Woodworking joints are a vital and interesting aspect of making things and we want to help you know about all your options when it comes to creating those cool connections.
Woodworking Joints (sometimes referred to as Joinery) basically is comprised of joining two pieces of wood together, to create much more complex items.
While some joints may use fasteners, adhesives, or bindings there are others that use only wood. The strength and toughness of a wooden joint depends greatly on the materials involved in creating the joint. Appearance and Flexibility are two more characteristics which are important in a joint… and they also depend on the method of joining.
For this reason, there are many different methods of creating wood joints. Each of these joints have their own purpose and use. You likely would not use the same joints to build a wooden puzzle that you use to make a rocking chair. However the methods do sometimes overlap. When it comes to woodworking you must use many techniques to accomplish your final creation.
Below are some common woodworking joints with a brief description:
Dovetail Joint
Dovetails – these wood joints probably get their name from the way a dove’s tail feathers interlock. A dovetail joint is a type of box joint. The joint consists of triangular-shaped protrusion slotting into corresponding gaps. This type of joint is much more secure than a finger joint.
Tongue and Groove
This type of joint is most often used in paneling and flooring, or where two or more boards are to be joined lengthwise. Each piece of wood has a groove cut along the one edge. One the opposite edge of the same piece of wood there is a thin, deep ridge (the tongue).
Finger Joint
This joint consists of square interlocking fingers that are used to join two pieces at a right angle.
Finger jointed panels are recognized as the most stable method of wood length joints. This joint is different from a type of box joint having the same name “finger Joint”, it is the procedure of cutting “teeth” or “fingers” into each end of small blocks and gluing the blocks together end-to-end to form one long piece of wood.
Biscuit Joint
This joint involves cutting a small slot into the 2 pieces that need to be joined and inserting a biscuit into the slots. A biscuit is an oval shaped piece normally glued in place. Biscuits can be made from hard wood or composite materials. The biscuit joint is one of the strongest wood joints.
Dowel Joint
These joints are made by drilling a hole into the pieces to be joined and then joining them with a small round piece of wood called a dowel. These woodworking joints are often used in conjunction with other wood joints for reinforcement.
Bridle Joint
A bridle joint is sometimes known as an open tenon or tongue and fork joint. This joint is comprised of a through mortise which is open on one side and creates a fork shape. The other component is a necked joint (through tenon). Bridle joints are used in joining rafter tops and occasionally sill corner joints.
Butt Joint
A butt joint is the the most basic type of woodworking joints. This is literally where you butt up two pieces of wood together and then fasten them with glue, nails, screws, or pegs.
Mortise and Tenon
A mortise and tenon joint is one of the oldest woodworking joints around. The basic components are a mortise (which is a hole) and a tenon which is inserted into the mortise. There are several variations on this joint.
These are the some of the most common woodworking joints that are being used in the woodworking industry for many years. Hope you like reading this post.
