Is it worth studying to be a carpenter. Interview about the profession: master of carpentry and parquetry. What personal qualities should a carpenter have?

“All professions are important, all professions are needed!” - Samuil Marshak repeated in his poem. In our article, we will focus on one of these - the profession of a carpenter.

Many people often confuse the work of a carpenter and a joiner. Although they are to some extent related specialists, the art of carpentry is much finer and more precious. If you want to build a house, the carpenter will do it for you. But all the furniture that will be inside is already the task of the carpenter. Do you feel the difference?

FAQinDecor visited the Oakland carpentry workshop, where we were happy to talk with an experienced carpenter named Andrey, who explained to us what kind of profession it is - a carpenter.

How to become carpenters

All people are completely different both in life and in the factory. It seems to me that the love of working with wood is laid from a young age. If it is a pleasure then, then in the future you will become a good specialist. Although, on the other hand, this business also has its own professional illnesses: injuries of the back and limbs. You need to be ready for this. Therefore, to be a carpenter or not - depends on the desire. For example, I always liked the pieces of wood, with them I have been with them since childhood.

How I became a carpenter

My grandfather was a carpenter, and there was a workshop in his house. He did carpentry both at work and at home, and helped his neighbors in some way - for this he had all the necessary tools. I often asked: “Grandpa, we will tinker, can I take the board?”, To which he replied, “Take it, just don't cut your hands. But on condition that you return the entire tool to its place and clean it in the workshop after work, and if not, you will not receive it tomorrow. Got it? ”-“ Got it, ”we answered. What we did not do together with my grandfather: we built fences, machine guns, pistols, even rifles were sawed out of boards. In addition, my mother worked in a furniture factory all her life. Therefore, I was surrounded by a similar atmosphere.

I think if I liked iron more, I would devote my life to it. But it happened differently. At a certain moment, I had a question: "where to go to work?" My father worked at the Tractor Plant, and my mother, as I said, at a furniture factory. The choice of employment was pretty easy - I ended up in a factory. For about six months I worked there as an auxiliary, and then, when I passed to the rank of carpenter, I began to do more laborious and high-quality work. Naturally, the salary has also increased. This went on for about a year.

After that, I went to study military science, but after a while I thought about employment again. It was then that I came across an advertisement in the newspaper, which said about the vacancy of a carpenter. I remembered that I once worked in this area, but I was not sure whether it would work or not - it worked.

At the moment I have been working in a carpentry factory for over 15 years, because I enjoy the work process. And it is very rare when what you like and what you know how to do well coincide.

Carpenter's working day

The carpenter has certain responsibilities: drawings, tasks, and he must also know how to work with this or that material. Moreover, he must be able to do any operation in at least three ways. Starting with manual cutting with a chisel, ending with milling of parts of a curved contour.

It is important that a person begins to do from the very beginning. If he is only going to procure the parts, then it is clear that the first step is to study the drawings, consult with the designer, technologist and foreman. In order to find out together how to make the product better, cheaper and at the lowest cost. If this is a cabinet or a kitchen, then after the preparation a bunch of products appear with which at first it is not clear what to do. But then one day, two, three passes - and everything looms in detail, someone assembles the body, and someone deals with the facade.

During the day, he continued to engage in his carpentry craft, which provided him with the money necessary for his maintenance, and in the evening he studied various parts of mathematics, mechanics, architecture, perspective, drawing.

FROM THE BOOK OF VLADIMIR ODOEVSKY - "STOLYAR" -

About your favorite business at work

Probably more than anything else, I love creating furniture. But here's the thing - all the joiners I work with know how to do everything. It is clear that there are some who like to collect furniture more, others like doors or shelves. But creating furniture and doors are completely different things. Therefore, when any work falls out, we take it and do it. We do not have to choose, and there is no such possibility, unfortunately.

What a novice carpenter should be able to do

At the very beginning, the carpenter must have great desire and great patience. After all, you can learn this profession in two years at a school, but, in the end, when people come to us and begin, for example, to plan, they do it wrong.

In addition, in the process of work, you need to take into account many nuances. For example, when creating a cabinet, you need to understand: where it will stand, how to fix it, whether light will fall on it in the room, how tall the customer is and whether he will be able to reach the upper shelves. It depends on how we will be remembered after that: “we are not angry with a quiet word” or with gratitude.

How professional skills help in life

My professional skills help me choose firewood for the fire! (smiles) Because you know which tree to take. This always happens when we go on a kayak trip with a friend. What pieces of wood are needed for a fire, tent or awning? The choice is mine, because I know what is needed for this. Recently, for example, I pulled chairs for my parents (smiles), fixed the hinges on furniture. Well, it is clear that every carpenter in his house builds a kitchen, some stools, chairs, doors or cabinets.

About injuries at work

If you are careful, everything will be all right. I myself got caught once, and all because I was in a hurry, and this is absolutely impossible to do. You need to know and not forget safety precautions. For example, how long the board cannot be taken and approached to the machine. Never. Even as a probe. This must be understood immediately. Here, as in sports, when a person trains a throw over the hip, he brings it to automatism and does it with his eyes closed. The same thing should happen in this case. Everywhere. And after a while a person remembers it, hands remember, and, in the end, there is muscle memory.

I became a carpenter, or rather an assistant carpenter, at the age of 13, on summer vacation. The first month I cleaned sawdust, cuttings and was number two on various machines. In the second month, they began to trust the work on not too dangerous machines and talk about the types of wood, its properties and secrets. On the third, they entrusted me with making a bunk bed, then the queen of sciences, drawing, came in handy for me, and they ordained me as a carpenter.

