Butt Joints

Butt joints are those where one piece is simply butted up against
another.

The end of one piece may butt against the face of

the other, (butt joint on edge)

or against the edge (flat butt joint).

The joint may be used at the

ends of both pieces, as shown
above, or at other points.

If on edge, it may be reinforced by glue blocks, which

are simply glued to both pieces.
It may be reinforced by
dowels,

by biscuits, or by other
means. The flat butt joint
occurs in cabinet face
frames, where it is often
reinforced by pocket screws.

When a butt joint joins the rails

of a piece to the legs, a wooden
or metal corner block may be
used. Some of these anchor to
the leg with a screw or hanger
bolt.
 Mortise and Tenon Joints

A mortise is a cavity cut into a piece.

The yellow board has four mortises -

two on the face, one on the edge and
one on the end.

A tenon is a projection from a piece,

usually made by cutting away stock
from the piece.

The red board has a tenon on the end.

The simple mortise-and-tenon joint is

made with a mortise in one piece and a
tenon on the other.

In this joint the tenon is cut in from both

faces and both edges. The thickness of
the tenon is usually about 1/2 the
thickness of the piece on which it is cut.
The joint is usually secured by glue, and
the tenon is cut about 1/8" shorter than
the depth of the mortise to allow room for
any glue squeeze out during assembly.

When assembled, the tenon is entirely

hidden and the joint appears to be a
simple butt joint. Because of this, the joint
is often called a blind mortise-and tenon.

If the tenon extends entirely through the

matching piece, the joint is called a
through mortise-and-tenon.

You often find this as the joint where a

table leg meets the rail or apron.

Sometimes a mortise is cut in both

pieces. The tenon is made
separately and glued into both
mortises. This forms a floating
mortise-and-tenon joint, sometimes
called a loose tenon joint.

The simple mortise-and-tenon joint leaves the

surface of the rail inside the surface of the leg.

If you want the surfaces flush,

you can use the barefaced mortise-
and-tenon joint. The tenon is usually
cut in from only one edge and one face
of the piece, although it may be cut in
from both edges. This lets you place
the mortise further back from the face
of the second piece.

The haunched mortise-and-tenon joint

adds both gluing surface and rigidity.
(The yellow piece is shown in cut-
away so you can see the shape of the
mortise.)

This joint is very often used in frames,

where a groove runs the length of the
frame member to hold a panel. A
deeper mortise is cut inside the
groove, and the tenon is notched so
that it fills the space inside the mortise
and the space at the end of the
groove.
When assembled the joint has a neat
appearance.

Another joint found on frames is the

stub tenon joint. The pieces of the
frame are grooved to accept a panel,
and the tenons are simply cut to the
dimensions of the groove.

This is the favored joint for dust panels

that separate drawer cavities on
chests, dressers, and similar pieces.

If the pieces aren't grooved for a panel

but you still want the added strength
provided by the haunch, you can use
the blind haunched mortise-and-tenon,
also called the concealed haunched
mortise-and-tenon joint. The mortise
is angled back to the surface of the
piece and the notch in the tenon is cut
to the same angle. Like the simple
mortise-and-tenon, once assembled
this joint looks like a simple butt joint.
The bridle joint is also called an open
mortise-and-tenon joint. The mortise
becomes a groove, open to both faces
and one end of the piece. The tenon
extends entirely through the mortise.

When it occurs at the ends of the

pieces, as shown here, the joint is a
corner bridle joint.

If it occurs at some other point, it's called a

T-bridle, or mid-bridle joint.

These joints are usually found in places

where they will be concealed by other
components, or in utility pieces where the
appearance of the exposed joinery isn't a
concern.

In the wedged mortise-and-tenon

joint, the mortise is cut entirely
through the piece. Small V-
shaped notches are cut in the
tenon. Usually a strain relief hole
is drilled at the end of the
notches to prevent splitting. The
joint is assembled and matching
wedges are driven into the
notches in the tenon, expanding
it against the upper and lower
surfaces of the mortise. The
wedges are then trimmed flush.

Another way to reinforce this joint is to

drill a hole in the tenon and another in
the piece it will join, and then drive a pin
through the assembled joint.

