Making woodworking joints are among the simplest concepts in woodworking. We need to join pieces of wood in a solid fashion. If not, every hardwood creation would appear like statues carved from one piece of wood.
There are many types of woodworking joints available. Once you get a grasp on these simple concepts, you’ll become adept with woodworking joints. This guide will help you understand the different types of woodworking joints. That way you can create your own hardwood masterpieces.
Types Of Woodworking Joints
Below are the most common woodworking joints that everyone should know. Whether you are a carpenter, woodworker, or casual DIY’er; this guide will help.
Butt Joint
The butt joint is one of the easiest woodworking joints to use. It combines two pieces of wood by butting them both together. While it’s a simple joint to make, it’s also the weakest. If you add some reinforcement to the joint it will ensure that it doesn’t snap off.
The quality of the joint’s reinforcement depends on glue to keep it in place. Due to the piece’s orientation, you’ll have a long gluing surface and an end grain. You need to invest in high-quality glue as you can break butt joints with your hands.
Lap Joint
Lap joints pieces have the ends and edges fixed together. Also edges can overlap together to create a flush joint.
Lap joints can be a full-lap joint or half-lap joint. Full lap joints have no material removed from the two joining parts. That means the resulting thickness is a combined thickness of both wooden pieces. Half-lap joints have material partly removed from one or both pieces at the joint. This woodworking joint is the width of the joining parts.
If two pieces have a similar thickness, then remove half the thickness from each side. A lap joint can be permanent or temporary. Make permanent lap joints by welding, flame joints, adhesives, soldering and brazing.
Make temporary joints by fastening components using brackets, screws, bolts, rivets and nails. In some forms of machinery you might join two parts of the machine to perform a certain task.
Bridle Joint
Bridle joints have the tenon cut on the end of a piece while the mortise it cut on the other piece to accept it. You would use this form of woodworking joint to hold a rail in an upright position, such as for table legs. Their main advantage is its compression and strength. Because of this, bridle joints are popular in workplace construction.
They need better technique when gluing the pieces together. Don’t place the clamps on the ends of the joint. If the tenon protrudes from the end surface the shoulders may not draw up tight.
Instead, you should place the tenon and the clamps as close as you can. Use moderate pressure to twist the assembly. After assembling this woodworking joint you check the square’s frame, and clamp onto the cheeks. Use tenon offcuts to clamp over the bridle joint with a small clamp.
Mitre Joint
Use mitre joints to decorate frames and make small boxes. It’s like a butt joint, but you connect the wood pieces together at an angle instead of a square. One advantage of the mitre joint is that they won’t show end grains so are more appealing.
But, it isn’t as strong as other joints on this list. If you’re going to create a mitre joint, make sure that it's at an angle where the wooden pieces will stay together. In fact, keep it at a 45° angle to ensure that all sides are well connected when in use.
Finger Joint
Finger joints are like dovetail joints, albeit different in their construction. You may find they won't lock the joints in place like the mitre. These woodworking joints will become strong once you add glue to the sides of the piece.
Since you make finger joints at a 90° angle, they need less time to make. You can use finger joints on a table saw or a router table. You’ll have to keep the parts upright using a jig. Use a key to sit on one notch while you continue to cut through the others. This method makes sure that the spaces and fingers are identical. This ensures everything is symmetrical and aligned.
Dado Joint
Cut a dado joint across the grain of one side of the board to receive the other side of the board. It’s great for creating supporting shelves for bookcases and inside cabinets. You can use a router to also cut in the dado across the entire stopped width of board.
Mortise And Tenon Joint
The mortise and tenon joint is the most used and basic joints to make. Use this joint to connect the stiles and rails on the panel and frame doors. The deep penetration of the mortise and tenon means support of the wooden parts without the need of glue.
There are variations of a mortise and tenon joint. You can reinforce the tenon with wedges and pins.
Non-traditional Woodworking Joints
These woodworking joints need more skill to create. The advantage is that you have better reinforcements and enhanced durability. These non-traditional woodworking joints use specialised woodworking tools during your projects.
Pocket Hole Joints
Pocket hole joints are strong and take little time to make. It’s used for creating frame faces. It attaches wood with strong grain orientation such as table legs and aprons. Pocket hole joints are a great way to reinforce butt joints. You will be able to hide them.
Screws in pocket hole joints are toe-nailed at an angle. These screws are more secure than for a butt joint wherein you place the screws in the end grain. Their wood working joints help it hold in place and are more secure than other forms of wood joinery.
Biscuit Joint
Think of biscuit joints as a reinforced version of a butt joint. The biscuit is a piece of compressed wood, like beech. You have to use matching mortises to install the biscuit into both wood joints. You don’t have to use accuracy when creating the mortises with a biscuit joiner. The joint's design and alignment has flexibility until it's glued together.
Biscuit joints are a great modern woodworking joint. Biscuit joints are good for relying upon glue. An example might be when creating tabletops from planks. The Beechwood biscuits align and hold the joint together. The high-quality glue makes the Beechwood biscuits swell to keep the boards tight and in place. Make sure to get a biscuit joiner to save time cutting through wooden stocks.
Traditional Joints Vs. Biscuit Joint
There is a difference between traditional dowel joints and biscuit joints. Traditional joints use a dowel to peg together cheaper, weaker composite materials. They don’t need extra materials besides the timber and dowel. If you want to make that dowelled joint a really strong one then use a power tool designed for that purpose. That tool is the Domino joiner.
Biscuit joints have a different way of improving their joints. You use a small biscuit in a slot to align a butt joint or an edge while gluing. This ensures that the ends stay in place and keeps a square shape when the two wood pieces join together.
While they are different wood joints, they both rely on the same connecting principle. Both need glue to prevent the wooden pieces from falling off. Once you find how the biscuit joiner will do quick and easy joints, you will prefer it.
Conclusion
Use the right woodworking joint. It helps when creating furniture items like tables and desks for your home or business. To create them well you need continued practice and dedication. Having some knowledge of these woodworking joints will help you create. For your more advanced creations use good joints and the finest wood to your advantage.