The whole school year I have been waiting for summer vacation to return to carpentry. Upon arrival, I was delighted with the attitude towards me, a 14-year-old teenager, it was on an equal footing with all the masters, and this only spurred me to take an example from them and "absorb" every word and advice and secrets production of products. By the middle of summer, I was given a serious order (kitchen fronts made of cedar) and a local drunk in the utility room, who only drank and disappeared, I don’t understand where. Having finished almost one order on time. I learned the taste of big money, so this profession can fondle with bills, which finally influenced my fate and choice of profession

After finishing school, fate brought a surprise, and my family and I had to move to another city. There I found a carpenter, I was hardly hired as an assistant because of my young years, as no one wanted to take responsibility for the accident. Within a week, everything changed, and I had the first issue of admission to all machines. So I have been working as a carpenter from such a young age.

The work is still impressive and interesting, when you see the completed flight of stairs (sometimes it is more than one floor), doors, libraries, offices, English ceilings and so on - it takes your breath away and a sense of pride from what has been done.

But there is also a downside to the coin among carpenters - as a rule, these are drinking masters, as a result, losing limbs, ability to work and profession ... The current work of a carpenter is not so generous in money, although clients pay from full, as a rule, takes the lion's share an intermediary between the client and the master. By my 36 years I managed to earn money for a house, not a cheap car and a small carpentry of my own, which is not said to be proud and grateful to fate. At the moment, I have five people working, and according to them, they are not going to go anywhere, since all settlements for orders are open to me, and they work for% - from 20 to 30 + 10-15% for the installation of products, depending on from complexity, and everyone is happy with everything.

For those who decide to choose the profession of a carpenter, I will give some advice. Never bring the work to automatism, observe safety precautions, develop a "third" eye, so that it is not a surprise when someone approaches you from the back, if you cannot do it beautifully, then do it, at least qualitatively, learn to do it efficiently, and beauty will follow with experience. If you follow at least these elementary rules, then the profession you have chosen will surely give you a ruble and a sense of pride for the years you have lived. And NEVER DRINK AT THE WORKPLACE, since not a single master you are going to become has ruined both morally and physically !!! Machines are like bees, they don't like drunks, remember this !!!

Although it would be more correct to say “how to get a new hobby”. Those. of course you will become a carpenter, but not in order to enrich yourself like Rockefeller, but for the soul.
She is a capricious young lady, and besides work and other duties, sometimes not very honorable, she wants to have something to do to rest from the hustle and bustle of vanity. I do not deny that over time your hobby will be able to turn into earnings, but the approach that I describe here does not initially set such a goal, since “to earn money” you have to go a completely different way - faster and more costly.

So, we have some hypothetical opportunity to allocate a little time, an even less hypothetical financial opportunity and a vague desire to do something with our hands ... where to start and what to do next?

1. you have to start with a goal. No, not with the goal "I want to become a carpenter", but with the first small goal - well, for example, "a shoe stand in the hallway." It is very important that the goal is as easy and realistically achievable as possible. Because if you want to make a chest of drawers no worse than that of a guy named Louis some there, if you are not a former cabinetmaker who has lost all memory of your past in a car accident, then I bet you five bucks that you have nothing the first time will not work and you generally quit this occupation with rather unpleasant associations for a while.

2. now we know what we want (shoe stand), and we go to look at the competitors. We look in shops selling shoe racks, look on the Internet in the “my works” sections, look in catalogs of expensive or not very expensive furniture, look in kins and TVs, and even in dreams. Do not forget to visit the resource http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php, which is probably the richest in information about working with wood in Russian. The more different products we see, the better. Do not forget to find out the details of the design, look inside, from behind, see how what is attached, what is covered and everything that can only be seen. Upon closer examination, it turns out that there are nuances that you, as a consumer, did not even suspect.
Another important parameter that we pay attention to is the price. We are looking at the price not for practical use, but for complacency. Those. an inner voice will turn on in my head, which, by the way, can be broadcast to some people around (but only very close and carefully), whispering "the price of a beige stand made of chipboard is 2000 rubles, and I will bungle it for 1999 rubles of all costs, including tools, but from the present wood ", or" in the boutique walnut thing costs 20 thousand, and I will make from pine but for 5 sput. I will save the family budget! “. This inner voice is a little disingenuous, but it gives additional motivation.

3. in our age of steam and electricity of the Internet and torrents, it makes no sense to reinvent the wheel and go to the whole process of creating furniture or other wood products yourself. There is a lot of information, both in text and picture form, and in video format, about how and what to do. How to hold a chisel, how to saw, how to plan, how to sharpen, how to become a star etc. Therefore, it makes sense to spend a couple of weeks and gigabytes of traffic to study international experience. If it were not for the general fight against piracy, I would be happy to tell you that you need to start your searches from http://rutracker.org/forum/index.php, but since I am a law-abiding citizen, then excuse me to link to this hotbed of freebies. I will not, do not ask. Almost all video tutorials are in English, but to understand, or rather to see the essence, it does not interfere. The main thing when watching is not to be arrogant and not start thinking that since this guy in the monitor is doing some kind of wooden thing playfully, then you will immediately have the same. It will be, but not immediately and not so. At first it will be more crooked and less beautiful, despite the apparent identity of the actions. This is normal, over time, and you will not get worse. Probably. But at this stage, the main thing is to understand the basic processing techniques. Take my word for it - without training videos or books, you would have spent a lot of material, time and possibly body parts to comprehend these very basics. In addition to torrents, the second most important resource is the Forum from the Masterovs magazine - http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php, although if you are a fan of “interactive” learning, in the form of a question-answer, you can consider this resource as the first one. Just a little advice - before asking a question there, use the search or read similar topics. With a very high probability of 99% that your question has already been answered there. The third storehouse of knowledge is http://woodtools.nov.ru/

3.1 Among the lessons, pay attention to the tenon-groove connection methods. http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1478267 This is probably the most difficult thing you will have to face first. But this is the main and, in my opinion, the most reliable method of attaching some parts to others. Unlike nails and screws, no heads remain on the surface. Unlike "lamellar", it does not require special tools. Allows to carry out "dry" assembly and to check the accuracy of manufacturing the product as a whole.

