Role guide · Carpenter & joiner
Carpentry kit is a dexterity negotiation: the trade needs fingertips free enough for a pencil line and protected enough for a splinter-rich, blade-adjacent day — while the dust the work makes is more dangerous than most of the tools making it.
The list
| Item | Spec | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Trousers | Holster pockets, EN 14404 knee option | Screws and fixings by the hundred; second-fix means floors |
| Tee or polo ×3 | Wicking, close-fitting sleeves | Loose cuffs and spinning blades share no room |
| Gloves | Thin coated, abrasion 3, cut B–C for board work | Thin enough to keep on — the whole game |
| Dust mask | FFP2 softwood · FFP3 hardwood & MDF | The trade's real long-term hazard |
| Eye protection | EN 166 F, K+N coated | Chips fly at eye height all day |
| Ear defenders | Machine and nail-gun days | Saws deliver a hearing-loss dose politely |
| Footwear | S1P workshop · S3 site | The midsole is for your own dropped fixings |
The dust truth
Cuts announce themselves; dust doesn't. Hardwood dust is a recognised carcinogen and MDF dust carries its binder resins — which is why the mask rule for carpentry isn't the nuisance-dust FFP1 in the multipack but FFP2 for softwood work and FFP3 for hardwood and MDF, worn fitted, with extraction doing the heavy lifting on machines. A bearded joiner needs the fit conversation, not a better disposable.
The glove negotiation resolves the same way as the gloves hub argues: a thin coated glove that stays on beats a tough one in a pocket — cut level B–C for sheet-material days, bare-handed only where a specific machine's rules demand it. And the workshop discipline travels with the kit: close cuffs, no drawstrings, crew-neck over hoodie near anything that spins.
Details
Questions
FFP3 — MDF dust combines fine hardwood-like particles with binder resins, putting it in the top disposable grade alongside hardwood dust. Softwood hand-tool work sits at FFP2. Extraction at the machine remains the primary control; the mask is the backstop.
For handling, carrying and sheet work, yes — thin coated gloves at cut level B–C keep splinters and board edges out without killing feel. At specific rotating machinery, follow the machine's rules; some operations are safer bare-handed than with a snaggable glove.
Holster-pocket work trousers are the trade favourite — fixings and small tools at hand height — with EN 14404 knee-pad pockets earning their place for second fix and flooring work. Stretch fabric helps the up-down rhythm of the job.
Everything on the list is stocked and embroiderable — one order, one account.