• Carpentry is the trade of building wooden objects, from furniture to doors, by hand.chair image by inacio pires from Fotolia.com
  
  Carpentry is the wood fabrication of structures ranging from furniture to doors to tables. A carpenter's work is typically very laborious because the work is all performed by hand. Because of the nature of the trade, carpenters are equipped with a variety of hand and power tools to size, position, finish and shape their products. Hand tools are generally used to carry out complex jobs where power tools are used while working with heavy wood.
  
  

Carpenter's Square

• The Carpenter's Square, or framing square, is an L-shaped tool primarily used for ensuring that studs and sole plates are at right angles to each other. According to The Encyclopedia of Energy and Sustainable Living, typical Carpenter's Squares have a 24-inch blade and 16-inch tongue to form the 90-degree angle. The blade and tongue, which are marked in inches, can also be used to measure.
  
  

Dovetail Joints

• According to the Museum of American Heritage, dovetail joints are one of the best and strongest joints used in the carpentry industry for putting wooden pieces together at right angles as well as end to end. The pins on one piece are generally shaped like a fan, allowing them to fit securely into sockets on the corresponding shape. These joints are commonly used in projects involving cabinets and drawers.
  
  

Smoothing Planes

• Smoothing planes are trowel-shaped carpenter's tools that level wood, clay, sand or plaster in a mold. Although power sanders have taken the place of smoothing planes in many applications, according to Hand Tools Manufacturers, they are still used today by carpenters because there's no tool to better shave the edge of a sticking door or warped piece of wood.