3.2 Another assembly method is, conventionally speaking, "lamellar". http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7 81096 This is when a special elliptical piece of wood is glued between two parts. This connection is less durable, but professionals love it very much. The secret is extremely high manufacturability, with the appropriate equipment called “lamellar cutter”. I don’t think we should start with this build method. You will always have time to come to him later. A special case of a “lamella” connection is a connection “on dowels” (cylindrical lamellas).

4. The next stage is the choice of material. Today in stores you can buy chipboard / chipboard, MDF, furniture board, planed board and unplaned board. As a kind of boards - timber.

4.1 With chipboard, LSDP and MDF, it makes no sense to contact with manual and independent work at all. These materials were invented by cunning technologists with the submission of even more cunning marketers in order to reduce the cost of mass production of furniture. Partly in accordance with this mass production and the possibilities of the material, the current fashion for furniture is developing. Everything is flat and made of panels. Edges and edges are not rounded. If you want such furniture, it's easier to buy. In any case, the rivalry with a team of 4 people, who, having taken the initial sheet of chipboard in 40 minutes, make a wardrobe completely ready for assembly at the customer's, you will not win. Therefore, “you have to take” with a different appearance, different material and a different texture.

4.2 If we consider planed and especially non-planed boards, then this is a good thing, but it requires additional processing before use. Processing means giving the board the required shape by “removing” unnecessary material. If it is not difficult to remove the length and width by sawing off, then it is not so fun to bring the board to the desired thickness by shaving. This is not a problem for those with experience and tools, but for the first project you will not be able to do it. Those. it may be within our power, but the time required to make the board of the desired thickness will be so great that you will quickly get bored of it. After all, time and effort is expended, but there is no result. Another problem may be that the width of the board is less than you need. Experienced carpenters glue (splice) several planks to obtain the desired width. But you cannot do this operation smoothly and efficiently. Here you need experience, and even better experience supplemented by a planer-planer.
This does not mean that you should not use the boards at all. It's just that if the original board does not meet the needs of your product in terms of thickness (i.e., thicker than you need) or width (narrower than you need), you better refuse the board.

4.3 The so-called "furniture board" remains.

The one who came up with the idea of ​​selling this thing in stores should be rewarded. However, his life must have rewarded him, and he has long been drinking martinis in a chaise lounge and the rays of the setting sun somewhere in warm regions. For those who do not yet know - a furniture board is spliced ​​(glued) boards (they are called plots), and so qualitatively that from a distance of half a meter only a drawing of a tree reveals a secret that there are several boards. Wood material is quite capricious and wayward. Under the influence of moisture and, to a lesser extent, temperature, it changes its shape. With a certain ratio of width to thickness, a piece of wood can noticeably “twist” and it will lose its original “flat” shape. Therefore, in practice, the width of the boards is limited. Only very high quality craftsmen can afford to use boards of large width and / or thickness. The rest are content with splicing several planks. In the furniture board, the joining of the plots was done for you at the factory, and moreover, the wood was also dried, de-resinated (if it is an ephedra) and processed quite well (especially when compared with a non-planed board). As a result, you get into your hands a very good blank, very suitable for making furniture with a thickness of 18mm. There are also 28mm and 40mm. Width and length can be used for all occasions, which is good news. Well, you just have to cut off the excess. No planing.
The most common pine board. Pine is generally the most common tree. The reason is the rapid growth of pines, and the convenience of processing. The pine is soft and pliable enough. Naturally, it also has disadvantages. The first is softness. Those. untreated pine can be easily scratched with a fingernail. Scratching the oak with a fingernail is almost impossible. The second drawback is the presence of knots and a not very beautiful pattern (a large contrast between soft and hard fibers).
However, this is subjective, since many like the bitches.
Furniture board, in any case pine, there are three grades of AA, AB and B. AA is the most beautiful option. If there are knots in it, then they are light and small. Naturally more expensive. B with knots. AB is an intermediate option. Sometimes the furniture board is “solid timber”, this is when it is assembled from several boards of the same length. Those. the boards are not spliced ​​in length. It looks prettier, but personally I have come across only solid oak shields, and I'm not sure if they are pine.
You can buy a furniture board at construction markets, in Castoram, Leroy Merlin and similar places. When buying, it makes sense to sort through the shields and choose the most suitable for you in appearance and less shabby during transportation.

4.4 If we talk about the appearance, then any boards are radially cut (this is when the fibers are parallel to each other and form a pattern similar to a zebra -) and tangential (when the pattern of fibers goes to smeared circles like on plywood).
Here who likes what, but from a technical point of view, radial sawing is much less common (only twice per log). In the furniture board, there can be plots of both radial and tangential sawing side by side.

5. Now let's talk about the most exciting stage - choosing and buying tools. If you love men's toys, then you can buy whatever you like. Especially circular saws and electric planers. It looks solid and powerful, the girls immediately faint.
If you approach from a practical point of view, and try to enter the carpentry with minimal tool costs, then it makes sense FIRST to limit yourself to the minimum required set of tools. So:

⁃ respirator.
http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topi c = 859.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topi c = 2561.0
No matter how funny it is, but in my opinion this is the most necessary thing without which you shouldn't start. Wood dust is a very nasty thing, and hard wood dust is also recognized as carcinogenic. Since our own health is the most expensive thing that we have, it is worth taking care of protection. I am not saying that a respirator must be worn at all times. But, for any operation where the aforementioned wood dust appears, you need to wear a respirator. This is any grinding, it does not matter with a hand float or grinder, sawing with an electric saw, working with a router. Respirators are different, from garden-foam-rubber at the price of a couple of tens of rubles, to professional ones under the 3M brand with a set of various filters, including gas-mask, anti-varnish, anti-varnish. Probably the golden mean is the Soviet RPG-67. Protects from both dust and toxic fumes (varnishes, paints, solvents). You can smell acetone in it - you won't feel anything. If you are lucky with the size, then it sits on the face of the face so comfortably that you forget about its presence.