Usually the holes are drilled just slightly

off-center, so that driving the pin draws
the tenon further into the mortise. The
pin can then be trimmed flush.

Mortise and tenon joints are

sometimes found in multiples.

The illustration shows a panel of four

joined boards which is to be connected
to an end board. As the humidity
changes, the change in dimension
across the width of the panel will be
significantly greater than that along
the length of the end board.

This can be handled with multiple

tenons. The center one will be glued
into it's mortise. The others will be
held by mechanical means, such as
screws driven from the bottom,
through the end board into the tenons.
The holes in the end board will either
be drilled over-sized, or elongated so
the screw can move along the board.
If the dimensions of one piece are
particularly large or small, multiple
tenons may also be used.

Mortises for these joints may be made in a variety of ways. The

mortise may be cut entirely by hand, using chisels. A dedicated
mortiser or a mortising attachment on a drill press may be used. With
these methods the resulting mortise has square edges and shoulders.

A router may be used to cut the mortise, leaving the ends

rounded.

Another method is to drill a precisely place

hole at each end of the mortise. The hole
diameter is the same as the thickness of the
tenon. Then stock between the holes is
wasted with a smaller diameter bit and the
remaining waste is removed with chisels.

This also produces rounded ends on the

mortise.

There are several ways to deal with rounded mortises.

You can use a chisel to square the corners.

You can under-size the tenon, cutting it down until it fits. Of course
this weakens the joint.

You can use hand tools, such as chisels and files, to

round the ends of the tenon to fit the mortise.

You can under-size the tenon, and split a dowel of the

same diameter as the tenon's thickness. The halves of
the dowel are then assembled to the tenon as shown.
In practice, the whole joint is usually assembled,
applying glue to all surfaces, including those between
the dowel halves and the tenon ends, before inserting
the tenon in the mortise.

Perhaps the easiest

way is to use the
floating tenon
joint, cutting the
rounded mortises
in both pieces.

The tenon stock is

milled with square
edges, and four
passes through a
router with a round
over bit rounds the
edges to fit the
mortise.

The stock is then

crosscut to tenon
length.

Dado Joints

Nomenclature

A groove is cut along

the length of the
grain. The red board
has two grooves -
one on the face and
one on the edge.

A dado is cut across

the grain. The
yellow board has
three dadoes - one
across the face, one
across the edge, and
one on the diagonal.
These definitions are clear when you're talking about a piece of solid
wood. When dealing with sheet goods like plywood however they fail.
Usually with sheet goods we refer to a recess running along the
longest dimension of the piece as a groove. One running across the
shortest dimension becomes a dado. In a lot of cases this confusion
has led to a very loose use of both words.

In practice, the only difference between a groove and a dado is the

direction. Dado joints have that name because in most applications
the recess runs either across the grain or across the shortest
dimension. If you examine the illustrations below, you will see that in
many cases the principles can be applied to grooves as well.
In the simple dado joint, the dado is cut in one piece and
the end of the second piece is set into it. The dado is the
same width as the thickness of the second piece.

You'll recognize this as a common joint in such things as

bookcases or cabinets. It's major disadvantage is it's
appearance. Unless some kind of trim covers the end of
the joint, you loose the clean appearance of straight
lines.

The blind dado joint retains the clean straight

lines of the pieces. The dado is stopped
short of the edge of the first piece and a
corresponding notch is cut in the end of the
second piece. This is also called a stopped
dado joint.

Cutting a rabbet on the piece that fits into

the dado, and decreasing the width of the
dado by a corresponding amount gives the
rabbet and dado joint.

This joint is more rigid than the dado joint.

As with the dado joint, the dado may be

stopped to improve appearance.

It's also called the dado box corner, or dado

drawer corner joint, because it's often used
as the rear corner joint in higher quality
drawers.
A variation on this joint, sometimes called a
lock corner joint, puts the exposed end grain
on the other surface.

Cutting one edge of the dado at an angle,

with a matching cut on the mating piece
produces the half-dovetail dado joint.

It also adds rigidity, plus it is a locking joint -

the pieces are mechanically locked together.

The dado may be stopped, producing the

blind half-dovetail dado joint.

