Woodworking Joints
Joinery
• Joinery is the part of Woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood together
• Some require fasteners, adhesives
Types of Wood JointsButt Joint
• The simple butt joint is most commonly used.
• This joint is formed by nailing or screwing the end of one piece of wood to the end of the other.
• While this is simple, fast and effective, the butt joint leaves the heads of the screws or nails exposed.
• Used in cabinet making or Construction framing
• The dowel joint is basically the same as the butt joint except dowels are used to hold the two pieces of wood together instead of screws and nails
• Construct blind dowel joints by drilling the holes only partway into each piece of wood. Then drive the dowels into these holes and glue them into position.
• The dowels are not always visible.
Types of Wood JointsDowel Joint
• The Lap Joint is made by sawing halfway through each piece of wood
• The Lap Joint provides a great deal of strength, but the heads of the nails, screws are still exposed.
• Used in Cabinet making
Types of Wood JointsLap Joint
• This Wood Joint is simple and strong. Due to this, it is commonly used with other materials besides wood.
• To form this joint, saw a slot into one piece of wood. The end of the other piece of wood is then notched out to fit the slot in the first piece.
• The wood joint is then glued together.
• Used in furniture making
Types of Wood JointsMortise & Tenon
• The conventional mitre joint is widely used for making corners in various types of woodwork
• This Wood Joint is a finish joint and not a strong joint. Therefore it is not recommended where the joint is subject to excessive weight or unusual strain.
Types of Wood JointsMitre Joint
• A simple wood joint, in which the ends of boards are joined at right angles by removing a portion of one board’s thickness to accommodate another board.
• In addition to increasing the glue surface, the rabbet also provides support and alignment for the two pieces.
• Used for small scale structural applications: small boxes, wall cabinets, etc.
Types of Wood JointsRabbet Joint
• To make a Dado Joint, cut a slot into one piece of wood to match the end of the other.
• The dado joint is much stronger than the butt joint and creates a more professional appearance.
• It can be used horizontally to support shelves on a bookcase or vertically to hold partitions.
Types of Wood JointsDado Joint
• This wood joint is noted for its resistance to being pulled apart (tensile strength).
• The dovetail joint is commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front.
• A series of pins cut into one board and tails into the second board form the joint.
• Once glued, a wooden dovetail joint requires no mechanical fasteners.
Types of Wood JointsDovetail Joint
Summary of Wood Joints
Wood Joints
Name: Lap Joint
Strength: Strength of Joint
Weakness: Fasteners are shown
Name: Mitre Joint
Strength: Decorative Joint
Weakness: No strength to joint
Name: Dovetail Joint
Strength: Strength
Weakness: Setup time to create
Name: Dowel Joint
Strength: Fasteners can be hidden
Weakness: Setup time to create
Name: Butt Joint
Strength: Simple/Fast
Weakness: Fasteners are shown
Name: Dado Joint
Strength: Strength/Professional
Weakness: Setup time to create
Name: Rabbet Joint
Strength: Simple/Provides support
Weakness: End grain exposed
Name: Mortise & Tenon
Strength: Strength/Appearance
Weakness: Setup time to create
WOOD Joints
Careful planning, measuring and cutting result in attractive functional wood joints.