⁃ glasses.
http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=9275.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=904.0
Dust and shavings, as well as unexpected fragments / debris that fall into your eye, will easily make you, if not permanently disabled, then for a while a crying idiot with red eyes. Therefore - wear glasses, masks or transparent shields for any work, where something can bounce into your eye. Better to play it safe, and put on a shield when working with a chisel than to catch a chip right in the eye. You should not buy something fancy right away. First you need to understand what suits you best. There are about three options:

The glasses look like ordinary glasses, but instead of glasses they have plastic. Flexible or shockproof. Advantages - comfortable and not bulky. Most models can be worn with a respirator. Lack of glasses - dust can fly in from below and from the sides.

The half mask is similar to “skier goggles” (which are actually called a mask). Advantages - much more effective protection from dust clouds. The disadvantage is that they fog up more easily and cannot always be worn with a respirator.

The visor is a comfortable and lightweight thing. Advantages - can be worn with a respirator, can be easily removed (i.e., lifts up). Disadvantage - glare when the light is from behind.

⁃ gloves.
The thing is not as obligatory as a respirator and glasses, but if you are too lazy to spend time picking out splinters, then it is better to wear them. Also, wear gloves when finishing, as greasy fingerprints after sanding the surface will not be visible to you, but they can appear when stained or varnished.

⁃ Workbench.
Even if you think you can do without it, this is not true. Working on a stool threatens with back problems, and working on a desk with problems with family members. It is believed that the first item should be a workbench. I think this is not the case for two reasons.
1- this is a more complex product than you think.
2 - only after working can you feel your true needs.
Therefore, it makes sense to buy a folding workbench first.
Don't worry, this is not wasted money. Even when you have a good stationary workbench, this “small” one can always be used as a stand for very long workpieces. Folding workbenches are too light and need to be made heavier. For example, a kettlebell or two cans of 10 liters of water.

⁃ Hacksaw.
if you are impatient and missed the first three points about choosing tools, then you better rewind and read. There is no point in stepping on those “mops” that you can easily get around and, as a result, have problems with your own health. So, a hacksaw ... most likely the house already has a hacksaw. But also most likely the tooth of this hacksaw is large. The larger the tooth, the faster the tree is sawn, but also the coarser the cut. Rough sawing is not fatal. This “defect” can be corrected by sanding. But in order to save a lot of time to correct this "defect", it is better to buy a hacksaw with a minimum tooth. Those. with the maximum number of teeth per unit of length (inch). Of course, it takes so long to cut, but the edges are even. Instead of a hacksaw, you can buy a "Japanese saw" with a fine tooth. The Japanese saw (http://www.rubankov.net/shop/CID_138.html) saws on itself. Those. the teeth are so shaped and sharpened that they bite into the wood when you pull. Traditional saws (i.e. European ones) cut when the blade is moving away from you. In general, the Japanese have many hand tools that work for themselves. In addition to hacksaws, there are also “butt saws” on sale http://www.wood40-shop.ru/index.php?productID=898. The advantage of flap saws is a cleaner and smoother cut. The disadvantage is the shallow cutting depth due to the design of the saw. The main purpose of the butt saw is to cut out spikes and grooves. If you watched a bunch of videos on DIFFERENT methods of making tenons and grooves, and decided that you want to saw your own tenons, then you need a butt saw.

⁃ Chisel.
This is very important tool... You can cut holes with a chisel. Small areas of material can be removed with a chisel. A chisel (but only a bad one) can stir paint. To get started, you need at least two chisels. Relatively speaking - narrow and wide.
The optimal width is narrow 10 or 122 mm. Depends on the size of the items you are planning.
The optimum width is 24 or 30 mm wide.
I draw your attention, I am now talking only about the minimum set of chisels. Then you will collect the entire collection. 6 to 35 mm. But you can start with two. In this case, you will cover most of the needs. With a narrow one, you can cut holes, trim grooves or inner corners. Broadly level the ends or cut off sections.

⁃ sandpaper for sharpening chisels.
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=845538
Once you have chisels (or at least one), then in any case you need to sharpen them. From the factory, even the most branded, chisels, and other manual cutting tools like planers, do not come out sharpened in full. Sharpening is giving the cutting edge the optimal shape (angle) for cutting the material. The back of the chisel should be flat and the front beveled at a 30-degree angle. Sometimes it is 25. When sharpening, abrasive materials are used, the main indicator of which is the number of "cutters" per inch. The larger this value, the smoother and sharper the edge of the cutting tool will be. Sharpening is carried out gradually, from a smaller number of abrasives to a larger one. Each subsequent pass improves the quality of the cutting edge. Professionals use abrasive Japanese stones with an index of 8000 for sharpening hand tools (not only chisels). Gunsmiths for their sabers and swords are even higher. If you get things going, you will also need these over time. But they are expensive, and at the initial stage they will not be available to you. A good solution is to use sandpaper with a grit index of up to 1000. In addition to a set of paper (180, 320,500,1000), you will also need a thick black marker and a piece of good, even glass. The set is needed because for the first time it is necessary to sharpen in ascending order, from coarse to fine. Once sharpened chisel (and any other tool) does not need to be sharpened every time on a new one with all the “numbers”. If the cutting edge is even and without chipping, then it is enough to bring it to the condition with the 1000th number in just a couple of minutes.

⁃ Drill or screwdriver.
You probably already have it on the farm, but very little is used for the manufacture of furniture and only for hanging door hinges and other accessories. True, if you choose the option of attaching various parts of the product to each other with dowels, then this tool will be used often. An important parameter in this case is the perpendicularity of the hole on the surface of the part, so get a jig. However, you can use a router with a milling cutter of a suitable diameter instead of a drill.