If both edges of the dado are angled, you get

the dovetail dado, or sliding dovetail joint.
Properly fitted, it has both better rigidity and
superior locking properties compared to the
half-dovetail dado.

Of course it can be stopped.

The corner dado joint is sometimes used to
join shelves to a leg, such as you might find
on a wash-basin stand or small table.

The dado is cut across a corner of the leg,

usually at an angle of 45° to each of the
faces of the leg. The corner of the shelf is
cut at a matching angle, so that the length of
the cut corner is the same as the length of
the dado, measured along the bottom of the
dado.

This joint is sometimes reinforced with a

single dowel.
Sometimes dado joints occur in
combinations and at angles, as
in a bookcase with a magazine
shelf.

Rabbet Joints

A rabbet is a groove cut along

the very edge of a piece,
removing a rectangular section
of it along the edge.

Convention holds that the depth

of the rabbet is measured on the
thickness of the piece while the
width of the rabbet is measured
along the face.
A rabbet joint is made by fastening one piece
into a rabbet cut in another piece.

The width of the rabbet is usually equal to

the thickness of the piece that will be set into
it.

The depth of the rabbet is usually 1/2 to 2/3

of the thickness of the piece it is cut in.

A rabbet joint may be secured by mechanical fasteners like nails or

screws, or by glue, or by both.

This is probably the most frequently

encountered joint in typical casework
and cabinetry.

When setting the back into a

rabbet, the back is usually flush
with the sides. However, if the
piece is to be mounted to a wall,
like a kitchen or bathroom
cabinet, the width of the back
rabbet is increased and the back
recessed from the sides. This
allows the installer to trim the
sides and top for a close fit to
the wall.

When the back is recessed, the

front-to-back dimension of the
bottom is usually reduced as
well, so that the bottom and the
back are flush. This way the
installer doesn't have to trim the
bottom.

Dovetail Joints

The dovetail joint is an advanced joint used most often to join two
pieces at a right angle. Each piece has a combination of recesses and
projections. On one piece the projections are called pins, on the other
tails.

Look at the face of one of the

pieces.

If the "fingers" of the joint form

lines parallel to the edges of the
piece, you are looking at the
pins.

If they form lines at an angle to

the edges, you are looking at
the tails. The joint gets it's Tails
name from these tails, whose Pins
wedge shape resembles the
shape of a dove's tail.

There are many kinds of dovetail joints, but only five are very
common.
In the through dovetail joint, both the pins and
tails extend entirely through the mating piece.
End grain is visible on both pieces.

The lap dovetail joint hides the end grain on

the tails, leaving end grain visible on only
one surface of the joint.

Instead of being cut entirely through the

piece, the pins become pockets cut into it.

This joint is also called a half-blind dovetail,

particularly when it is produced by machine.
If neither the pins nor the tails extend all
the way through, you get the stopped-lap
dovetail joint.

When assembled, this joint appears to be

a rabbet joint, with only a thin strip of
end grain exposed on one surface of the
joint.

The rabbeted half-blind dovetail is a variation

on the lap dovetail.

A rabbet is first cut on the piece with the

tails, and the tails are then cut into the side
of the rabbet.

This joint is often used to join the front of a

drawer to the sides. In fact, in some places,
it's sometimes called a drawer-front dovetail.
The sliding dovetail joint is formed by
cutting a dovetail shaped grove in one piece
and a matching pin along the eitire width of
the mating piece. The pin can then be slid
into the groove, joining the pieces.

A variation of this joint, the tapered sliding

dovetail, is made by making the groove
wider at one end and cutting the pin to
match. The pin can then be slid into the
groove from only one end, and as it is
forced into the taper the joint becomes
tighter.

Dovetail joints are very strong, but also very difficult to form.
Historically they were used on high quality pieces because of their
strength. They were not considered a good looking joint however.
The lapped-dovetail and stopped-lap dovetail were ways to hide the
joint, at least partially. Often veneer would be used to cover a
dovetail joint.

Today dovetail joints are used primarily because when well-fitted they
are a sign of craftsmanship. Usually some other joint which is more
easily and quickly produced would provide more than enough strength,
particularly with the glues now available.

