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JOINING WOOD

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button to return to this page. Durban
Tel: (031) 701 8809
Johannesburg
Tel: (011) 444-6705
Since 15 December 2010 TYPES OF JOINTS Cape Town
Butt Dovetails Housed Tel:(021) 511-8604
Lap Rebate  Tenon and
mortise 
 Tongue and  Strengthening Tips and
groove  joints  Tricks

When joining wood always use sharp

tools. Square all ends, edges and faces
before making a joint. Mark carefully
and always cut on the waste side of the
lines. (See: Mark and measure)
Choose the simplest joint suitable to the
work piece.

Butt joints back to top

Butt joints are the easiest of all to make.
Wood is butted face to edge or end to edge
and nailed, screwed or dowelled together.
End to edge joints can be joined with
corrugated fasteners.

Strength can be added by glueing the

joining faces. These joints are not
recommended for hardwood unless pilot
holes and screws or dowels are used to
hold them together.

When nailing or srewing but joints use

corner or mitre clamps to hold the two
pieces in place.

End to edge butt joint.

 
Lap or halved joints back to top

Halved joints or lap joints are mostly

used to assemble light frames which are
going to be covered with hardboard or
plywood. Half the thickness of each piece

of wood to be joined is cut away with a

tenon saw and the joint is glued and
screwed or nailed. Halved lap joints are
also used to join long lengths of timber as
for fencing.

Tee half joint

Mitre joints back to top

Mitre joints are always cut to 45° in a
mitre box so that they will form a 90°
corner when joined. As no end wood is
ever seen these are very neat joints but
they are weak. Normally used for picture
frames where they are nailed with panel
pins. When used for other purposes they
must be strengthened with glue blocks,
angle braces or loose tongues. Mitre joints
should always be glued.

When nailing a mitre joint always start the

nail with one part of the mitre above the
other. The nails will pull the mitre into
square.

 
 

Rebate joints back to top

Rebate joints are suitable for joining top

and bottom ends of furniture. Stopped
rebate joints hide the joint. Glue and skew
nail, or screw the joint together.

Stopped rebate joint

Housed joints back to top

Housed joints are mostly used for
shelves. The stopped house joint hides the
actual joining. Use skew nails or screws to
fasten the boards together.

Stopped housed joint

Tongue and groove joints back to top

Loose tongued joints are used to join

planks edge to edge to form a larger board
like a table top in which case they are
always glued only.

 
Bare faced tongue and groove or Loose
tongue and groove joints can be used to
join chair rails to chair legs. Note the glue
blocks for extra strength.

Tenon and mortise joints back to top

Tenon and mortise joints are very strong
joints mostly used in furniture making and
for heavy doors and gates. They are not
easy joints to make. The secret in making
a good tenon joint lies in careful and
accurate marking (See: Mark and

measure).The tenon’s width should not be

less than a third of the thickness of the
wood especially if wood of the same
thickness is joined. The shoulders may be
of any width and may also be offset when
the mortise is made in rebated wood.
Make the mortise before rebating the
wood. If the top of the mortised wood is to
be in line with the edge of the tenoned
wood a haunched tenon can be made with
the haunch cut back to be in line with the
shoulders.

Haunched tenon joint

 
 

Beveled haunched tenon

Marking and making mortise and tenon

joints.

1. Mark the depth of the tenon on

both edges and faces of one of the
pieces of wood.
2. Set the pins of the mortise gauge
to the width of the tenon and set
the block to the width of one
shoulder. Mark the tenon on the
edges and end of the wood.

3. Using the same settings of the

mortise gauge mark the mortise on
one side of the other piece of
wood.

4. Set the marking gauge to the

centre of the mortise and mark a
centre line.