⁃ Manual frezer.
http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=944.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=11878.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php? topic = 11199.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=4807.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=4099.0, http://rutracker.org/forum/ viewtopic.php? t = 633452
If you want to give your furniture a more beautiful look than the chipboard technology of right angles and edges provides, then the hand router is your best assistant in this. With its help, you can round off edges, round off corners, cut a pattern on the surface, select a quarter, make spikes and grooves, drill through holes of large diameters and probably much more. In other words, it is the most essential tool for a novice carpenter if he (a novice carpenter) wants to have something more than a banal parralepipid from a furniture board. The main characteristics of milling cutters are power, immersion depth, collet diameter, maximum cutter diameter, and the presence / possibility of using additional devices. If we talk about power, then theoretically the more it is, the better. As if at a time you can shoot more material. But there is a nuance in working with a milling cutter. And it sounds like "if the edge of the processed wood burns, then reduce the thickness of the material selected in one pass." Those. it is quite possible that you will make more passes than the power of your router allows due to the burning of the wood. However, it must be said that burning can be reduced by using sharper and higher quality cutters, and by keeping the cutters clean. The more the immersion depth, the better. The shanks of cutters are not very long, and it is recommended to leave at least half the length of the shank in the collet. Therefore, the power reserve will not be superfluous, especially when working with templates and copying sleeves that “eat off” this depth. The collet diameter directly depends on the power of the router. Those. for milling cutters with a power consumption of less than 2000 watts, you are unlikely to find a 12mm chuck. Only 8 m less. This is where you have to think carefully when buying a router - whether you need a 12mm chuck or not. Milling cutters with 12 mm shank are cutters with large working surface diameters. These are used for the manufacture of panels, lining, doors and other patterned structures. At the beginning of your activity, such products will seem complicated to you, and you are unlikely to try to make them. But someday you will need to make, for example, a paneled door for the nightstand. Here you will need a set of "front panel" cutters.
But their diameter is large, the shank is 12mm, the required power is in the region of 2000 watts. But it will be "sometime later", And now you have to decide how to be. There are two options.

1 - buy a not very powerful, not heavy milling cutter with a power of 1000 to 1500 watts, not giving a damn about the ability to use 12 mm cutters with it, and use it for processing edges, cutting patterns, holes and other "light" work. Moreover, this router will be much cheaper than a two-kilowatt monster. Well, in the future, when you reach the desired condition, buy a second, powerful and powerful absolutely everything (almost everything). Having two routers for different needs is more convenient than having one big one for everything. To be honest, this option is more optimal, although somewhat more expensive in the long term.

2 - buy immediately the most powerful and sophisticated manual router. The downside is a lot of money at once, and it is not known whether its power reserve will come in handy in the future.

But in any case, when buying a router, you need to make sure that you have a copy sleeve with it. This is a very convenient device that allows you to guide the cutter exactly along the contour specified by the template. No matter how strong your hands and high self-esteem are, you will never be able to smoothly run the cutter along a given curved path. Therefore, use a template cut from plywood or MDF and a copy sleeve. Moreover, often these same curvilinear contours for the product need several identical ones. Better to spend 10 extra minutes creating a template than regretting a spoiled workpiece.
Another useful accessory to the router is the compass, which allows you to cut more circles. The parallel stop is a necessary thing, but it can always be replaced with a suitable flat bar. An important note - you cannot work with the router with gloves, which is clearly stated in the instructions. If you get into the cutter with your bare hand, then you will be torn off a small part of your hand (only), but if with a gloved hand, amputation or very serious damage is guaranteed, because the fabric or leather of the glove will be wrapped around the cutter and will not allow you to pull your hand back.

⁃ glue.
With all the richness of the choice of joinery adhesives, PVA is most suitable for you. Rather, PVA-based joiner's glue. The drying time for PVA is not very short (about 15-20 minutes), during this time you will be able to take measures to correct distortions or other errors during assembly. While contact adhesives will not give you such an opportunity. In addition, excess PVA glue can be easily removed with a cloth while it is not dry.

⁃ Construction tape.
He's masking tape. It is used for temporary gluing of surfaces during varnishing, on which glue will then be applied. In view of the fact that the glue “sticks” to the lacquered surface worse than to the clean wood, it makes sense to leave islands of uncoated wood in those places where the gluing will be.

⁃ Hand sander or sander.
http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=12571.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php?topic=14675.0, http://forum.woodtools.ru/index.php? topic = 2022.0
Any wooden surface, no matter how high-quality the furniture board was originally, must be sanded before varnishing or staining. Sanding is done with the numbers of the skin in ascending order, and if your furniture board does not have large scratches or other defects, then you can start with 150 (and end with it, if this number is indicated in the requirement for varnish / stain). If everything is bad, then first you will have 100, then 120, then 150 and possibly 180. For applying some types of varnishes (oils) even 240 and 320. Sanding is a non-romantic and monotonous process. If your budget is tight, or you like monotonous back and forth motion, buy yourself a hand grater. If you feel sorry for the time, then the sander will speed up the process almost tenfold on large surfaces.
Grinders are different ...
The belt sander is designed for rough and fast sanding of large surfaces and the number of its belt does not exceed 120 (which is clearly not enough for varnishing).
Delta cars are good in corners and hard-to-reach places, but they have a small working surface.
Therefore, at the initial stage, you will need either a vibro with a rectangular sole, or an eccentric machine.
Vibrating is usually cheaper and easier. She has a rectangular or square sole on which an ordinary skin is fixed with Velcro or clamps. Cheap and cheerful. The disadvantage is that the nature of the movement of the sole is uniform and therefore for high-quality sanding you have to constantly change the trajectory yourself. In addition, the grinding process is slightly longer in time than with an eccentric one. Yes, and even with long work, the hands do not feel very comfortable. But dignity is low price both the machine itself and the sanding paper. Do not take only paper-backed skin, it tears easily.
An eccentric sander rotates a plate with a sandpaper and does not carry out the same "cutter" in the same place twice, so the speed and quality of grinding is higher. But this machine is usually more expensive and expendable materials they also cost more, since the sanding cloth has Velcro and dust extraction circles on the back. Using a respirator when sanding with a hand grater or any sander is mandatory, since wood dust famously sticks to the inner surfaces of your beloved lungs, even if you don't even know about it.
A small addition - if you think that the attachment for the drill with Velcro for the skin will save both you and the father of Russian democracy, then you are mistaken. Firstly, it is inconvenient to work with a drill in this position for a long time, and secondly, if you tilt the “sanding pad”, and it crashes into the surface to be ground, a groove is provided for you.