In the small shop dovetails are usually made using a router and a
dovetail jig. Some of these jigs produce pins and tails with rounded
surfaces - they are like pieces cut from a cone. When assembled,
however, they have the same appearance as hand-cut dovetails.
Using a router and a jig to guide the bit, a cabinet or furniture maker
can produce this joint fairly quickly and with repeatable accuracy.
Considerable set-up time is usually required though.

With most dovetail jigs the size and spacing of the pins and tails is
pre-determined by the template and bit used. You don't have the
option of having some tails narrow and some wide. These joints are
most attractive when they begin and end with part of a pin, rather
than part of a tail. Further, the same amount of pin should be found
at each end of the joint. That, plus the fixed size and spacing imposed
by the jig, means that the width of the pieces on which the joint is
formed is somewhat determined by the jig itself. You may have to
settle for a 6" high drawer side, rather than the 7" one you had in
mind when you designed the piece.

Splice Joints
Splice joints are used to join two pieces at the ends. They are not
common in small shop woodworking, although you may occasionally
encounter one. Shipwrights of old were very familiar with these joints
as are timber framers.

The scarf joint

The scarf joint is made by simply
cutting matching angles on each of
the pieces. The angled ends are then
butted together.

The purpose of this joint is not usually

to physically join the two pieces, but
rather to hide the fact that they are
two pieces rather than one long one.

With humidity changes a butt joint

would open and close as the
dimensions of the pieces changed.
With the scarf joint, the dimensions
still change but, instead of looking
through an opening to the material
behind, you simply see more of the
same piece. If the same finish used
on the rest of the pieces is also
applied to the angled end, this joint
will be nearly invisible from even a
short distance.

You'll find this joint mostly in building

trim, such as baseboard or soffit
fascia.

(Being an old Norwegian, I can't help

but mention that the name comes
from the Old Norse scarffr, meaning
the butt end of a plank.)

Half-Lap Splices

The half-lap splice is made by cutting a

rabbet across the end of each piece
and lapping the rabbets.

Each rabbet is usually cut to a depth of

one-half the thickness of the piece.

A variation on this joint, the bevel lap

splice, uses a wedge shape removed
from each piece instead of a simple
flat-bottomed rabbet.
The Tabled Splice

The tabled splice is made by cutting a

wide rabbet on the end of each piece
and then a narrower dado on the inside
edge of the rabbet.

A variation, the wedged

tabled splice, uses slightly
undersized dadoes, with
wedges driven into the
resulting space.

The Finger Joint

You will probably never produce a

finger joint, although it can be cut with
a router or shaper.

You will encounter this joint mostly on

commercially produced millwork. It is
common in stock from which windows
are made and in trim like drip-cap and
brick-mold casing. Occasionally you
find it in interior trim moldings.

Manufacturers like it because it allows

them to join many short lengths of
stock to make a longer piece which can
then be machined into trim.
 Edge Joints

Edge joints occur when the narrow faces of two

pieces are joined, usually to make a panel for a
table top, door, or similar use.

In the simplest form the joint is simply glued.

The joint may be reinforced with

dowels,

or biscuits.

A groove can be cut in each piece and

a spline inserted in the grove (splined
edge joint)

If the grooved are stopped short of the

ends, the spline won't show (blind
spline, hidden spline, stopped spline).
Equal size rabbets can be cut on
opposing faces of the pieces (rabbet
edge). This is sometimes called a
shiplap joint, which is incorrect.
Shiplap joints incorporate a curve or
bevel on the faces and are normally
used for horizontal siding.

If rabbets are cut on both faces of one

piece and a groove is cut down the
center of the edge on the other piece,
you have a tongue and groove joint.

If the rabbets are cut with a router or

shaper with the proper bit or cutter,
you get a wedge tongue and groove
joint

Routers or shapers can also be use to

produce multiple tongues and grooves.
This is usually called a glue joint. The
tongues and grooves are nearly always
tapered.
 Lap Joints
A lap joint is one is which one member laps over the other.

In the simplest form of lap joint, one piece is

simply laid on top of the other and secured
with glue, mechanical fasteners or both.

Normally the thickness of each piece is

reduced, usually by one-half. When this is
done with a rabbet at the end of each piece
the result is the corner lap joint.

