas site joinery is the installation of smaller wooden components such as windows, stairs, shelves, and doors. Another facet of joinery is cabinet making. Despite the fact that glazing, or the installation of window glass, is a separate craft, some joinery businesses have expanded from simply making window frames to installing complete windows.