⁃ square.

without a good carpentry square, you will have a hard time marking parts. The school square is not the best assistant here.

⁃ clamps.
The rule applies here - the more the better. Clamps are
C shaped,

F - shaped,

And some other types.
C - shaped are the simplest and cheapest. Therefore, at first it makes sense to buy them (pieces of 4 4-inch). Since for the price of one good F-shaped one, you can buy three or even four cheap and non-branded C-shaped ones. In view of the fact that even such a “non-brand” as Stayer is not able to spoil the C clamp, you can take something cheaper. While the F clamp from Stayer ceased to hold after three months of very gentle use - the teeth on the back of the rail were worn out. Professionals prefer the branded QuickLock or F, because for them time is money, and it takes more time to clamp C. At first, this is not critical for you, so feel free to take C. When you become a great master, any clamp will find a use. There are never many of them.

6. Varnishes and paints. The coatings are transparent, opaque, and translucent. Opaque are enamel and oil paints. If you want a kind of natural wood, this is not your option. Translucent ones show the structure and pattern of the tree, but hide it. Some people like this effect. But in my opinion, it is better to pay attention to the completely (relatively speaking) transparent coating. If you want to give the wood a different color, then use a wood stain.
In addition to wood stains, there are also all sorts of so-called "effects". Don't chase many effects at first, but pay attention to one of them, called "patina." The essence of this effect is to give the surface an old look by darkening certain areas. As a rule, these are areas in depressions or in corners. Indeed, during long-term operation (tens of years), the surface of a wooden product covered with varnish darkens somewhat, but if open areas are constantly touched with hands, dust rags, etc., then this plaque from open areas is erased, but in the recesses or corners it remains ... Patina in the form of a paste is applied in the same way - first, the entire surface is smeared, and then the excess is erased with a cloth or finger, and left only where the artistic intent requires it.

In addition to creating the product itself, it also needs to be coated with varnish or oil so that it not only does not get dirty, but also looks more spectacular. We can say that in nature there is no coating that makes a pine product an analogue of mahogany. This is probably good “in the long run”, but at first it is a little frustrating :). Therefore, do not expect anything supernatural from the coating. Appearance will improve, but not much. As such, paints and varnishes are of different types.

⁃nitro based... NTS series varnishes are in every household store. Dignity - dry very quickly. But this will be a disadvantage for you, if you do not have experience, it will be difficult to apply the coating on a large surface evenly. And it smells like acetone.

⁃polyurethane, often two-component. Advantage - when using a spray gun and experience, they give a very high-quality coating. But again, for you at the initial stage, this is a minus. Firstly, there is no pneumatic spray gun and a compressor for it (it is better to forget about electric ones. They are suitable for painting fences, and they do not provide the required uniformity), and secondly, there is no experience (not yet). Roller application is also possible, but the material (varnish or stain) will not fully manifest itself.

⁃lye... A substance diluted in alcohol, kindly prepared for you by special Chinese butterflies. Advantage - very glossy and hard coating, increases the contrast of the product. But the application methods are laborious and dreary. Dozens of layers are needed. At first, you shouldn't even think about it.

⁃oil... Typically based on linseed oil. They have been used for a very long time and there are many materials, ranging from drying oil and tung oil. Advantage - it has a greater penetrating property than other materials, therefore, the type of coating is somewhat different than with other varnishes. Apply with a brush or soft cloth. But when applied, it smells strong and there is a real danger of spontaneous combustion of used brushes and rags. So you have to be careful and remember to wear a gas mask. Even the smell of drying oil is very unpleasant for some. Although a good material for novice carpenters.

⁃aquatic... as the name suggests, it's based on water. Very suitable for beginners. First, it can be applied with a roller or brush. With a roller, with a certain skill, it is easier to achieve a uniform application of the water stain on large surfaces than with a cloth when using an oil stain. Secondly, it doesn't smell. In the third, it does not dry quickly, which means you can take your time. Fourthly, if you have a dark stain, then when painting a large surface, there may be problems with the imposition of parallel "stripes". In this case, you can dilute the stain with water in a 1: 1 ratio, and make the first or even the second layer diluted. And the next layers are no longer diluted. In this case, the "color fill" will look smoother. When choosing the color of the stain, it must be borne in mind that the tree has dense and less dense areas. Name different colour and the texture of these areas gives us a drawing of the tree. The problem is that dense areas absorb any stain worse, which is why, when using dark stains, an “inversion” effect appears, when those areas of the dervea that we are used to seeing darker (dense) become lighter. The disadvantages of aqueous materials include less penetrating power of wood stains, and lower resistance of varnishes to abrasion.

So, like “this is all I wanted to say about the Vietnam War” (c). Despite the fact that a lot has been written, all this is not so difficult, especially since thousands, if not millions of people have done it, are doing and will do it. So, go for it, everything should work out for you.

I will not show my first product :) But the second, made using everything described above, here -

How good it is when a person has the opportunity to choose a profession not out of necessity, but in accordance with spiritual inclinations.

A. Apsheroni

- Tell us about yourself: who do you work and how long have you been working in this profession?

I, Kopylov Vladimir Ivanovich, have been working as a carpenter since 1969. Soon half a century, as my life is closely connected with wood - a living and spiritualized material.

- Why did you choose this profession?

This was not a random choice. From early childhood, I loved making various crafts from wood. So hobby turned into the meaning of life.

- Are you satisfied with your choice?

I have never regretted that I chose this profession. During my life I have worked with different types of wood, grind and cut the most intricate details and build various structures. It is very exciting.

- Was it difficult to master your profession? What kind of education do you need to get for this?

This profession is both difficult and simple at the same time. Everything can be learned with effort and effort. You should start by going to college or vocational school. Experience and secrets of craftsmanship can be learned at the construction site and in the workshop.

- Do you need any special qualities and skills for a person who has decided to become a specialist in this area?

