Joyners

Joyners refers to individuals who practice joinery, the woodworking craft focused on cutting, shaping, and assembling wooden components. It can also be used as an older or regional spelling of the trade. In modern English, joiner is the prevalent term, but joyner appears in historical texts and some dialects.

Historically, joyners were skilled craftsmen who worked in workshops and on building sites. They produced components such as doors, window frames, stairs, and fitted furniture. The role overlaps with carpentry, but joiners typically manufacture components in a shop and install them as prepared units, while carpenters perform broader on-site construction tasks.

Techniques and tools used by joyners include mortise-and-tenon joints, dovetails, finger joints, and precise cutting, finishing, and fitting. Traditional tools include hand planes, saws, chisels, marking gauges, and work benches; modern practice often supplements with power tools and, in high-end cabinet making, computer numerical control equipment.

Today the term is largely historical or regional, with joinery as the standard designation for the craft. In contemporary construction and furniture making, work is categorized under joinery rather than joyner. The plural Joyners may also refer to people bearing the surname Joyner or its plural, though there is no single occupation-wide organization by that name.