If the rabbet on one piece is replaced with a

dado, the result is the T lap joint, sometimes
called a mid lap, or middle lap.

Dadoes on both pieces

produce the cross lap
joint.
Of course the pieces don't have
to be at a right angle. You are
familiar with the angled cross lap
in places like picnic table legs.

If the dadoes are cut on the edges of the pieces

rather than on the face, you have the edge lap
joint.

This joint is common in things like sewing or

jewelry boxes, or in display cases where you have
a grid or "egg-crate" to separate items.
If the sides of the dado are angled
along the face of the pieces, you have
the dovetail dado, a lock joint.

Miter Joints
At its simplest a miter joint is a butt joint connecting the end grain of
two pieces, each of which is cut at an angle. It has the advantage of
hiding the end grain, giving a better appearance. You're familiar with
it as the joint usually found in picture frames, and on door and window
casings.

If the angle is cut on the face of the pieces,

the joint is called a flat miter, or a simple flat
miter.

If the angle is cut on the edge of the pieces,

it's an edge miter or a simple edge miter.
You usually see the miter joint used to join
pieces at a right angle, but it can be used
with other angles as well.

The simple miter may be reinforced

with dowels, whether it's a flat or edge
miter,

or with a spline.
When used with an
edge miter, the
spline is sometimes
called a key.

Biscuits can be used

in place of the
spline
The offset miter joint combines a
rabbet and a miter. In fact, it's often
called a rabbet with miter or miter with
rabbet joint.

It gives a little more gluing surface

than the miter, while helping to hold
the pieces square.

The lock miter joint gives even more

gluing surface, plus a mechanical lock
making the joint even more rigid.
The end lap miter joint offers a lot of
gluing surface while leaving end grain
visible on only one piece. This joint is
sometimes used on frames for frame-
and-panel doors.

All the joints above are made by

cutting an angle on either the faces or
on the edges of the pieces.

Cutting an angle on both the face and

the edge produces the compound miter
joint, or hopper joint.

The shape shown uses an angle of 45°

on the edges of the pieces and an
angle of 15° on the faces.

You see this joint on such things as

planter boxes and shadow-boxes. You
also encounter it in molding and trim,
such as cornice trim.

In most cases, the angle at which

the miter is cut is 1/2 of the angle
made by the pieces to be joined.

If the pieces will meet at a 90°

angle, the miter angle is 45°.

If the pieces are to form a

hexagon, the angle between two
adjacent pieces will be 120°. The
miter angle will be 1/2 of that, or
60°.

There are cases, such as when joining two

pieces of different widths, where the miter
angle is not half of the outside angle.
In this case, the miter falls along the
diagonal of the area where the pieces
overlap.

Other Joints
The Box Joint
The box joint is somewhat like a
through dovetail joint, but the pins and
tails are all cut at right angles to the
surfaces of the pieces.

To make the joint more attractive, it is

usually used on pieces of equal
thickness and the pins are cut to the
same width as the thickness of the
material.

In the small shop this is usually a

machine cut joint, made either with the
table saw or router.

This joint is found most often on small

boxes, but occasionally you see it used
with chests or even as a decorative
element on casework. It's common in
many Scandinavian designs.
The Lock Joint

The lock joint is sometimes called a

drawer-lock joint. It is assembled by
sliding one piece vertically into the
other. Because a sideways pressure
against either piece is resisted by a
locking key in the other piece it makes
a sturdy joint for drawer construction.

Because it can be produced entirely on

the table saw making this joint used to
be a standard exercise for highschool
shop classes.

You will see it on some older pieces,

but it's seldom used now. Modern
glues allow the use of much simpler
joints with more than adequate
strength.

The Coped Joint

The coped joint is made by simply

cutting the profile of one piece into
the end of another, a process called
coping. The coped end are then
butted against the face of the other
piece.

The purpose of this joint is not usually

to physically join the two pieces, but
rather to hide the fact that they are
two pieces rather than one long one.

With humidity changes a miter joint

would open and close as the
dimensions of the pieces changed.
With the coped joint, the dimensions
still change, and the joint will still
open, but the opening will be visible
only when viewed along the length of
the piece which isn't coped.

You'll find this joint mostly in building

trim, such as baseboard or soffit
fascia.