Undoubtedly! You need to be assiduous and attentive, hardworking and creative person. Knowledge in mathematics and drawing helped me a lot.

- What difficulties do you face in your work?

I don't notice any difficulties in my work, because I love my job. But this profession requires mandatory compliance with safety rules and good physical fitness.

- What is the most interesting thing in your work?

My work is to some extent an art, which is why it is so exciting. Wood is an amazing material that comes to life in the hands of a master. It is important that I always see the end result of my work.

- Does your profession allow you to reveal your creative abilities, to express yourself?

I put a piece of my soul into each product. Tools allow you to convey my mood to the tree, add energy to it and revive it, turning it into a product, a creation.

- Has your childhood dream of your future profession come true?

Of course, after all, it was in my childhood that I began to make simple toys, cut pipes and slingshots, made fishing rods myself, helped my father build and repair.

- How useful and important is your profession for our country?

From ancient times in Russia houses and furniture, household items and utensils were made of wood, so the profession of a carpenter and joiner was in value. Time passes, but even now there is a great need for such masters.

- Does your profession bring a good income?

Any work done with high quality, with soul and on time, brings income. I work honestly and professionally, so my work is paid at the proper level. This is a reason for pride.

To everyone who is not afraid of physical labor, who is ready to devote his strength and creative energy to work. To work as a carpenter is to create, expressing yourself daily in finished products.

- What would you like to warn those who are going to get the same profession as yours.

Concentration, safety and attitude are important in this work. As you know, business is afraid of a master, and to become a master, one has to work hard. Everything will not work out right away, but it will succeed with experience.

- How do you see your profession in the future?

This profession needs government support. It is important to preserve and develop carpentry and joinery in order not to lose touch with the traditions of our ancestors. The tree needs human hands.

- Do you think that this profession should be inherited?

Yes, this is a lifelong work that must be passed on from father to son. I dream to pass on the secrets of the skill and subtleties of this business to my grandson, who will continue the family tradition.

- What is the most interesting product you have done in your life?

The most responsible and voluminous work is the construction of wooden houses. This work needs to be done, as they say, for centuries. But I also like small orders where woodcarving talent is needed - carving animal figures, for example.

- What professions do you consider related to yours?

The carpenter-carpenter is close in spirit to the builder, designer, sculptor. My profession allows me to combine physical and mental work, to create beauty.

- Is it possible to start a business with your profession?

Undoubtedly. This is a great opportunity to start a business, because people still build houses and summer cottages, want wooden stairs and balconies, and decorate their houses with carved wood figures.

- Describe your activity in one word?

I find it difficult to describe in one word, but I like to call myself a wood craftsman. Something fabulous is heard in this, kind and alive.

- What would you wish to those who are taking their first steps in this profession?

Do not be afraid to learn from the masters, adopt their skills, master new tools, try new techniques. Wood is an amazingly malleable material that does not tolerate stagnation.

- What work have you done recently?

The last was the work "for the soul." I made this figure as a gift to my grandson, and he helped me, tried to work independently with incisors and other tools. Now the figure is in his room.

The interview was conducted by Nikitin Roman,
Grade 6, secondary school No. 4, Mtsensk

Ten professions over which inflation, sanctions and creative crises do not rule.

Interview: Maria Mikulina @MariaMikulina

Yes, difficult times have come. if in one word. The economic crisis, if two. Quite an edge, if in two pathetic words. and creative agencies are shutting down. Flocks of office plankton find themselves on the street. Scooter prices skyrocketed, smoothie blood levels dropped. On Facebook, one can only hear: “Reduced! Fired! No work! "

But this is not true. We intend to prove to you the opposite: there is work, there is. Real man's hand work. This is always in demand - both in well-fed times and in a crisis. And this is not an unfounded statement. Meet ten men who know how to make money in any environment. And take an example from them. Or at least just exclaim: "Wow, well done!"

Electrician

Where to study

Studied for several months on courses professional retraining frames. In general, I graduated from the Institute of Culture and Arts. He worked in, was even a store director, a business coach. Some people like to work in the office, some don't. I don't.

Where to get clients

I work at DEZ. Each of the electricians either has their own customer base or superintendents with whom you constantly cooperate. The client base is developed by itself: a good specialist is always needed.

Starter set

In DEZah nothing is given out. However, a large amount of tools for working in DEZ is not needed, because the work is mainly with the operation of equipment. The tool will cost literally two thousand rubles if you know what you need.

How in general?

The working day starts at 9 o'clock in the morning. Officially. But this does not mean that you should be there by nine. You can safely drink coffee without fear of being late. The most important thing is that there are no complaints. Personally, I work in shifts, two in two. I don't like being attached, I like relative freedom, and here I feel like I'm on a horse. The end result is visible here. The light is off - you changed the light, it came on. Immediately satisfaction from your own work.

You can have from 70 to 100 thousand rubles a month. The question is where do you live, how do you work. In any case, there is always work and you can always earn money for a piece of bread. I still remember very clearly the crisis of 2008, when I was not paid for four months in my office. wages.

Stove-maker

Andrey, 45 years old, Moscow

Where to study

There are courses in Moscow called the School of Russian Masters. Training - two months, there are full-time and part-time courses. It costs something in the region of 30 thousand rubles. Then they can be taken as assistants - as the second person, the third person in the team. Courses do not provide practical knowledge. You know the theory, but how in practice ... But the community of stove-makers does not abandon their own in trouble. You can choose any from the list - call, ask. Gradually, you learn from your mistakes, from your bumps.

Starter set

The more you plunge into the profession, the more tools you need. And at first you can get by with a grinder, a trowel, nothing else is needed.

How in general?

I have been laying ovens since 2010. There are professions where people make money. There are professions that people do for the soul. And in this work, you can combine both. All my clients are constantly calling, congratulating them on all the holidays, inviting them to visit: "If you drive by, stop by for tea."
There is also a negative. Now there are many guest workers everywhere, they do everything. From building fences and digging wells to building houses and building stoves. When you come to the site and find out that you are already the third stove-maker, that a person has been burned twice ... But if you know your job, after 5-6 days this negativity disappears and normal relations appear.

