Carpenter vs Joiner (Aren’t They the Same Thing?)

I’ve made everything from staircases to shop counters, and have lost count as to the number of custom built wardrobes that have passed through my workshop.

I used to have some joiners on my team, back in the busy days. Their job was to fit the pieces of wood together that I had prepared in the workshop.

That’s the main difference between carpentry and joinery.

A carpenter prepares the wood, and a joiner joins it together.

That’s why joiners are often called “finish carpenters”. They’re the ones who come around and fit all the pieces of wood together that have been prepared by a carpenter.

The only thing is, that’s just one aspect of it. A joiner is a carpenter, but a carpenter isn’t necessarily a joiner.

That’s because there’s a lot more to carpentry than joinery. A carpenter is trained in every aspect of working with wood, including joinery.

The difference is that they also know how to prepare the wood from scratch, rather than just join the pieces together.

Carpenters are the ones who turn the raw materials into the parts that a joiner will put together. There’s no crossover between the two.

That’s why a carpenter must know everything that a joiner does, but a joiner won’t necessarily know everything that a carpenter does.

It’s like the difference between a chef and a cook. A chef is a cook, but a cook isn’t necessarily a chef.

So, there you have it. A carpenter is a joiner and everything else besides, and a joiner is just a joiner.