What the carpenter did was to prepare notes (6)
I believe the answer is:
planed
'what the carpenter did was' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'prepare notes' is the wordplay.
'prepare' becomes 'plan' (I've seen this in another clue).
'notes' becomes 'ed' ().
'plan'+'ed'='PLANED'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for planed that I've seen before include "Levelled off" , "having gone up in aircraft" .)