At least 100 thousand rubles a month. More than the average salary in Moscow.

Carpenter

Where to study

I have a secondary specialized education, I studied after school. You can get a job as an apprentice to a master - usually not very qualified workers go.

Starter set

A basic set of carpenter's tools will cost about 30 thousand rubles.

How in general?

In general, I like the work. I get pleasure. Again, variety: you can make both furniture and stairs, especially if you work for yourself. So I just started building a workshop on my site. The only unpleasant thing is the injury. Well, yes, two days ago I drilled my hand. I'm already used to the fact that for each order a drop of blood is standard. When I make furniture, it’s a deep splinter, then something else.

If you work for hire, you can get an average of 40-50 thousand rubles. And if you yourself, like me, then you can safely receive from 30 to 100 thousand rubles a month, depending on the orders. You choose when to rest and when to work. I actually have a higher education in economics. But the meaning? Then I will receive the same 30 thousand rubles, but working all month. And as a carpenter, I can, if I strain, and earn them in three days.

Nurse

Where to study

It is possible not to study at all, since nurses are often required without special education. Several years ago I found myself in Moscow without work and housing, and at first it so happened that I contracted to sit with my friend's grandfather, and then I realized that, in principle, such a life suits me. I work under private agreements, but there are also agencies where they will train, if necessary, and draw up the documents. If you have a medical education, you can do injections, droppers, dressings - you will earn more, although sometimes the difference is quite small.

Starter set

Everything you need, including rubber gloves, is provided by the ward's relatives. All that is required of you is physical strength. And more. Sometimes patients are very overweight, and they have to be lifted, turned over, and some are carried to the bathroom, for example. And if a person has, then you need to be able to keep him, fix him, if necessary ... Also important is the absence of physical disgust and what I would call good-natured indifference: if you worry too much about the patient, it's harder for you, but getting angry with him, getting irritated is the last thing ...

How in general?

Fine. Of course, you are tied to the place, it is not always possible even to go to the store if there is no replacement. But I am a loner in life, I like reading, watching movies, playing games, surfing the Internet - and I have enough time for all this. I now have a paralyzed patient who is quite elderly, he sleeps most of the time. You wash him, change clothes, feed him, give him pills, read something out loud to him, do your own business - and the day has passed.

I have my own room in the apartment, travel card, Internet, full meals and 30 thousand a month for personal expenses. In principle, there is nothing to spend on, I translate almost everything into currency and save it for the future.

Crane operator

Where to study

I studied at the company, there were three-month courses. And there he immediately got a job. In general, now there are many courses for crane operators, taught by any licensed institution. I don’t want to study. There are also requirements for candidates, mainly medical. Still, we are dealing with different factors: chemical compounds, elevated temperature. Completely pass the medical examination. If they are healthy in all respects, they give admission to training.

Starter set

The cost of the courses is free. And during training, you are also paid some kind of salary.

How in general?

This is an interesting job. Mechanisms and glands are what any man is interested in. You definitely need to know the basics of equipment repair. Shift work: there is a morning shift, there is an evening shift. Morning - from 6:30 to 14:00, evening - from 14:00 to 22:00. The real workload is about half a shift, 4–5 hours.
The first time you study, you work in tandem with a slinger who walks under a crane. It shows the commands you need to understand. Stress, of course, is still there, as it is dangerous: at any moment the cable may break. But you get used to it over time.

The average salary is 40-50 thousand rubles. This is a very good salary for our region. My wife works in a kindergarten for 10 thousand. The average salary in our city is 30 thousand rubles. So I'm not complaining.

Greenhouse collector

Where to study

I came to the organization when I knew nothing, and I was trained. They saw the enthusiasm and took me. The main thing is to have a desire to learn. Started working in 2005, the work was related to glazing. Now I have been working in greenhouses for several years.

How in general?

If I didn't like the job, I would be looking for something more interesting. I think a person should always strive for the best. The number of orders depends on the season. In the spring the snow melts - everyone leaves for the gardens, starts ordering greenhouses. But, in principle, there is a demand for greenhouses in winter: they are cheaper out of season. If you are engaged in glazing in different directions, then you can occupy yourself all year round. The working day can start very early - sometimes you need to wake up, for example, at four in the morning. Opening hours are not standardized. I adhere to this principle: "If a person does not find time to rest, he will find time for treatment." The weekend is a must with the family, the family comes first. In general, I have time to rest.

The average wage of an assembly worker, if we take our region, is about 40 thousand rubles. This is quite enough for our places. You can earn more during the season. We have a lot of wrong things going on in the field when it comes to work. Do not pay wages to people. They still owe me money at my old place of work, in another specialty. Now I am much calmer in the material sense.

Plumber

Where to study

I have been in the profession for more than five years. I did not finish my courses, I studied along the way. I consulted with the guys and trained myself, so to speak.

Starter set

A basic set of tools for a plumber is at least 40-50 thousand rubles. You also need a power tool: a hammer drill, a grinder.

How in general?

In general, I like the work: I am my own boss. At least I haven't found anything better yet. My working day starts at six in the morning, because I live in the Moscow region, and I work in Moscow - it takes a lot of time to get to the object. But it all depends on the order - if anything, I can later. The main negative in the work: misunderstanding with the customer. Fortunately, this does not happen often.

We have piece-work work, there is no need for a month. On average - from 70 thousand rubles per month.

Groomer

Where to study

I studied for three months at the St. Petersburg firm "Master Groom". Sitting on the tail of a specialist - now there is no such thing. A huge number of courses, seminars. Within a year you become a normal groomer. Learning is not everything, experience is needed.

Where to get clients

Our company has a VKontakte page, and I have a VKontakte page. For example, people walk with dogs: "Where did you get such a beautiful haircut?" - "Over there." - "Okay, give me a phone number." Word of mouth works stably.

Starter set

Desire and understanding that this is a physically and psychologically difficult profession.