5. When making a blind tenon drill

holes (with a diameter slightly
smaller than the width of the
tenon) closely together along the
centre line at a depth slightly more
than the length of the tenon to
create an escape route for excess
air and glue. A 1 mm (or smaller)
hole can be drilled from the side
into the base of the mortise for the
same purpose. This hole can easily
and unobtrusively be filled with
wood filler or beeswax if
necessary. When making a
through tenon it is best to mark
the tenon on both sides of the
wood and to drill from both sides
or to watch and “back drill” to
avoid splintering the wood.

6. Remove excess wood with a sharp

chisel, always working from the
centre to the edges of the mortise.
Keep edges of the tenon and
mortise as sharp as possible.

7. Place the wood from which the

tenon has to be cut at a 45° angle
in a vice and with a tenon saw
start cutting the tenon cheeks at
the highest point on the waste side
of the marking. When the depth
line of the tenon is reached, turn
the wood around and finish
cutting from the other side. Then
cut the shoulders and lastly the
 haunch. Remove excess wood
with a sharp chisel till the tenon
fits tightly in the mortise.

8. Glue the two parts together.

9. A dowel or screw inserted from

the side may be used to strengthen
the join.

10. A through mortise can be

strengthened by inserting small
wedges in the opposite end of the
wood to hold the tenon in place.

Marking a mortise

 
Bridle joints or open mortise and tenon
joints are used in furniture making
especially to join the legs to the cross
pieces. Marked in the same way as mortise
and tenon joints the only difference is that
the mortise is cut into the wood from the
end.

Dovetail joints back to top

Dovetail joints are very strong and neat

joints used primarily to make drawers and
boxes. It needs a lot of practice to make a
good dovetail joint.

 
 

Marking for dovetail joints.

1. Square the ends of the wood to be

dovetailed.

2. Set the sliding bevel to a suitable

pitch of between 1 in 6 for heavy
work and 1 in 8 for smaller and
more detailed work. Avoid sharp
angles as the points of tails break
easily.

3. Scribe the tails on the end and

face of the wood and mark the
“waste” pieces.

4. Clamp the wood in a vice and cut

 on the waste side with a tenon
saw.

5. Lay the two pieces over each other

and transfer the markings through
the cuts with a tenon saw.

6. Remove the waste between tails

and pins with a chisel.

Lapped dovetails are mostly used for

drawer fronts as they give a very neat,
strong joint with only one side showing
end wood. Marking is the same as for
open dovetails but the cutting out between
the pins needs a fair amount of chiseling.
Special dovetailing bits are available for
routers, which are ideal for this job.

Running dovetails

A very nice joint to use for fixing drawer

sides to fronts but don't attempt it without
a router.

Strengthening joints back to top

 Dowels are
mostly used to
strengthen butt,
mitre and rebated
joints but are also
used to join wood
when making or repairing small tables,
chairs and doors. When joining wood to be
rebated or grooved, drill the holes for
dowels first. The diameter of a dowel
should not be more than a third of the
width of the narrowest wood to be joined.
Cut the necessary length from dowel sticks
and lightly chamfer the ends. Good dowel
sticks have a “V” groove along the length
to allow excess glue and air to escape. If
your dowels do not have this groove you
can run one in by using a marking or
mortise gauge. Alternatively you can
allow a little space at the end of the hole in
which the dowel is inserted to allow for
the extra glue and air but this will weaken
the joint.

When using dowels to join cross pieces to

small legs, stagger the dowels for
maximum length and strength.

Glue blocks.
Small pieces of quadrant or a length of
quadrant run the entire length of the joint
make excellent glue blocks and give a neat
finish especially on the inside of drawers
and boxes.

 
 Angle braces are always glued and
screwed or nailed

Tips and tricks back to top

Tips and tricks

When screwing into end wood
drill a hole and insert a dowel.
Then screw into the dowel
through the end wood.

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A wood joint is the intersection where two pieces of wood are joined together.
Moldings such as window and door casing, baseboards, crown molding and
cabinets all have wood joints.

Read more: What Are Wood Joints? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5838122_wood-

joints_.html#ixzz19oOP6GHR